Gig Review - Fat White Family

The funny thing about the Fat White Family is their collective weight probably matches that of a leg of killed-far-too-young lamb. Thus, seriously tarnishing their claim of a ‘Fat White Family’. But anyway, you wouldn’t exactly want to see the little meat that does hang off their petite skeletons served up at Sunday roast. Not even with mint sauce.

The Fat White Family are currently in the midst of their UK tour having recently released their new album Serfs Up. The Fat Whites new full length album with Domino has been well received, if, perhaps at the expense of blind-drunken antics and getting naked every night. The thing is, having ashamedly never seen FWF before, I had been well briefed on the mischief these malnourished men get up to.

The lights dim at 9.30 exactly. I started to ponder how I really respect bands who are seen as anti-establishment but do all those little bits well; a bit like The Fall. Someone do correct me if I’m wrong but the music they walked out to resembled a Muslim prayer call with the addition of the words ‘wank bum’ ringing behind it. No one seemed overly surprised.

They opted to warm up the Norwich crowd menacingly with When I Leave, a truly dark tale which could easily soundtrack a groupie’s sacrifice live on stage. Take me Saul. You bloody sexy misfit. Tinfoil Deathstar follows and so does the argy bargy. I particularly enjoyed new track Fringe Runner which boasts some interesting instrumentation all tightly bound together with a fan favourite funky bassline. Tastes Good with The Money, unsurprisingly, was a right hoot. Lias lead the crowd in singing the opening religious-like hymn before the simple yet catchy guitar line sets the song in motion. The left half of the crowd must’ve been tone deaf which provoked Lias to break character and laugh out loud. A quite personal touch considering their moody stage bravado.

In sum, Saul donned a cowboy hat, two band members looked like they could’ve been snatched right from the arms of Sasha Baron Cohen on the parody film ‘Grimsby’, and Lias only mildly teased us with a bit of torso. A fairly tame gig all things considered. That’s about all I remember. That and some guy next to me screaming ‘There’s ash in my latte’ doing his best to fill the Baxter Dury sized void… with little luck, I might add.  

If you’re looking for a review that’s a bit more musically concrete… head to NME or something…

Slider & the Goose