South London’s kings of controversy Fat White Family took to Rock City’s main stage taking the crowd on vacation to the USSR, with support from fresh-faced – but by no means inexperienced – grunge rock band, Sorry.
Fresh out of the 1990s to show Nottingham what they’ve got, Sorry boldly take to the stage. Front-woman Asha Lorenz is sporting a militant ushanka hat, and a don’t-mess-with-me attitude. The band’s unique blend of misery-generating grunge, provocative post-punk and slacker rock results in colossal cascading drum patterns, prolific guitar riffs and drawling, wailing vocals full of raw emotion. The utilisation of minor chords throughout the set leaves you feeling uneasy, although melancholic melodies and Asha’s elegant vocals contrast this to help ease you into a tranquil state before stop-start guitars and the odd adlibbed “whoop” and “pow” ensure that you’re not getting too relaxed. Sorry play with a beautifully calculated poise and a raw, cathartic passion for music, ironically playing in a confidently unapologetic manner whether you are enjoying their music or not. They have truly brought some authentic DIY vibes to one of the best venues in the UK, showcasing how effortlessly badass they are as the crowd nods along to every beat in approval.
Recent years have seen the almost-complete disbandment of the Fat Whites; the band have undergone some major transformations to bring you the undoubtedly more laidback and user-friendly vibe that drips through ‘Serfs Up’. It’s interesting how the band have developed since the drug-addled days of ‘Champagne Holocaust’, growing up to become Brian Jonestown Massacre’s marginally more mature and approachable cousin. However don’t be fooled, their live shows are still littered with chaos and obscene notoriety – expect to come out quite damp.
Fat Whites take to the stage in a medley of short-sleeved shirts, hats and sunglasses in a myriad of military hues, emanating a sort of ‘soviets-on-holiday’ ensemble that ‘Serfs Up’ embodies. They break into their most recently released single, ‘When I Leave’ and the crowd are immediately immersed in the strangely off-kilter and slightly sinister world that Fat White Family were spawned from. The band follow on with ‘Tinfoil Deathstar’ from the brash, synth-laced ‘Songs for Our Mothers’. Lias Saoudi is on the front line, provoking the crowd with his usual erratic energy, a crazed look in his eyes, everyone desperately competing for his sweat-drenched attention – it is clear that he is the life and soul of Fat White Family’s live shows, a natural performer. Saul Adamczewski stands back, sullenly picking away at intricately authoritative guitar compositions to accompany Lias’ crowd participation. The founding duo perfectly complement one another.
Fat White Family, Live at Rock City, May 10
The show hurtles along with no signs of slowing down and as mesmerising as Adamczewski and Saoudi’s stage presence is, it’s impossible to avert your eyes from multi-instrumentalist Alex White, who is playing yet another new instrument every time you gaze around the stage, whilst sporting ‘severe’ mullet and an outfit that would not look amiss on a 70’s porn star.
Following ‘Fringe Runner’, Saul regains authority of the unruly pack, pacifying the crowd with the infamous and ominously melancholic ‘Goodbye Goebbels’. As the band break into the industrial mirage of ‘Hits Hits Hits,’ Lias slowly hypnotises the crowd back into a rabid frenzy just in time for acclaimed track ‘Feet’, providing a frantically turbulent beat that you just can’t help but groove along too. Atypically of an album tour, the band do not play ‘Serfs Up’ in full, but instead treat us to renowned bangers, including what could be acknowledged to be Fat White Family’s anthem – Touch the Leather. Ending with an explosive bang, the crowd applaud and scream for an encore, but the Fat Whites do not oblige, leaving the audience suitably satisfied, but always gagging for more.
By Laura Phillips