Continued: "The setlist tonight contained all the usuals "Killing me with Kindness", "Caught me in a Trap", "Until my Ship Comes In" plus a stunning rendition of the new single, "Army of Two". The audience went for it in such a massive way after hearing "Knock me off my Feet" preparing themselves for the swashbuckling energetic frenzied finale in the form of "Everything" and god did the lads pull out all the stops for this one - pure showmanship - can't want for the next time guys!"

'A DAY IN THE LIFE OF - DUM DUMS' BY JAMES (WEBMASTER)

Before the show....

I arrived in Wolverhampton around 3pm, going straight to the dressing room, (which as dressing rooms go was very nice!), I found Steve and Stuart listening to the CDs they'd just bought at the record fair, next door in the Civic Hall...Josh was nowhere to be seen and had apparently been gone since 10am - so we figured he'd found an arcade or something!

There was already a large group of fans sitting down next to the dressing room window which backed onto the street behind the venue, various things were being shouted into the dressing room and messages were being passed back and forth, Steve and I then took great pleasure in taking photos of people through the half-open window and in turn, temporarily blinding them with the flash of the camera!

After hanging around for a bit and listening to Stuart's newly purchased 'Kid Rock' album Stu decided that he needed to add more metal to his CD collection so we set out in search of Metallica's - 'Black Album' at the record fair....before long we had a suspicious character with a cap on shouting at us across the hall, closer inspection revealed that was actually Josh, who until now had been AWOL, he was trying to pursuade the person on the door to let him in to the record fair for free, using the line "but I'm in the band", eventually it worked and he joined us in search of the 'Black Album' - we found it, much to Stu's delight and he snapped it up on the spot...

While the boys were looking on another stall Stu said something along the lines of "Josh the dressing room's that way", the owner of the stall then quietly said to me "Dressing room? Are they playing here tonight or something?", I I said "Yes" and told him that they were playing next door....he then hesitantly asked "Uhm, who are they?", so I replied "They're two thirds of the Dum Dums", "Oh the Dum Dums, cool!" he said - trying to make out he'd heard of them, when he blatantly hadn't! So if you go to one of the big national record fairs and there's a bloke telling you he's met the Dum Dums and they're his customers...he's lying!

Before long it was soundcheck time, obviously inspired by Stu's new CD the boys began soundchecking with "Sad But True" by Metallica, before moving on to 'Caught Me In A Trap' and 'I Can't Stand It'...

The boys then went off to do some interviews as Lowfinger and Whitehouse soundchecked, while I took part in a game of football in the hall with asorted crew members, we nearly succeeded in smashing several lights and the sound desk, but eventually failed!

Before long Whitehouse were due to go on and Steve spent a good 10 minutes trying to find a disguise that would enable him to watch Whitehouse's set without getting mobbed! In the end I 'escorted' him out into the hall, dressed in a black leather trench coat & a wooly hat! His disguise worked fairly well and only half a dozen people spotted him, as Whitehouse rocked the Wulfrun. Lowfinger then played a tight set, despite having some sound problems - mainly the fact that you couldn't hear the vocals!

During the show...

Then it was time for the boys to play at the venue where Steve and I have been going to gigs for years, and where we all saw our heros Ben Folds Five about a year ago. This was going to be a pretty special gig for me!

I wasn't dissapointed! Everything went swimingly well as song after song from the album was pumped out - we were also treated to several b-sides that aren't live regulars including - 'Lucy's About To Beach' and 'I Can't Stand It'.

On top of this there was this now compulsary mass singalong during 'Until My Ship Comes In' and the boys previewed a new song called 'Photographs' which is already proving to be a favourite amongst the people I spoke to afterwards! The new song still sounds very 'Dum Dums-esque' but possibly shows the direction of new material, and if this song is anything to go by we're all in for a treat!

Finally the boys returned for the encore, with Stuart sporting one of the brand new 'Bored' Dum Dums tops, complete with the Dum Dums 'D' logo and Steve came back on with a t-shirt, replacing his stripey 70s shirt - much to the pleasure of certain crowd members - (you know who you are!)

The encore opened with another rare live b-side, 'Running Away' - which rocked the busy Wulrun Hall before blistering renditions of 'You Knock Me Off My Feet' and 'Everything' finished everyone, including the band off!

A highlight of the set was Stu's amazing 'multiple drum stick throw' where he seemed to empty his entire supply of drum sticks all over the stage by throwing them back over his head - who knows why ?!?

After the show...

The boys spent a good half an hour at the merchandise stand signing stuff and chatting to fans and despite the security guards best efforts, no one left until they had something signed and said hello to the boys.

We then retired to the dressing room, to drink the rider and partake in water fights, football matches on the playstation, armed combat (with plastic guns!) and the usual backstage antics!

The boys boarded the Steel Horse (tour bus) around 1:30am and headed off to Cambridge, I went home wondering if the show could have gone any better...