Snotfest?

12540637_10208690227158086_1485361613149906056_nThis post nearly didn’t make it due to some fairly desperately sad news in our family over the weekend – but I’ve since rationalised that tragedy should make you treasure the precious moments and people in your life all the more.  So it would be daft not to write about the weekend just gone for that reason alone.  You can never be sure when fate might deal you a truly shitty hand – so grab those opportunities to celebrate and be amongst your loved ones whenever you can.

So, on Saturday it was a surprise slightly early birthday party for Ella which Simon and Andrea had been busy organising.  The first I heard of it was a message from Simon asking me to set up a secret Facebook group to invite people to – unfortunately the eagle-eyed Ella was with me at the time… “What are you talking about with my Dad?” came the inevitable question, I’m not a good bluffer at the best of times but kinda got away with it.

The only other significant gauntlet to run was Brad’s gig up in Eastwood where plenty of now co-conspirators were present – but again, whilst she was aware stuff was afoot we got away with it for the most part.  The Saturday before her birthday as far as she was concerned involved going to Annie’s for lunch then heading out for a meal later, where I suspect she was expecting a few surprise faces to mysteriously be present at.

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Freeborn Al / 12th January 2016 / Gigs, Hell Hounds, Music, Other Bands, Photos / 0 Comments

Splendour highlights too!

Just in case you hadn’t had your fill of Ferocious Dog on the tellybox, Tim has managed to get the Notts TV special from Splendour festival on to YouTube as well – four songs and a bit of interview action.  Just look at that dust cloud above the mosh pit – powdered mud and deer poo, no wonder I was poorly after it! Haha!

Freeborn Al / 6th January 2016 / Band, Gigs, Hell Hounds, Music, Videos / 0 Comments

Miss the band on Notts TV? Fear not!

Due to watershed related issues (John’s t-shirt possibly? Haha!) Notts TV had unfortunately decreed not to add their Noise Floor special featuring Ferocious Dog at Rock City, nor seem very amenable to sharing the video in any other means than repeat broadcasts – which is great if you live in Nottingham or have Sky so you can tune your box to it.  Not so good if you have neither of these options.

Well, Tim found a handy YouTube link featuring a decent quality rip of the whole episode – enjoy!  If you want to keep it for posterity try using a service like KeepVid to download the video file.  Together we are strong indeed!

Freeborn Al / 6th January 2016 / Band, Gigs, Interview, Music, Videos / 0 Comments

TV personalities..

3373_10153880894334343_8765133109960421985_nHopefully most of you got to see Notts TV’s hour long Ferocious Dog special which aired last night at 10pm.  Those of you that missed the opportunity through geographical constraints or not having Sky will get the chance to catch up online once their systems update (it doesn’t appear to be quite so quick as more established channels at catching up!), but I thought that it was a superb introduction to what Ferocious Dog are all about from presenter Mark Del.

The programme centred around the climax of the tour – the sell out gig at Rock City, the first ever unsigned act to do so.  My only pedantic quibble was the repeated claim of them being the first local unsigned act to do it – they are the first act, full stop, in 35 years of the venue to sell it out without the backing of a label.  Whilst it is of course nice they’re local, it’s not relevant to the feat at all.

A mixture of interviews from before the gig – constant references to the fans (well, okay, family) – when Anton from Rock City was interviewed before the gig he made some astute references to the relationship between hell hounds and the band being akin to that he’d seen before with the Levellers and New Model Army, and not from other bands since then.  He was also pretty on board with the idea of pushing for more national coverage for the band too – good news!

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Freeborn Al / 2nd January 2016 / Band, Gigs, Hell Hounds, Interview, Lee Bonsall, Music, Photos / 0 Comments