Ferocious Blog

Getting in the mood..

It’s only one more sleep ’til the tour recommences in Cambridge – and as if to heighten the excitement Ken shared a video that’s surfaced from the Nuneaton gig.  I forgot to mention the exciting prospect of a film crew recording the gig.  The best bit is that it says ‘sample’ in the title – implying to my ever optimistic mind that there might be more to follow!  Either way, I can’t think of much better preparation for this weekend’s mosh-fest than reliving a past one!

Keep an eye on howling mad productions‘ YouTube channel and see if any more videos surface!  For now, here’s ‘Poor, Angry and Young‘ (which Roger amusingly pointed out on Facebook has a similar intro to ‘Rock Lobster‘ by the B52s – which once you realise can’t be unheard!  Sorry about that.

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Freeborn Al / 9th April 2015 / Band, Gigs, Music, Videos / 0 Comments

Epiphany..

forest_picIt’s probably not really an epiphany at all.

An epiphany is a sudden realising of a truth, a revelation.  What I’m about to describe is probably a slow acceptance of the bleeding obvious, but well, with the next tour date looming on the horizon it prompted the thought process – so now you have to put up with it, ha ha!

In another part of my life I’m a pretty avid football fan – I support Nottingham Forest for my sins – and have a season ticket.  A few times in the last few years Ferocious Dog has come into conflict with this other life passion of mine.  This passion is one I don’t regret – it’s if nothing else a chance to spend time with my brother and a number of my closest friends – many of whom I met through this shared interest.

Of course, it also allows me to fund millionnaire footballers which sits less easily in the justification stakes!

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Freeborn Al / 7th April 2015 / Band, Gigs, Music, Other Bands, Thoughts / 0 Comments

Do you believe in the power of rock and roll?

IMG_9433A slight diversion from the main subject matter of this blog, but a worthy one I think – firstly for the cause tonight was raising funds for.  The Sophie Lancaster Foundation was set up to create respect and address abuse and intolerance against alternative subcultures – in memory of Sophie who was murdered in 2007 after a disgusting attack on her and her partner Rob.  A hugely worthy cause so hopefully everyone there bought themselves a wristband.

Secondly it was being hosted at Foremans, a deliciously non-conformist carbuncle gleefully retaining its punk rock roots whilst being increasingly surrounded by bland corporate chains like Revolution or Slug and Lettuce in the centre of Nottingham, overshadowed by the bleak Cornerhouse eyesore.  With a capacity of 55 people you’re guaranteed an intimate gig venue with some awesome people.  Thirdly the act was Goldblade – a lure in itself, but one I was intrigued to see in an acoustic setting.

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Freeborn Al / 29th March 2015 / Gigs, Music, Other Bands, Photos / 0 Comments

Har-low can you go?

IMG_9368After a bit of an enforced break from ‘dogging’ it was back into action yesterday, hitting the road for I think my furthest flung Ferocious Dog gig in Harlow, Essex.  With the threat of the M25 around rush hour I allowed plenty of time for the drive and predictably hit no traffic at all, arriving at the venue and parking up with an hour and a half to spare before opening.  Oops!  Dan and Leanne arrived moments later, the rest of the band were already in situ.

Luckily The Square has a bar area that was open so it was there I headed and earwigged the sound-checking as more folk began to arrive.  After getting armbanded up and heading upstairs the gig venue was pretty compact – wide with a shallow dance floor with a worryingly nearby staircase you could end up getting launched down – luckily the mosh pit wasn’t too expansive so that never proved to be too much of a risk!

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Freeborn Al / 28th March 2015 / Band, Gigs, Hell Hounds, Music, Other Bands / 0 Comments

New album nearing completion – what splendour!

000A typically teasing Dan post in the Ferocious Dog Facebook group today revealed that Les has been in the studio today finishing off his guitar pieces for the forthcoming album, with Dan and Ellis due in this week to finish off followed by Ken next week along with an orchestra (!).  This of course implies that John and Scott are one-take wonders.

A suitably exciting way to build up to the live action restarting this Friday at The Square in Harlow.  I’m looking forward to hitting the road to Essex for the next instalment of the tour – just another week of work to get out the way first!

In other news the band have confirmed they’re appearing at Nottingham’s Splendour festival this year – teeing up The Twang and Bananarama on the Confetti Stage meaning that they’ll be finished in time to check out James and The Specials on the Main Stage which – no disrespect to The Twang or Bananarama – works well for me!  It’s not the first time Ferocious Dog have appeared at the festival but this time at a much more conducive time of the day.

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Freeborn Al / 23rd March 2015 / Band, Gigs, Hell Hounds, Music, Other Bands / 0 Comments

Back to basics..

There’s no substitution for a full on Ferocious Dog gig, it’s true – however, there’s something quite magical about hearing their songs stripped back to their acoustic foundations too.  At one time that would happen when songs were being written or kicked about and sometimes we were lucky enough to have them appear on YouTube (I’ve chosen Ken performing a beautiful rendition of Unconditional, but equally you could pick Dan’s preview of Lyla that he teased us with before the band worked their magic on it).

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Freeborn Al / 19th March 2015 / Band, Gigs, Music, Videos / 0 Comments

Freeborn Al / 16th March 2015 / Band, Gigs, Hell Hounds, Music, Other Bands, Photos, Videos / 0 Comments

Talk of the Tarn..

Another day, another chance to discover a new venue for a Ferocious Dog gig!  Barnsley Rock and Blues sits near the hospital in Barnsley and comprises a friendly bar with a hidden gem of a venue room at the back – something Andy and I rather spoiled the surprise of by arriving early and inadvertently going in via the back way, but never mind, huh?  It was a good chance for Andy to catch the end of the egg-chasing and to watch the end of the Burnley vs Man City match along with Dan and Ken.

Anyone local should pop back tomorrow (well, later today now) to check out the Star Botherers.

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Freeborn Al / 15th March 2015 / Band, Gigs, Hell Hounds, Music, Other Bands, Photos / 0 Comments

Nuneaton unbeaten..

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Another cracking evening’s entertainment courtesy of Ferocious Dog was meted out to Nuneaton last night.  I was on driving duties so a first sober hearing of the new songs, but wow!  A first word should go on the venue, the Queen’s Hall in Nuneaton is a great place!  It’s above The Crew which is a rock-themed pub (and I’m reliably informed has decent beer) and is surrounded by easy places to park – the folks involved in the venue were all very friendly and even the security gave up on zealousness after one half-hearted attempt at getting Dean down from Simon’s shoulders!

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Freeborn Al / 14th March 2015 / Band, Gigs, Hell Hounds, Music, Other Bands, Photos / 0 Comments

The aftermath..

The day following a Ferocious Dog gig is usually a mixture of nursing a hangover, ringing ears, counting bruises and reviewing the steady stream of Facebook notifications that start to flood through as assorted pictures, videos and statuses are posted by similarly content but somewhat broken people.  I guess most evening events are quite similar really – that morning after post-mortem helps re-live the excellence of the night before!

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Freeborn Al / 11th March 2015 / Band, Gigs, Hell Hounds, Music, Other Bands, Photos, Videos / 0 Comments

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