GIG REVIEW: Ferocious Dog + Gimp Fist + Dead Wet Things @ The Fire Station, Sunderland, Saturday 16 August 2025
Ferocious Dog brought their political folk-punk to The Fire Station’s outdoor stage, The Parade Ground, as part of the Summer Parties 2025 series of gigs, and it’s fair to say they were on blazing form.
The crowd didn’t need much encouraging after the city’s football club marked their return to the Premier league after an eight-year absence with a thumping 3-0 win over West Ham United at the Stadium of Light that afternoon.
So to say anticipation was high by the time the Warsop six-piece took to the stage was an understatement, even if a show of hands suggested a surprising number of those in attendance were seeing them for the first time.
Frontman Red Ken Bonsall welcomed them all, whether they were first-timers or seeing his band for the umpteenth time, informing them that they were all now part of the Hell Hounds family. And what a gathering this was.
But first things first; the scene had been set by two opening bands, each with their own devoted following. First up were self-styled Sunderland ‘council estate scumbags’ Dead Wet Things, who are building a good local following with their chaotic brand of very modern punk.
They’ve released a series of one-off digital singles and a four-track EP over the last few years, but have yet to release a full-length album. That surely can’t be far away, as their 12-song set here contained no filler.
This is the third time I’ve seen them, and all eyes are on frontman Pablo Parker, who baits the crowd and revels in the afternoon’s football result. The Sunderland shirt proudly displayed on their bass drum is a give away that they’re fiercely proud to be Mackems, and doesn’t Pablo let us know it?
Searing guitar, throbbing basslines and driving drums are their trademark, and standout songs from their set include Skint, Camp Freddie and latest single Big Toilet Spenders & Weekend Offenders.
But it’s frontman Pablo who demands your attention, prowling the stage, often with can in hand, pausing now and then to gather his breath and take it all in. He’s enjoying the moment, and why not? His band are winning new followers every time they play, and the world seems to be their oyster.
The main support were Bishop Auckland trio Gimp Fist, whose anthemic street-punk has made them one of my favourite bands in recent years.
They’re celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, and this is the second time in a week I’ve seen them, as they were one of the many bands I enjoyed at Rebellion Punk festival in Blackpool last weekend.
Jonny, Chris and Mike sound great, and their 45-minute set is basically an extended version of the one they played at Rebellion. The quandary for a band 10 albums deep is what to leave out, rather than what to include.
They start with Place Where I Belong and include established Gimp classics like First In Line and Skinhead Not Bonehead. There’s a couple of newer songs, Fight In You and Losing Streak, and an older one, the reggae-inflected More War Stories, which has just been brought back into the set.
There’s a brand new song too, Sick & Tired, and it goes down well with the faithful who have gathered down the front, before the closing run of Heart Full Of Pride, (Marching) On & On and Here I Stand gets the moshpit moving, even if it’s not quite as lively as usual.
Time then for the headliners, and Ferocious Dog are one of those bands that once experienced, you’ll flock back to see again and again.
Formed as a covers duo in 1988, frontman ‘Red Ken’ Bonsall is the sole surviving original member. FD expanded into a band in 2010, and freshening things up by changing personnel now and then seems to be a factor in their success.
The current six-man line-up has been together since 2022, and they’re a well-oiled unit, moving up through the gears as they gather momentum through a 16-song set.
They immediately throw us a curveball by opening with Poor, Angry & Young, rather than regular opener Haul Away Joe (which is rested tonight), and follow it with Black Gold, which I’m not sure they’ve played in the half-dozen times I’ve seen them.
More familiar material is just round the corner though, with Freeborn John and Pentrich Rising soon thrown into the mix, and getting the Hell Hounds’ feet moving.
Ferocious Dog’s sound is based around the traditional set-up of guitar, bass and drums, with Ken on acoustic guitar and vocals. And they have not one but two secret weapons in their arsenal.
The first is multi-instrumentalist Sam Wood, who plays banjo, mandolin, bouzouki, guitar, accordion and whistles; the second is violinist Jamie Burney, who must be the happiest man I’ve ever seen on a stage.
He had the unenviable task of replacing founding fiddler Dan Booth a couple of years ago, but fits like a glove, and grins his way through the show as he stamps his own mark on the role.
Broken Soldier, from 2021’s breakthrough album The Hope, is a mid-set highlight, and it’s perhaps surprising that last year’s sixth long-player Kleptocracy only contributes two songs (Iron Mike Malloy and Sus Laws) to the night’s proceedings.
A raucous, breakneck version of the traditional song Paddy On The Railway, popularised by The Dubliners and The Pogues, lifts the energy to a new level, and the home run includes a rapturously-received Hell Hounds and Mairi’s Wedding II before the now-traditional closer Slow Motion Suicide – a song which never fails to leave a lump in the throat.
The band leave the stage to rapturous applause, but Ken stays behind, and so do most of the crowd, for they know what happens next – and it’s never seemed more appropriate. In the city where Olga and co made their name, the flat-capped frontman leads the audience through an exultant singalong to The Toy Dolls’ 1984 novelty hit Nellie The Elephant.
There are beaming smiles all around as the fun finally ends and we head for the exits. Football and Ferocious Dog have combined perfectly to make this a day Sunderland Music City won’t forget in a hurry.
