Freeborn John your vision lingers on..

john lilburneI don’t know if it’s just me that often researches subject matter of songs – the last Levellers album has resulted in me gathering books about the Raft of the Medusa and the Étaples mutiny to learn more about the inspiration for songs on the album, indeed, 3 Daft MonkeysDays of the Dance too added to my library to learn more about the dancing plague of Strasbourg.

With Freeborn John, my favourite Ferocious Dog song, I didn’t need to read up retrospectively because I’m already a bit of a geek for the subject of it – John Lilburne.  If you want an in depth book to read on the subject then I’d recommend ‘Free-Born John – The Biography of John Lilburne’ by Pauline Gregg, and also checking out The John Lilburne Research Institute.

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Freeborn Al / 1st April 2015 / Band, Music, Other Bands, Thoughts / 0 Comments

What’s in a name?

ferocious-dog-dan-booth-300x300Dan let slip on Facebook yesterday that the second album will be completed in recording terms at the end of this week – and that the name of it will be ‘From Without’.  He might’ve mentioned that before to be fair, but he encouraged folk to have a hunt on Google to try to find the reference it might be inspired by.  So I’ve been doing just that to pass the time – whether I’ve landed on the inspiration for the name or not remains to be seen!

Also, if you haven’t already then get it pre-ordered by Saturday as it will then come signed by the whole band.

In the context of without meaning ‘on the outside’ it’s listed as archaic – so whilst you might be without something, to be – for example – opening a door from without seems a charmingly antiquated way of phrasing compared to opening a door from within.  Could it be as simple as that?  A traditional way of describing themselves as being from the outside?  It sort of fits, no record label, self-releasing, shunning many of the trappings of the modern music industry.

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Freeborn Al / 30th March 2015 / Band, Music, Thoughts / 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

Coming of age..

Getting ready to unleash hell!

Getting ready to unleash hell!

It’s become a total musical cliche to talk about ‘that difficult second album’ – when would-be songwriters are faced with something other than drawing upon all their life experiences to date to pour into a debut album.  With Ferocious Dog, given the slow-burn development from covers to own material to recording, then this task might seem even more gargantuan.  Whilst the recordings are still the preserve of the select few until mixed, pressed and released – the first showing of the new stuff at Bodega last night bodes very well indeed!

Spending most of the gig in the eye of the mosh pit storm it’s nigh on impossible to appreciate the subtleties that undoubtedly exist in the new material.  Fecking fast and energetic would be the easiest nutshell summary.  It was frenetic, crafted and loud – my ears are still ringing!  It makes the arrival of the forthcoming album all the more eagerly anticipated to me to get a chance to get a bit more up close and personal with the new songs.

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Freeborn Al / 8th March 2015 / Band, Gigs, Hell Hounds, Music, Other Bands / 0 Comments