Performing Ferrets (1978 - Present) Performing Ferrets started out in Maidstone, United Kingdom in 1978, but they soon settled in Manchester while parlaying academic careers in Manchester, Portsmouth, Nottingham and Preston, into appearances all over the U.K. There's a touch of The Fall and the TV Personalities, a little garage and Beat, hints of the rhythm-propelled sounds of the Monochromes, Feelies, Beefheart, Gang of 4/Delta 5 or Diagram Brothers, and a dry wit that had more to do with the Ferrets' favourite authors and comedians than anyone from the class of '77, but the Ferrets' response to D.I.Y. was all their own. Whether or not the name was ironic, the Performing Ferrets were very much a performing band - whose songs clearly grew out of the way they interacted. A curious rhythm, an engaging riff, an arresting lyrical snippet, and frequently a Melodica tumble and writhe, ferretlike, into song / groove / experiments that stood unique on the indie post-punk scene.