Ferocious Dog

Ferocious Dog

Ferocious Dog on stage at Rock City, Nottingham, November 2015.
Background information
Origin Warsop, Nottinghamshire
Genres Folk punk, Ska
Years active c.1988-present
Labels Independent
Website ferociousdog.co.uk
Members Ken Bonsall
Dan Booth
Leslie Carter
Ellis Waring
John Alexander
Scott Walters

Ferocious Dog are a folk-punk/ska band from Warsop, Nottinghamshire. The band has performed national tours of the UK, Europe and even an appearance in Dubai,[1] festivals such as Bearded Theory, Alchemy, Deerstock, Farmer Phil's, Splendour and Beautiful Days,[2] and support slots on tours with New Model Army, Levellers and The Wonder Stuff.[3] In 2015 the band played in the Field of Avalon at Glastonbury Festival.,[4] attracting the third largest crowd to the stage over the course of the weekend.

The band released a number of EPs before a first full-length album on Weird Sounds in 2013, described by Louder Than War as "startlingly good, and so it should be, it’s been many years in the making".[5] The album has been reviewed positively in both folk[6][7] and metal[1] sources.

On 11 February 2015 Ferocious Dog announced that they would be releasing a second album, From Without,[8] this was funded by fans pre-ordering the album in advance. It was produced by Matt Terry and mastered by Al Scott. It was released in October 2015 after single releases of Ruby Bridges in June 2015 and Slow Motion Suicide in August 2015.

Touring the new material started at The Bodega in Nottingham on 7 March 2015, the first live appearance with the new line up including Leslie Carter on guitar and Scott Walters on drums - it sold out in 22 minutes.[9] This kicked off a busy year of touring and festivals, culminating in a sell-out home town gig at iconic venue Rock City in Nottingham. Ferocious Dog are the first independent act to sell-out the venue in its 35-year history.[10] The band encouraged those attending to bring items for a local food bank to the gig, completely swamping the room Rock City had put aside to store them in the process. The gig was filmed and recorded, and a live CD and DVD is already in the works, funded again by fans ordering in advance.

In February 2016 the band announced an acoustic version of From Without was in the planning stages, once again funded by fans pre-ordering the project.[11]

Discography

Albums

EPs and Singles

Members

Current members

Former Members

Fans

Fans of Ferocious Dog are affectionately referred to as Hell Hounds - taking their name from the Ferocious Dog song. They have a growing renown for lively mosh pits and increasingly elaborate stacking routines during the bands performances. Many of them have been tattooed with the Ferocious Dog fighting dogs logo by none other than lead singer Ken Bonsall himself, a former coal miner who now operates as a tattoo artist.

Lee Bonsall

Pivotal to the ethos and drive of Ferocious Dog is the sad fate of Ken's son Lee. Lee served in Afghanistan from the age of 18, and upon rejoining civilian life took his own life in 2012 at the age of just 24, unable to overcome the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder he was suffering from stemming from one of his friends being killed by a sniper. Lee is commemorated in the songs The Glass, Lee's Tune and A Verse for Lee on their first album. This gave rise to The Lee Bonsall Memorial Fund[12] which is a constant focus for fundraising and awareness building by the band. Lee's story was featured in the BBC documentary Broken by Battle.[13] Lee actually gave the band their name as a child.

External links

References

  1. 1 2 Kane, Phil. "Ferocious Dog". metaltalk.com. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  2. ↑ "2014 Line up". Beautiful Days festival. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "600 Follow Ferocious Dog At Music Festival". The Chesterfield Post. 2 September 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  4. ↑ "Glastonbury 2015 line up". The Guardian. 2 Jun 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  5. ↑ Suttie, Nyika. "Ferocious Dog – interview and album review". Louder Than War. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  6. ↑ Carroll, Tim. "‘Ferocious Dog’ - straight from the heart and not for the faint hearted". Folk Words. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  7. ↑ Woodroffe, Rosamund. "Ferocious Dog review". Bright Young Folk.
  8. ↑ "Ferocious Dog". Facebook. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  9. ↑ "Ferocious Dog interview". Nottingham Live. 5 Mar 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "Live Review: Ferocious Dog, Rock City (28/11/15)". Impact Magazine. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
  11. ↑ "Ferocious Dog - Timeline Photos | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
  12. ↑ "Lee Bonsall memorial fund | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
  13. ↑ djonesdoc (2013-09-15), BBC Panorama 2013 Broken by Battle, retrieved 2016-02-04
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