The Dirty Dozen

Wombats From Space: The Attack Of The 50ft Dip-lomats…

Dip (MFN Shipley Gate) 30/05/12…

A decade and a half ago whilst suppin’ me brown and mild int Durham Ox Langley Mill and preparing to watch Ilkeston band Weaver’s Ro, who at that time (the late nineties) were pretty much flying the flag for local rock bands single handed with many of their luminaries having split-up or quit the scene, suddenly things were about to change big time. The support band on that far flung starry night consisted of a few familiar faces but the name Dip was far from familiar, however over the next dozen years or so they were to become leg-ends of the local and un-local rock scene, inspiring many bands yet to come.

That was then and this is now, having had an hiatus of around two and a half years Dip made their dramatic re-emergence at MFN, nestled as it is in Thunder Valley a storm was about to be released. Now if you’d lived in a pyramid on Mars or a hole in Uranus and only arrived on Earth two years ago you’d be forgiven for thinking Dip were a super group consisting of members of Teenage Casket Co. JD & The FDCs, Crazy Diamond etc etc, well you’d be wrong, Dip are more a super group in reverse. Consisting of Daz Mondo (lead vocals/lead guitar) Craig (lead guitar/backing vocals) Scott (drums/backing vocals/human leg etc) and last but not least Laney 74 (bass) Dip allows this quartet of versatile musicians to revert to their default settings giving them a licence to grill. Tonight the faithful have gathered at MFN to witness a spectacle rarely seen these days, Daz resplendent in his twisted ‘Joker’ style makeup singing the songs in a vocal style akin to a Wookie crossed with Zoonie the Lazoon (for anyone under 40 that’s from Fireball XL5) Laney on bass moving around at times like Quasimodo and at other times jumping off the walls (literally) like some kind of urban freestyler. Craig, the master of the silly hat drops in funny asides off the cuff, while Scott behind his drum kit seems to conduct much of the madness like a puppet master.

The Ilkeston based band has dredged up all their old merchandise to for tonight’s event (probably out of Laney’s attic) but what is this? A new CD? Yes Dip are selling a new disc for three English ponds only. Sick to the bone is a fifteen track monster of a CD with eleven previously unreleased studio tracks and four golden oldies recorded live, well worth the money I might add.

On with the show and over the next hour or so Dip crank it up big style and like the audience are having a ball. All the songs are ‘classics’ i.e. old but freshly served up for our delectation, five leaf clover, scared ‘o’ telephones and party seven from their 1999 EP cheapo plastic prize along with material from their latest album such as visible from space, uncle les, weirdo, eat your words, take your medicine and the title track, sick to the bone (songs about Scott’s big telly, a bloke who keeps shrunken heads in his shed and laughing at funerals are the norm in the Dip Universe) Daz Mondo keeps encouraging the crowd to ‘do the hand sign’ (see pic above) which is a variation of the ‘Devil’s hornz’ sign popularized by the late great Ronnie James Dio. And with the trademark heckle from the crowd of ‘eat more lard’ along with much kicking about of the beach balls scattered around MFN everyone is partying like its 2009 (the last time Dip played live). with the madness careering towards a close of play it’s time for the all time classic Dip song Wombat from their 2002 EP gizzagoo, for the fist time ever the ‘Grandma’ of the song has been brought to life and complete with walking sticks (should have been a zimmer) proceeds to dance about with Daz Mondo while he shouts at everyone through a megaphone, quite bizarre. The finale of the evening is an encore of AC/DC’s sin city incorporating a chant of ‘buy our bullshit’ a subliminal message designed to sell more of their merchandise, I can’t help thinking Dip have missed a trick, why not have ‘cuddly’ Wombats with the Dip logo on them I recon they’d fly off the shelf (do Wombats fly?) remember you heard it here first folks.

And what of the future I hear you say, well I know that all the members of Dip enjoyed them selves immensely tonight and were glad to be back, weather or not they write any new songs remains to be seen but with new management on board the good ship Dip I’m sure we will be hearing and seeing (is believing) more fat boy rock n’ roll in the not to distant future… GD.


              Bellow: Various shots of dip & their bullshit @ MFN