Ferocious Dog + Voodoo Radio.

After our last visit to Nuneaton back in July 2023 for a show which was billed as an afternoon of comedy, headlined by one of my all time favourite comedians at the time, Steve Hughes, we swore we’d never step foot back in the place again, and in all honesty, for the past 3 years, we’ve remained true to our word.

The day had already started off badly when the only pub we could find open was the kind of establishment frequented by the great unwashed that even the local Wetherspoon’s and Nisa Off-Licence refused to serve. Which was then followed by a rather expensive taxi ride to a remote barn in the middle of nowhere, the supposed venue for that afternoons event, and a real scene from the 1977 American classic horror movie The Hills Have Eyes if ever I’ve seen one.

Afternoon of comedy my arse!

First on stage was some Egyptian ‘comedian’ who was so unfunny and obviously out-and-out anti-English, I don’t even recall his name, nor would I want to for that matter. He was then followed by what I can only describe as an 80’s/90’s pop and rock karaoke singer who probably wouldn’t have fared much better in her local pub on a Saturday afternoon.

She was then followed by the man himself, the one advertised as the headline act, Steve Hughes. A comedian I had waited years to see live, but also a comedian, and a man, who unfortunately at the time was now a shadow of the comedian and the man he used to be following a number of personal health issues. Yeah! we laughed a few times, but that was about it. His new material just wasn’t landing well. To say I was a little gutted would be one Hell of an understatement.

Turns out however, that Steve Hughes wasn’t the headline act at all that day… No! Far from it in fact… there was one more segment of the afternoon to follow. Something none of us had, or would ever have expected.

A well renowned top class comedian perhaps? One who’d topped the bills nationwide and could be seen on TV every other week? Or perhaps an A-list celebrity trying out comedy for the first time?… No! None of the above… what we had to look forward to was none other than some bloke named Bob, doing a motivational speech on car finance and it’s legalities… I kid you not!… The headline act wasn’t a comedian at all. It was Bob Sells Cars. You just couldn’t make it up. Talk about a brain washed captive audience.

A crap, surreal, and expensive day with people we once considered friends, but who shortly afterwards decided to show their true colours and became, and will forever remain, completely insignificant in our lives. But that’s a completely different story.

So what brought us back to Nuneaton this time? Was it to revisit that wonderful drinking establishment again, with it’s sticky floors, out of order gents toilet, and not one full set of teeth between it’s regular customers. Or was it to revisit that barn in the middle of nowhere in the hope of landing a role in the next low-budget cult horror movie to go straight to DVD?

No, of course not! If anything was ever going to get us back to Nuneaton, it was the mighty Ferocious Dog playing live as part of their last ever tour together. Our first of 4 shows in what on all accounts, promises to be a pure non-stop punk folk party.

Steve parked literally within spitting distance of the venue, and just a short walk to the local Wetherspoon’s as we all needed to eat before the gig.

As Wetherspoon’s pubs go, it really wasn’t that bad. The Guinness was good, the food was good, the staff were friendly, the service second to none, and it was easy to see why the customers from the afore mentioned pub from 3 years ago didn’t appear to be welcome there.

After filling our belly’s, we made our way back to The Crew, the bar which sits beneath the Queen’s Hall (a new venue for us). And what a bar it is. 100% rock! It’s wooden walls and black painted ceilings covered in nothing but rock, metal, and punk memorabilia, posters, flyers, photographs, even one of Slash’s guitars and Steve Harris’s bass guitars (amongst others) encased in pride of place… What a place, a definitely one we’ll be visiting again, gig or no gig.

After a couple more pints of Guinness, we headed upstairs to the venue. Yes, stairs? Not the word I really want to hear when I struggle to walk even on flat surfaces at the best of times, but it wasn’t too bad, and they weren’t as steep as at some venues. Unfortunately however, this wasn’t the end of the accessibility issues, as when we actually got into the room, there was no seating available what-so-ever, but this was easily sorted out when Sonia went and asked a member of staff for a chair of some description, who was only too accommodating and gave her a folding stool for me to perch my fat ass on, whilst Steve went to the bar, and I went and made a donation, though not to a fruit machine this time, but to the local food bank. Something which is done at every Ferocious Dog gig.

We made our way straight to the front of the stage, my stool obviously against the wall at the very end of the stage, stage right, so as not to get in anyone’s way, and waited for the first act.

It had been exactly 1 year to the day since we’d last seen Voodoo Radio play live at The Robin in Bilston. Funnily enough, also supporting Ferocious Dog that night as well.

If you’ve never seen this father daughter punk duo before, do yourselves a massive favour and check them out. They’re not just excellent musicians, they’re funny with it, no matter how many times you hear drummer/vocalist Paige utter those mortal words “He’s not mi boyfriend, he’s mi dad”. And what other bands can you name that write their set lists on the back of an old Gregg’s paper bag, and actually get a Gregg’s delivered direct to them during their set?

It’s not just how good Paige and her dad Tony are on stage either. They’re genuinely nice people who take the time to talk to, and engage with their audience. And whether you like it or not, Paige will almost certainly get you panting like a dog and using your hands for ears at some point during the set. It’s inevitable… She may call it audience participation… but I call it sorcery.

After a short interval, it was time for Ferocious Dog to hit the stage for our first of four FD gigs on this, their last ever tour, which wraps up with what is affectionately known as their AGM at Nottingham Rock City on the 28^th November. The last Ferocious Dog gig ever. A gig that sold out within a matter of hours, and which will no doubt prove to be a fantastic, but very emotional event for both the band and us Hell Hounds alike.

Being front of stage of course gave us the opportunity to check out FD’s set list before they even came on, and as great a 2 hour set it was obviously going to be, I was a bit saddened to see a few of my favourite tracks missing. But I guess when you have such an extensive back catalogue to choose from as FD do, it’s impossible to play them all, and they can’t always please everyone all of the time.

One thing that is always guaranteed at any FD gig though, is the fact that room would be bouncing, and Sunday night was no exception.

From the very front of the stage, to the very back of the venue, people of all ages were dancing around, bouncing up and down, and on more than one occasion, a small mosh pit and even a circle pit broke out in front of the stage, as the band blasted through their set. An overzealous member of security rushing over to demand that a woman in the audience climb down from her partners shoulders, only for Ken (lead vocals/guitar) to stop the show in order to inform him that the venue had already said this wouldn’t be a problem. He soon apologised and scurried off back to his little perch at the side of the stage where he continued to keep an eye out for anyone else who’s fun he could try and ruin, but after Ken’s little intervention, he obviously decided it was probably best to chill out a little and let the paying guests enjoy their night.

By this point, I’d given up on the Guinness as I was starting to find it a little heavy, irrespective of how nice it was, and had replaced it with cans of Cherry flavoured Hooch of all things. Why? I have no idea. It was nice, it was cold, and it was very refreshing. I just knew however that I was going to regret it in the morning (and of course, I was right).

One highlight of the night for me was watching the band all swap instruments and begin larking about on stage during one of their instrumental breaks, something I haven’t seen done since Iron Maiden did it live on the German TV show P.I.T back in 1987, in protest of having to lip-sync their classic track Wasted Years to a studio backing track, instead of singing it live on stage. I’m sure FD have probably done this at previous gigs, but this was the first time we’d seen them do it, and it just added that little extra humour to the night.

As soon as the set had sadly come to an end, and Ken had done his now legendary rendition of Nelly The Elephant, Sonia made a beeline for Nick (bass) and managed to blag his copy of the autographed set list which we had had our eye’s on all night, which he kindly handed to her, and will soon be framed and hung somewhere around the house at some point.

We said a quick hello/good night to both Jamie (violin), and Sam (multi-instrumental), and made our way out of the hall, where Sonia and I had a quick chat with Tony from Voodoo Radio, while Steve chatted away to Paige, before finally heading back to the car, which thankfully was still there, and in one piece. Result.

Another great night out. Another fantastic gig.

Roll on Sunday (18/10/26) when Sonia and I can do it all over again at The Waterloo in Blackpool, another new venue for us. But first off, we have The Quireboys at KK’s in Wolverhampton to look forward to.

It’s a hard life, but someone has to do it.