Ferocious Dog performing their From Without Tour at Rock City Nottingham on Saturday 28th November 2015


Images and Review by Kevin Cooper

If you want to celebrate your 35th anniversary in a big way, then invite Ferocious Dog to the party, and that is exactly what Rock City did last night. Touring to promote their latest album, From Without, this six piece folk-punk band from Warsop, showcased it to a boisterous capacity crowd.

With a rapidly growing fan base, their last gig at The Bodega sold out within 22 minutes. So it is little wonder that their strong and ever loyal followers are affectionately known as the Hellhounds.

Coming on stage to opener Gallows Justice, lead singer Ken Bonsall wore a shirt bearing a dedication to his late son Lee, who unfortunately committed suicide after coming home from a tour of Afghanistan. An emotional dedication from Ken silenced the crowd, before they delivered well known tracks from their first album, Lee’s Tune, Too Late and Verse For Lee.

Drawing in a wide range of musical styles, this very talented band treated us to a reggae inspired Freeborn John, and a gentle solo banjo on The Glass. There were new tracks, Poor Angry And Young, and Ruby Bridges which were also very well received, but it was the old classics Criminal Justice, Hellhounds, and Slow Motion Suicide which had these appreciative fans hanging onto every word.

With a cacophony of sound from their use of guitars, a banjo, a mandolin, drums and a fiddle, their strong Celtic influences were there for all to see. It was just pure entertainment as this very popular band led us through their set list with fun, vigour and fervour, and all the time the spikey haircut sported by Ken never moved once.

With an encore of the very popular Layla, the party came to an end all too soon. But to remind us of his commitment to raise funds in memory of not only his son, but all ex-service men who suffer from PTSD, after the show the band met with their fans to sign merchandise, together with the odd body part. With their fans exhausted, delighted, and some slightly inebriated, a good time had well and truly been had by all. That is always the sign of a good party.