This is a massive two DVD set, a retrospective of the 2012 Full Moon Dog Festival which took place in Leeds in October. But it is so much more!
The main DVD of the gig has various live performances and in your face footage of the bands on the day plus many interviews with them and attending fans. Of course, this festival is in honour of Jay Jay Winter, a simply remarkable character who is sadly no longer with us. Throughout this DVD you will see and hear everyone who knew Jay Jay display a high level of admiration for the man.
Orange Goblin give a straight forward no nonsense interview, I don’t want to spoil it, you will have to buy this DVD to find out, much with all the bands really, but their live show features heavily. It is very down and dirty and looks to be a very sweaty business. I like Ben Wards survival kit…a beer brought on stage requires opening, out pops a bottle opener, nice. Mercenary (UK) were one of Jay Jay’s bands he liked back in the day, they played this festival exclusively to honour the man and boy do they sound hefty, vibrant and they clearly made an impression, well they do on me anyway whether you like the style of music or not. The interviews that occur throughout the day with these gents provide very genuine admiration and respect for the event and the person it is all for and they state “if anything daft was to do, then Jay Jay would do it”! Stuka Squadron (now Iron Knights) give a stripped down live show with singer James “Duke Fang” Begley interviewed previous to the show giving an insight into Jay Jay himself and you cannot tell me that that was just orange juice he was drinking either! Triaxis play straight from the hip and have an amazing female vocalist and clearly talented male lead guitarist who both rip the stage apart. Eliminator doesn’t seem to have a great sound but their track that features, ‘We Rule the Night’, is a definite anthem. Stiletto Farm and Screaming Eagles are closer than most to Jay Jay, they are young, enthusiastic and make a racket. The latter seem to be nervous, but that’s all part of the game. Dark Forest tears the venue apart with an excellent rendition of ‘Wizard of Alderley Edge’ and once again they prove why they are destined for greater things and out of the smaller bands featured during the day, they were noted by a few who attended as being very enjoyable. Onto Asomvel…Rob the frontman features quite heavily with candid shots and plenty of humour to boot but the most poignant moment on the DVD for me is at the end of Asomvel’s set where he is clearly emotional with Jay Jay’s bass placed centre stage for the track ‘Full Moon Dog’ which is preceded with a minutes noise.
Many fan interviews occur throughout the day and you have your usual camera shy fans, ha, until later in the evening that is. Jackie Chambers from Girlschool gives a nice interview and thus I find most of them very up front and rather personalised. In general the camera angles are so close you just miss the smell of sweat as you do get the atmosphere. Even Ave Noctum’s editor can be seen snapping pictures at the front of the stage! When I talked about camera shy individuals earlier, on the flipside some fans just love to perform for the camera, you will have to watch to see this! With the first disc a little over one hour 20 minutes, you have a wealth of material to view.
The second DVD is a bit more personal, this is a memorial DVD to Jay Jay Winter which kicks off with Lenny Robinson (Asomvel guitarist) giving an account of Jay Jay and an early gig in Bradford which you must listen to. Also featuring is the ‘Full Moon Dog’ video that was filmed at ‘The Riverside’ in Selby. The DVD continues with essentially “the Making of…”. It really gives you an eye opener as to the amount of time it takes to get multiple shots done considering the length of the actual song. ‘No Twist of Fate’ has a collage of still photos and vintage live footage that shows to the uninitiated a visual history of Jay Jay which is a nice touch.
All in all, this is a cool account of the day with a consistent reminder of Jay Jay Winter which is something you don’t normally get from concert DVD’s. I would have liked more live sets, but then I guess that would have to be three DVD’s then, but what you get is good value and for those who attended it is a nice keepsake documentary of that day.
Full Moon Dog 2013 is being held again at the Leeds Cockpit on October the 12th. The lineup is pretty much complete and playing will be Asomvel, Pagan Altar, Desolation Angels, Absolva, Admiral Sir Cloudsley Shovell, Arkham Witch, Stiletto Farm, Amulet, Toledo Steel, Stone Cold Kill, Mercenary, Hooded Priest & Iron Void. Check the link below for ticketing details and info on ordering this DVD.
Paul Maddison
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