FM + JACK J HUTCHINSON THE BOOKING HALL, DOVER SUNDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER 2026

Arguably the finest purveyors of British AOR, I’m delighted to see FM back in Dover as part of their ‘Indiscreet’ anniversary tour. It’s a modest, but enthusiastic crowd in the Booking Hall this Sunday, lured by the prospect of hearing the band’s now 40 year old debut in full. Over several years of seeing FM live, they have proved to be reliably brilliant, and I can confirm that nothing has changed on that front. 

But first, it’s up to Jack J Hutchinson to get the evening underway, a man so endearingly warm that it hardly even matters what he plays. But thankfully, he’s got some pretty tasty tunes to compliment his entertaining stage banter. Heading up an impressive power trio completed by bassist Greg Smith and drummer Connor Byrne, he’s a proper music lover who throws all of his influences into the pot. Capable of hard rock, moving balladry and heavy riffing, there is much to appreciate in his short but diverse set. It’s apparent that Hutchinson is enjoying cranking it up following a series of acoustic slots in support of Robin Trower; perhaps that’s why recent single ‘Soul Believer’ sounds so splendidly crushing.  

Though the intro tape invites us to “take [ourselves] back to the the heady days of the 1980s, when hair was big and shoulder pads were bigger”, FM initially throw a bit of a curveball, opening with the relatively modern ‘Digging up the Dirt’, a highlight of 2018’s ‘Heroes and Villains’. A joyful ‘Killed by Love’ follows, generating some noisy “yeah, yeah, yeahs” from the audience, seemingly to the delight of the five men on stage. 

And then, it’s time for the main attraction, a complete run through of the aforementioned ‘Indiscreet’, an album that generates feelings of nostalgia for those who remember it first time round, many of whom are here this evening, singing every word. I’m a little too young, but that doesn’t mean the likes of ‘That Girl’ and ‘I Belong to the Night’ resonate any less. Stripped of the big hair and 80s production gloss, the songs remain huge. Singer Steve Overland is utterly central to the band’s sound, and it must be a source of great joy that his voice has lost none of the power or soul that many of his contemporaries now have to fight for. The harmonies provided by the rest of the group are truly special, locking together in a way that appears effortless. It would perhaps be easy to overlook guitarist Jim Kirkpatrick, but he is permitted moments to shine, best of all in the elegant mastery that he brings to ‘Love Lies Dying’. Even the songs that might be considered filler are elevated this evening, ‘American Girls’ suggesting the band had a distinctive sound from the very start. As ‘Heart of the Matter’ brings this section of the show to a close, Overland jokingly utters “goodnight”, but thankfully it’s not over yet. 

In fact, from here, it’s a pure party, the keyboard heavy ‘Let Love be the Leader’ a solid crowd pleaser with those singalong “woahs”. ‘Synchronised’ gets us moving before Merv Goldsworthy’s iconic bass line sets up ‘Bad Luck’ and sends the atmosphere electric. ‘Tough it Out’ inevitably follows and has me questioning why these songs aren’t considered absolute staples. Apparently destined to remain forever underrated, FM are a band worth your time. With the promise of a new album set for release next year, we can only assume another tour will follow. I know I won’t be missing it. Signing off with ‘Does it Feel Like Love?’, my answer is a resounding yes. In fact, can they just start the whole set again from the beginning please? 

SETLISTS

FM - Digging up the Dirt/Killed by Love/That Girl/Other Side of Midnight/Love Lies Dying/I Belong to the Night/American Girls/Hot Wired/Face to Face/Frozen Heart/Heart of the Matter/Let Love be the Leader/Synchronised/Bad Luck/Tough it Out/Turn This Car Around/Does it Feel Like Love? 

Jack J Hutchinson - Bullets/Shine a Light/Burn/Road to Hell/I Will Follow You/Don’t Let the F****** Get You Down/Soul Believer/Call of the Wild