GIG REVIEW: Ferocious Dog + Dan Donnelly @ The Fire Station, Sunderland, Friday 26 April 2024
Almost two years after wowing the crowd at Kubix Festival in Sunderland, Ferocious Dog are back for their first headline show in the city.
It’s only six months since the six piece from Warsop in Nottinghamshire played a few miles away in Newcastle (reviewed here), but they have a devoted following up here in the North East.
This isn’t any old show either; Ferocious Dog have a new album, Kleptocracy, out on Graphite Records on 17 May, and this is a warm-up show for both the tour which accompanies it and their Scotland Calling set the next day.
First things first; Ferocious Dog are unashamedly influenced by Levellers, so it’s quite fitting that tonight’s show is opened by Dan Donnelly, who’s now a member of the folk-punk legends after serving his time with the likes of Watercress, the Celtic Social Club and The Wonder Stuff.
He hasn’t come far to be here; he manages The Peacock, the pub and live music venue next door, with his business partner Barry Hyde from local indie legends The Futureheads. His short set of acoustic folk-rock slips down nicely as an appetiser for the main event.
Ferocious Dog’s fanatical fans the Hell Hounds are out in force, ready to give their heroes a warm welcome, and they start in style with Haulaway Joe, one of the standout songs from their last album, The Hope.
Released in 2021, it missed out on making the UK Top 30 by just one position – an impressive achievement for a DIY band whose popularity has largely been built on hard touring and word of mouth.
Several more of its tracks make the setlist tonight; Pentrich Rising is up next, and we’re also treated to Slayed The Traveller, Punk Police and Parting Glass from this most rewarding of albums.
Ferocious Dog’s self-titled debut album got a very welcome re-release last year for its 10th anniversary (reviewed here). It’s well represented too, with live staples like Too Late, Freeborn John, Pocket Of Madness and Mairi’s Wedding Pt II.
Another old favourite, Hell Hounds, is dedicated to the fans, and we get a couple of covers – a spirited take on the traditional anti-war song Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya, and The Pogues’ Paddy On The Railway.
With a new album on the way we’re treated to a trio of new songs, with the pick of them being lead single Sus Laws, with violinist Jamie Burney’s gentle intro paving the way for a lively anti-discrimination song with a catchy chorus of “more blacks, more dogs, more Irish”.
A Place We Call Home and Blood Soaked Shores from the new record also get an airing, and they’re greeted like old favourites by the fans. Ken Bonsall, on acoustic guitar and vocals, is a consumate frontman, covering every inch of the stage as he and his band fire through their 90-minute set, which, as usual, has no fake encores – they just play through.
This line-up of Ferocious Dog is a fairly new one, with four of the other five members only joining (or rejoining in guitarist Kyle Peters’ case) in 2022, with talented multi-instrumentalist Sam Wood a relative veteran, having enlisted a year earlier.
Though the musicians might have changed, the band’s ethos hasn’t, and they are preaching to the converted with their songs about social, political and personal issues.
Broken Soldier, from The Hope, vies for best song of the night with the closing Slow Motion Suicide, which brings the show to a tumultous close. But no one heads home quite yet, as they know what’s coming next.
After the band take their bows Ken returns to lead the crowd through a hugely enjoyable singalong to cartoon-punk classic Nellie the Elephant as it’s played over the PA. In the city which spawned its makers The Toy Dolls, it’s never seemed more appropriate. While this might be Ferocious Dog’s first headline show in Sunderland, I’m sure it won’t be the last.
- Ferocious Dog’s Kleptocracy album tour starts in earnest on May 17 at the 100 Club in London, concluding on June 9 at Blackpool Tower. Tickets are available HERE.
