Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury shows for Ferocious Dog
Nottinghamshire punk folkers Ferocious Dog are coming back to Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury on their latest tour – and benefiting two good causes while here.
Supported by recent Unsigned column star, Kingswinford’s Jess Silk and Shropshire's former Unsigned star Paul Henshaw, the More Fake News Tour will appear at Wolverhampton’s Slade Rooms on Friday, before appearing at Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn on October 24.
Ferocious Dog have always tried to help out worthy causes with their live shows, with the latest beneficiaries being campaign group Safe Gigs For Women.
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A spokesperson said of the partnership: “There was an incident in the mosh pit at one of their gigs where a lady was hassled. She complained on social media and they let it be known this sort of behaviour would not be tolerated at their shows.”
They will be hosting collections for the group at their shows, as well as their usual collections for The Lee Bonsall Memorial Fund (TLBMF).
Lee, son of frontman Ken Bonsall and the brother of violinist Daniel Booth, committed suicide after struggling with PTSD after serving in Afghanistan in 2012.
Ken and his wife Karen set up and served at soup kitchens and food banks and found that a lot of veterans lived on the streets.
So TLBMF asks audience members for any donations that could help - food, clothes, etc. - to be brought along to the gigs. Donations are given to homeless charities in Derby, Nottingham and Mansfield.
“After going to watch I, Daniel Blake, which is a realistic depiction of life on benefits, it really pushed me on,” said Bonsall. “I felt we are missing a trick here, and we decided to start in Glasgow, which is a deprived city, really struggling. We had a brilliant response. I phoned up homeless charities and food banks and they came to take the food away”.
Since then, every gig is part of the food drop project.
Gig-goers can bring non-perishable food, blankets and toiletries to the shows, and representatives from food banks arrive to collect the goods. Sometimes it amounts to a van-full.
The tour will also be promoting their recently released Fake News And Propaganda album. Their sixth full-length release it has been receiving critical acclaim.
The band have for the past five years featured Wombourne-born bassist John Alexander among their line-up, meaning the Slade Rooms show is his homecoming too. He has featured on the last four studio albums, including Fake News And Propaganda, as well as their live DVDs and records and provided part of the rhythm section on countless tours and festivals - including twice at Glastonbury.
And despite the political nature of the music, Bonsall hopes people from all sides of party divides can come and enjoy their shows. “My politics are my politics,” he adds. “We’ll sing those songs about what we believe, but whatever side of the political divide you are from, we want you to feel welcome at an FD show.
“We always say you’re never alone at one of our gigs and that is the most important thing to us.”
Speaking about providing support for the show, singer-songwriter Silk added: "They’re a lovely bunch of guys and they always put on a fantastic show. There’s always an amazing energy in the room when you see them so I was ecstatic when they asked me to support them on the tour.
"I'm really looking forward to playing the Slade Rooms in Wolverhampton with them. I love the venue and it's my ‘hometown’ show on the tour so I've got a few mates coming down."
Paul Henshaw and the Scientific Simpletons are on the bill in Wolverhampton only to promote their forthcoming new album Five / Compass / Lighthouse out on November 1, which follows on from 2017's Fishing For Owls and 2018's Completum Est.
For tickets to either show, visit the Slade Rooms and Theatre Severn websites.
