{"id":7171,"date":"2019-08-09T05:00:29","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T05:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=7171"},"modified":"2019-08-09T06:06:01","modified_gmt":"2019-08-09T06:06:01","slug":"tylas-dogs-damour-the-dirty-strangers-york-the-fulford-arms-1st-august-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=7171","title":{"rendered":"Tyla\u2019s Dogs D\u2019Amour \/The Dirty Strangers \u2013 York, The Fulford Arms \u2013 1st August 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Christened as \u2018A Long Weekend Of Empty Bottles\u2019, Tyla and his Dogs announced a short run of dates celebrating the 30th<\/sup> anniversary of \u2018A Graveyard Of Empty Bottles\u2019 recently. Dates in York and Birmingham to be special shows previewing acoustic and electric shows that will form part of the following two nights of celebration in London.<\/p>\n

Classed by some as the best acoustic album ever released (me included), \u2018A Graveyard Of Empty Bottles\u2019 is a timeless snapshot of the classic Dogs D\u2019amour line up at their peak. Recorded in December 1988 over a 10 day period, the album captures the essence of a band riding on the tail end of a whirlwind year and the comedown that followed a sold out, end of the year Astoria show.<\/p>\n

The 8 song collection of \u2018soft songs for hard people\u2019 has recently been re- recorded by the current Dogs D\u2019amour line up, and while I initially gave it a wide birth, I have to say the new version does bring something fresh to a bunch of songs I always felt should not be tampered with. In fact, I liked it enough in the lead up to this gig, that I only went and purchased the vinyl for the collection.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Joining the band on this little adventure are London\u2019s finest rock \u2018n\u2019 roll reprobates The Dirty Strangers. Still led by loveable rogue Alan Clayton, a man with more Rolling Stones connections than Mick Jagger\u2019s heart surgeon. In fact Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards both played on their debut album back in 1987, they even roped in The Damned\u2019s Brian James and Joe Brown along the way too.<\/p>\n

The four-piece band play no-frills, dirty rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, just the way it should be played. The singer, dressed in a stripy top and pork pie hat, a telecaster slung over his lanky frame, leads his band through a selection of bar-room boogie rock \u2018n\u2019 roll. The raw and unadulterated twelve-bar boogie of \u2018Bad Girls\u2019, with its \u201cwoo-hoo\u2019s\u201d hollering and some tinkling of the ivories sounds great and the low slung rock \u2018n\u2019 roll of \u2018Are You Satisfied?\u2019 goes down a charm. The singer and bassist share a mic for vocals on several songs in full Jagger & Richards style. And it doesn\u2019t get more rock \u2018n\u2019 roll than \u2018Gold Cortina\u2019 does it? Full of cheeky cockney charm and rock \u2018n\u2019 roll swagger, The Dirty Strangers were the perfect band to open proceedings tonight. Great stuff indeed.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Fulford Arms is classed as a hometown show for Tyla and The Dogs these days. It\u2019s intimate, it\u2019s packed and it\u2019s hot… very hot. The band is playing two sets tonight, one acoustic and one electric, the anticipation is high and the atmosphere is electric.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho gave him a mic?\u201d says Tyla, as drummer Simon starts with the piss-taking before the singer has even picked up his acoustic guitar. The joking continues for most of the night. With the band perched on barstools they launch straight into \u2018Comfort Of The Devil\u2019 followed by the fantastic \u2018I Think It\u2019s Love Again\u2019. With the full band treatment these versions of \u2018Graveyard..\u2019 tracks are heavier and slower, but still contain those great infectious melodies. The latter particularly benefits from the updated treatment, it\u2019s the little nuances in the arrangements, like where the band hold the note in the chorus just that little bit longer. It sounds ace.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This band have been a unit for a good few years now, live and in the studio, and it shows. The camaraderie and ability is second to none. Tyla plays acoustic, to his right guitarist Gaz rips on a telecaster and to his left the ever cool, vampiric Matty James, all dressed in black, doesn\u2019t even break into a sweat on bass. The guys watch their leader for cues, they play off each other to perfection.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard a few of these songs live before, but never all of them together, what a treat to behold! \u2018Saviour\u2019 is transformed from heartfelt balladry to a more bluesy, rock \u2018n\u2019 roll groover with added tinkling of the ivories and \u2018Angel\u2019 is still the sing a long hit single that never was.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The version of \u2018Bullet Proof Poet\u2019 they pull off tonight is simply stunning. An extended, tripped out version with Gaz ripping a killer solo. A song to get lost in, it\u2019s over in minutes, yet somehow, it feels like we\u2019ve been lost in it for hours.<\/p>\n

Tyla takes over on bass duties and Matty brings out the blues harp for a mesmerising, sweat-soaked blues workout. I think it was called \u2018Stealin\u2019 From The Devil\u2019? Correct me if I\u2019m wrong.<\/p>\n

A couple of killer tunes from last year\u2019s excellent return to form \u2018In Vino Veritas\u2019 album (namely \u2018I Don\u2019t Love Anyone\u2019 and \u2018Bottle Of Red\u2019) round off set one nicely. As Gaz suggests we all go outside to cool down while the guys prepare the stage for round 2.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tyla\u2019s bottle of red is on its last legs already as he straps on that iconic road worn Gretsch and strikes out the opening chords to \u2018Billy Two Rivers\u2019, the first of a small greatest hits set. Songs to sing a long to and songs to drink to, songs that soundtrack our youth and transition into adulthood. It\u2019s nice to see some younger dudes and dudettes in attendance, many who weren\u2019t even born when Tyla first hit the stages with these tunes.<\/p>\n

Classic follows classic, \u2018Last Bandit\u2019 is as amazing as ever, \u2018Firework Girl enthralls and induces goosebumps and \u2018How Come It Never Rains\u2019 is the ultimate drunk and sweaty sing along it was meant to be.<\/p>\n

By the time we get to \u2018I Don\u2019t Want You To Go\u2019 Tyla is visibly struggling in the heat, (as we all are) and finishes the last few songs perched on an amp. The red wine has all but gone and he looks ready for a nap. But he ain’t quite done yet. \u2018Satellite Kid\u2019 rounds off the hottest, sweatiest gig of the year so far as we all sing a long and smile for the final time this evening.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I feel very lucky to have witnessed this band in this venue multiple times. Every gig has been different, from various album celebrations to just good, old fashioned hits shows. Sometimes I\u2019ve been drunk, sometimes I\u2019ve been sober, but every time it has been a blast. Like a fine red wine Tyla\u2019s Dogs D\u2019amour get better each time I see them, I never take it for granted and I will always come back for more. At the end of the day, it\u2019s one of my favourite songwriters singing some of my favourite songs in my local watering hole. It doesn\u2019t get much better than that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Author: Ben Hughes<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Neil Vary Gig Photography<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christened as \u2018A Long Weekend Of Empty Bottles\u2019, Tyla and his Dogs announced a short run of dates celebrating the 30th anniversary of \u2018A Graveyard Of Empty Bottles\u2019 recently. Dates in York and Birmingham to be special shows previewing acoustic and electric shows that will form part of the following two nights of celebration in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7177,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[2914,726,2371,2915,1710,2913,186],"class_list":["post-7171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-review","tag-alan-clayton","tag-ben-hughes","tag-fulford-arms","tag-neil-vary-gig-photography","tag-rpm-online","tag-the-dirty-strangers","tag-tyla","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7171"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7269,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7171\/revisions\/7269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}