ferocious dog – Page 8 – Ferocious Blog

Peace in the valleys.. not!

I hadn’t really got that excited about this gig, other things going on in our family meant it rather snuck up on me. But once we’d got in the car and underway at lunchtime on Saturday I must admit I was gearing up for a good mosh, it’s been a long time since Rock City after all. Even the increasingly awful weather and occasional aqua-planing down the roads didn’t dampen my enthusiasm. Ella chose to use the trip to start to testing out her Go-Pro (video below), an experiment that was curtailed by a technical glitch, but shows some real promise for a fun way of documenting gigs and festivals.

Despite the rubbish weather it was a clear run through to Cardiff and a pretty easy job to get parked up and checked into our hotel. Opting to have a bit of chill time we’d noticed the rain had stopped a bit, which was cause for optimism. Alas, by the time we were ready to emerge it was once again pissing it down – after a bit of a wander we found (after a couple of attempts) Hopbunker. It had been recommended to us on Facebook by fellow Hell Hounds Martin and Diane, who work there and are very proud of their bar.

And with good reason – just opposite the castle and down some stairs you’ll find a grotto of real ales, craft ales and ciders – but without the wanky pretentions that seem to attach to such bars in my experience. A fun relaxed atmosphere, and just £3 a pint from a fine selection of pumps – I tried a pint of Ella (had to be done didn’t it?) a Ginger beer and an IPA whose name escapes be before switching to Reveller cider – which was lovely. Dave and Sally arrived with us, and countless folks of a Ferocious Dog persuasion followed. Once the Rugby was over the bar was awash with Ferocious Dog related music. Highly recommended pub if you find yourself in Cardiff, and the urinals in the gents were a work of genius – and alas, the only thing I took a photo of in there!

(more…)

Freeborn Al / 7th February 2016 / Band, Gigs, Hell Hounds, Lee Bonsall, Music, Other Bands, Photos, Videos / 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..

Hopefully 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!

(more…)

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

2015 – The year of the Dog..

Okay, so Ferocious Dog have been around a little longer – but this last year has felt rather like a landmark. And not just because back in February it’s when Ferocious Blog was born, ha! The lead up to a new year is traditionally a time for reflecting back on the year just gone and looking forward to the next one, so I figured it’d be nice to trawl back through the months and pull out a highlight or two for each month of 2015, it will be tough to pick just one or two so feel free to chip in your own in the comments – despite my best efforts I didn’t quite make it to every Ferocious Dog gig in the year!

January 2015 – a light month, Ferocious Blog was yet to be created (although it had been an idea kicking around in my head for at least a couple of years). Checking my calendar and personal blog doesn’t reveal much at all in the way of Ferocious Dog activity – we’d have been still basking in the warm glow of Dogfest back in December – I latterly discovered that a 3 Piece Acoustic performance took place in honour of Ella’s 21st birthday in this month, but alas I didn’t know Snotty at this juncture!

February 2015 – the blog is born after an acoustic appearance by Ken and Dan at the Brown Cow in Mansfield. Seldom has one of Sam’s nights had such a huge crowd packed in. The demand for the event was the perfect excuse to arrive early and chat nonsense with friends for the afternoon. An afternoon of drinking had taken its toll on Dean who for the first time decreed I needed to get up and surf in his place – a great way to start what became a year of extreme ‘dogging’. These smaller intimate gigs are as enjoyable for me as the bigger and bolder shows that are to follow. We were first introduced to Scott at this appearance too.

(more…)

Freeborn Al / 30th December 2015 / Band, Gigs, Hell Hounds, Music, Other Bands, Photos, Thoughts

The not so Jingle Bell Ball..

Just how do you follow up a sell-out show these days? Well, two consecutive sell-out shows in Kenny’s case, well – Ken and Dan gave up their time for free to support a charity event set up by Georgi and Heather from Chesterfield College. They were raising money and awareness for FairPlay, who support children and young adults with disabilities or other needs across the North Derbyshire area, as part of their Health and Social Care studies. So far their fundraising total is over £900 – which is awesome, huge well done!

I didn’t think I was going to be able to make it to the event at Chesterfield’s Proact Stadium but as work took me to Leeds on the day it seemed like providence as that made the gig pretty much on the way home. So upon leaving our office just north of Leeds into the mysterious and misty weather it turned out the M1 was a bit of a nightmare – my sat nav came up trumps and diverted me round the back of Meadowhall and through a labyrinthine route around the backstreets of Rotherham and Sheffield to eventually spit me out on the road to Chesterfield past Dronfield.

Now as a proud Stag being asked to play at the home of the Spireites is a big ask for Ken. It’s a new ground so it’s very shiny – and The Spires restaurant is a cracking venue, it was going to be a bit odd being at a Ferocious Dog gig – albeit a two-piece one – and sat in dinner party table arrangements! Whilst Ken and Dan were sound checking I settled on a table with Karen, Bev, Emma, Jamie and Dylan – it was good to have a natter, and coo over Lacey-Lee a bit who was with Leanne and family on the next table.

(more…)

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

True, Fast and (mostly) balanced..

Nights like last night are the kind of occasions that you simply won’t forget – to coin a phrase from one of the acts in question, I can’t stand the thought of lying on my death bed with regrets, but I’m pretty sure this evening’s fun and games will be one that I relive when that time comes. Okay, a bit morbid, sorry. For a mere £8 something Andrea had bagged not just Funke and the Two Tone Baby and Gaz Brookfield, but Maelor Hughes and Ken Bonsall in a Ferocious Dog one-piece guise too.

Any one of those acts in my admittedly slightly biased opinion are worth that fee – throw in a bonus song from Brian Stone, the awesome Rock and Blues venue in Barnsley and friends too numerous to count in attendance and I don’t think I’m exaggerating at all to say it’s one of my favourite gigs of this year. Ella and I headed up to Barnsley from Loughborough and had treated ourselves to an inexpensive Premier Inn room a ten minute stagger down the road, and were soon battling through the wind to get there.

Upon getting into the venue and wrist banded up it was already pretty full of familiar faces, we had plenty of time for mingling and getting a few drinks down us before the doors to the venue proper were opened. Maelor was up first with a slightly poorly throat – it didn’t take away from a top opening set though, Morning Sun was the second song in, by the time he’d moved into Better Day the crowd were already shouting the ‘Oi Oi’ bits without him asking them to, he treated us to Won’t Fight Your War before offering us the bonus of a guest appearance.

(more…)

Freeborn Al / 12th December 2015 / Band, Gigs, Hell Hounds, Music, Other Bands, Photos, Videos / 0 Comments

Weston-Super-Stars..

The day for us started in Doncaster post-Levelling. We’d arranged to meet Becky, Pete and Rachel in a Toby Carvery for a spot of all you can eat breakfast. Unfortunately we hadn’t clarified brilliantly which one, so the Hotel Campanile crew all piled into the wrong one – a quick google later we’d located the right one and headed there for a plate full of greasy goodness to stave off potential hangovers. It was a nice way to start the day off reminiscing over a great evening, not least updating the non-Campanile folk of cheese-party disclosures.

Best still, as a potential neat sideline for the MeadEvil bar, Pete had been sourcing some drinking horns – after expressing my excitement about owning such a vessel they very kindly gifted one to me. So that shall be making plenty of appearances at festivals next year – mmm, meeeead! I just need some kind of holster for it, or maybe my Dogfest lanyard thing will do the job! Perhaps I should’ve thought a bit more about the photo I posted on Facebook that John must’ve spent all of five minutes gleefully ‘adjusting’ with, well, I was going to say Photoshop but I think it might’ve been MS Paint – haha! I’ve not used that picture in here!

Then for Ella and I it was time for goodbyes and hitting the road to Weston-Super-Mare via Donny station where Andrea joined our merry road trip to go to The Leylines christmas party. We had a pretty clear run all the way down, arriving at the windswept town with plenty of time to get checked in. Andrea’s hotel had free parking so we used that – she checked in to Room 101 initially, but swapped it for one with a sea view, in the meantime we were just round the corner in a different hotel which was pretty comfortable too!

(more…)

Freeborn Al / 6th December 2015 / Gigs, Music, Other Bands, Photos / 0 Comments

Dogfest 2016 – going, going… gone!

If you blinked you might’ve missed the window of opportunity for ordering tickets for Dogfest 2016 which went on sale shortly after the Rock City gig. Dan announced on Facebook he was putting on sale the remainder of the tickets for the event on 13th February 2016 – which will once again be hosted at The Black Market Venue in Warsop – and it’s now officially sold out in a matter of days.

The line-up is all but confirmed – with one slot remaining for prospective bands to vie for – there’s been some amazing suggestions on the thread in the Facebook group already, so if any of those are successful in getting the final place it’ll be a fine addition to what is already a stellar line-up. Gaz Brookfield isn’t available for the date sadly, although y’know, you need to mix it up a bit – he’s done the last two Dogfests after all!

Quite a change from the first Dogfest I attended back in 2012 – that definitely wasn’t a sell out, and my own attitude was less committed too. We hotfooted it up mainly to see Ferocious Dog finish the day off having been at the football in the afternoon. Fast forward to 2013 and there was merchandise and a lot more people, 2014 I think was sold out and amazing, of course 2015 was skipped to make way for Rock City and a change of date for February in 2016.

(more…)

Freeborn Al / 2nd December 2015 / Band, Gigs, Music, Other Bands, Photos / 0 Comments

Fly on the wall..

Over the last year I’ve been privileged and humbled by the fly on the wall opportunities I’ve been afforded by the band. Last week I was lucky enough to join them in the rehearsal studio after a day of exploring then driving back from Clitheroe to get a sneak preview of some of the treats in store for Rock City. Of course, I couldn’t write about it then as it would’ve spoiled some of the surprises – but I can now!

It is a small glimpse into the work that happens behind the scenes from the band – after a gruelling three days with Ken suffering from what turned out to be laryngitis it was essential they got some time in to run through some of the finer details. Les and Scott had never played Pocket full of Madness before, John had a few times and the rest of the band hadn’t played it in ages (nor had Kyle!).

Whilst Chloe and Megan had worked out their dance routine it was important to get a chance to practice with the band – timings between live and recorded songs can differ quite dramatically, and then of course there was the extended version of Freeborn John to work through with The Afterdark Movement rapper Bru-C (as an aside, since then I’ve been listening to a bit of The Afterdark Movement and I really like it (aside from referring to my favourite football team as Notts Forest – haha!)).

(more…)

Freeborn Al / 30th November 2015 / Band, Music, Photos, Thoughts, Videos / 0 Comments