You could say we are getting a bit spoilt here in York for Tyla related gigs in recent years. With The Fulford Arms being a spiritual home of sorts for the Wolverhampton wonderer and his band of ne’er do wells, a celebratory get together and sing-song has been an annual event in recent times. In fact, this will be the second time Tyla and his cohort Matty James Cassidy have played in York this year, as the duo played an intimate acoustic song & words style show a few months back at the Artful Dodger.

Anyway, let’s cut to the chase. Celebrating the release of an extensive 8 CD box set of The Dogs D’amour China years on Cherry Red Records, Tyla’s Dogs D’amour are doing a series of gigs across the country with Matty’s band in tow and the promise of a Balladmongrels set as well. 3 sets by 3 bands, a triple treat!

It’s the hottest day of the year so far, and yet it’s no real surprise that Matty James Cassidy takes to the stage head to toe in black, leather waistcoat and trilby included. The 3-piece band launch into a high energy set exploring the singer’s solo works. From the opening instrumental to the closing bars of ‘Up In Smoke’, it’s a low-slung punk rock affair with catchy hooks and killer riffs aplenty. Always one to engage the crowd, he gets some audience participation going with the ever-cool ‘Brand New You (Same old Me)’ which is always a fun highlight. Their enjoyable set is over quick as a flash, but rather than leave the stage Matty announces they have a few surprise guests who are going to join them. Bare-footed and with a glittery scarf wrapped around his tousled mane of hair, Tyla takes to the mic, joined by guitarist Gaz Pennick sporting a stripey t shirt, I’d say things are looking quite piratey. Which is quite fitting, as the band break into ‘Ballad Of The Knucklemen’ the opening track from last year’s Balladmongrels long player. It was the first song Tyla and Matty wrote for the project, so it’s a fitting opener. It sounds great live. Freed from the constraints of a guitar, Tyla sips from a pint of Guiness (he’s given up drinking you know!) and gesticulates with hand gestures, as Matty and the band jam out the Balladmongrels anthem.

Next up the emotive ballad ‘How The Beautiful Fall’ sounds great and then the high energy single ‘Trouble’ brings the heat up nicely and finished the band’s set.

While 3 songs is a tad disappointing, it was great to hear those songs live and with the added announcement that a follow up album has been recorded, it gives more hope for Balladmongrels live action again in the near future.

Following a break for the band and audience to cool off, The Dogs D’amour take to the stage. Matty on bass, Gaz on guitar and Ace Carlton on drums make up The Dogs D’amour 2024. “What’s French for deja vu?” quips Tyla before strumming the chords to ‘Billy Two Rivers’. What follows is a high energy set of classic songs, played by a killer band who know their shit. We all have our favourite Dogs tunes. You may have got drunk for the first time to ‘The State That I’m In’ or thrown up to ‘Drunk Like Me’, you may have had your first shag while ‘I Don’t Want You To Go’ or How Come It Never Rains’ played in the background. Or maybe you just laid on your bed and dreamed of being a pirate or a bank robber while the boombox blasted out ‘Last Bandit’. Yep, they played all those and more. The more emotive laid-back one-two from ‘Graveyard of Empty Bottles’; ‘I Think Its Love Again’ and ‘Bulletproof Poet’ were definite highlights, along with the bombastic rock of ‘Gypsy Blood’ and ‘What You Do’, even newer anthems such as ‘Bottle Of Red’ and ‘111’ go down well and sound like all time classics now. Hats off to Matty’s drummer Ace, who has also bashed the skins for The Spangles recently. He hits hard like Bam, which is no mean feat, and fits the band like a glove.

There’s comedy slapstick from the frontman between songs, he breaks a string and plays a song with no guitar and they finish with a killer version of ‘Erroll Flynn’.

We laughed, we sang, we sweated more than we drank. I’ve seen the Dogs quite a lot the past few years and they have been memorable shows for different reasons. This will go down as the hottest, one that showcased a glimpse of The Balladmongrels and one of the most enjoyable Dogs gigs I have witnessed.

Author: Ben Hughes