It’s approximately 8pm on a Friday night in Ramsgate. There don’t seem to be as many people milling around outside the Music Hall as usual. This seems odd given that, tonight, The Fierce And The Dead have sold out the venue on their second visit to the town. From the car park opposite, the sounds of a nearby pub cranking out ‘Up Where We Belong’ by Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes at a ridiculous volume with the sounds of avant garde sax from the Music Hall bleeding through – courtesy of the night’s supporting artist, Terry Edwards – creates a somewhat surreal experience.
A short time later, inside the venue, it’s clear that most people have stepped in early to watch Terry, even though what he does probably wouldn’t be considered a “crowd pleasing” act. Towards the end of his set, he plays a tune on a melodica (arguably the most ironically named of instruments) and plays muted trumpet over something that sounds like a backing track from The Utopia Strong. It’s not the most accessible of sounds, but several people are enjoying it. More importantly, Edwards will really come into his own shortly when making a guest appearance with the night’s headliners…
At 9:15 sharp, guitarists Matt Stevens and Steve Cleaton, drummer Stuart Marshall and bassist/vocalist Kevin Feazey step onto the small stage and tune up. They’re a man down tonight; multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Tom Hunt (also of Orange Clocks; a member of TFATD since 2024) has been unable to tour this time around due to illness, but the quartet are going to make up for that with a lot of enthusiasm…and at times, a volume that the small venue only just manages to sustain. Halfway through the opening number ‘Loungeside’, it’s clear TFATD might just be the loudest band to grace the Music Hall stage since Red Snapper’s first appearance in 2023. Kevin’s bass sounds like a truck, and Steve’s guitar has a huge presence; so much so that the bulk of the music buries the vocal. It doesn’t dampen anyone’s spirits, however, and at least half the crowd are so invested in the new LP – the stronger of their two “song based” records available at the time of this gig – that it’s more than clear what the band are playing, even if some of the small details are lost along the way. The first of the night’s tracks from 2024’s ‘News From The Invisible World’, ‘Shake The Jar’, really comes to life via its groove-laden riff, on this occasion sounding incredibly heavy, giving vocalist Kev plenty of opportunity to put some vocal weight behind the performance. This will soon be outshone by an absolutely devastating rendition of ‘Wonderful’ where the band’s dual guitar attack really hits hard and a hooky chorus finds pockets of the crowd in shouty form, but for now, the band have clearly hit their stride, and despite just being a couple of songs into their planned set, their stage presence has already been hugely enhanced by a selection of 3D visual projections created by Lucy Foster for what will be a unique show.
A step back into the ‘Regional Theatre’ offers a punchy ‘Thrash’. A few sound quality issues means that some of Matt’s more intricate riffs get lost, but it’s great to hear Stu really locking down a great rhythm, and the small venue allows for an up close opportunity to watch a superb drummer at work. A sharp mood change into the melodic goth influences that drive ‘Somehow’ shows how much of a varied bag of influences the current Fierce/Dead manage to pull from – they’ve grown so much since their earliest post-rock/oddball prog days – and the softer arrangement puts Matt more in the spotlight for the first time tonight as he pierces Kevin’s hard edged bass riffs with shimmering tones that not only call back to parts of his solo catalogue, but also some late 80s sounds from the 4AD label. It isn’t quite as effective as its studio counterpart, but definitely creates one of tonight’s highlights.
For the older fans, a solid version of ‘Flint’ brings a great melodic slant to a heavier sounding set, and without the vocal, the music has far more clarity – despite having a more “traditional” set up, it’s clear that tonight’s sound mix has been set more in favour of the instrumental numbers – and the interplay between Matt and Steve is great. This has the potential to eclipse the main set’s other nod to a pre-‘Euphoric’ Fierce/Dead thanks to a warm bass riff sounding almost perfect against a terrific drum part. That said, a rendition of ‘Andy Fox’ – played for the first time with Terry Edwards on sax – sounds brilliant, and the band clearly love having their old collaborator on stage with them. It would certainly be a treat for other fans to witness this at other shows, should schedules permit.
Elsewhere in the set, a very distorted ‘1234’ attacks in a way that the studio recording can only hint at, and the bass is so heavy, it masks half of the vocal and Matt’s guitar once more.As with the earlier moments tonight presenting TFATD at their most fierce, this doesn’t appear to hamper anyone’s overall enjoyment. …And although that track sounds weighty, it’s soon eclipsed by a rendition of ‘Shake Hands & Exit’ which shows off the band in a full stoner vibe. The extra volume works for them, of course, and for the newer fans who’ve been attracted to ‘Regional Theatre’s more obvious nods to Kyuss and Queens of The Stone Age, this has likely created something that’ll provide a strong memory of an already fun set. The power in ‘Regional Theatre’s best numbers on this occasion makes both ‘Dream Sequence’ and ‘Hypernormalisation’ feel rather less impactful, but the band still very visibly give their all, while pockets of the crowd very clearly enjoy these new sounds.
Bigged up by Kevin as “the heavy metal section” of the set, a duo of speed driven tracks sound absolutely devastating, in the best possible way. Fan favourite ‘Magnet In Your Face’ allows the band to really cut loose on an uncompromising riff, and although for years this had pride of place as the band’s rockiest number, that honour now goes to the stoner rock meets Motorhead workout ‘Hey Nightmare’ which, tonight, goes down an absolute storm with most people at the front of the venue.
‘Golden Thread’ – a standout number from ‘News’ – opens with a bass sound that’s so heavy, the distortion hits like a punch to the throat, but with parts of the sound mix by now being a little more sympathetic to the band’s layered sound, the quieter verse works well enough, even if the chunkier parts of an enthusiastic performance are likely to leave the stronger impression once this is all over, while a more reflective ‘Nostalgia Now’ allows for a little more obvious band interplay. This is one of those numbers where the mellower vibes would’ve felt the benefit of Tom’s presence, but as it is, it brings the bulk of the main set to a thoughtful climax, before the band’s “breakthrough” track ‘Truck’ sounds as if it could take the roof off the venue. The bass riff is immense…and observing the people nearest the stage, it’s still clearly very much a fan favourite, despite TFATD now sounding like quite a different band.
A short encore brings a genuine surprise with a rare outing for ‘666…6’ – appearing live for the first time since 2022, when it had the honour of closing the sets at three different prog festivals. This trip back to the band’s earliest days and the ‘On VHS’ EP doesn’t have the impact of ‘Truck’ in terms of big finishes, yet it’s well received, and the track’s swaggering riff gives drummer Stuart another opportunity to deliver some superb rhythm work, while the twin guitars from Matt and Steve are given equal space in another somewhat meaty sound mix.
If there’s one thing tonight’s set proves, it’s how quickly The Fierce And The Dead have evolved as a band. With so much of the set devoted to the two vocal based albums and only one number from their breakthrough ‘The Euphoric’ present, and with the aid of Lucy’s brilliant visual creations, they bring a completely different vibe tonight compared to their previous visit to the Music Hall just two years earlier. And with almost all of their current album ‘Regional Theatre’ making an appearance in a solid set, it’s obvious that the band are even more proud of this new work. One thing seems very clear: the sell-out crowd – some of whom were definitely present when The Fierce And The Dead made their first appearance in Ramsgate back in 2024 – have had a fantastic time.
Words and band photo by Lee Realgone
Stuart Marshall photo by Katy
Fierce And The Dead gig poster by Lucy Foster
October 2026
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