Live Review: Fat White Family @ U Street Music Hall, 4/30/2016

There is a middle point between having a really fucking good time and not giving a fuck. It is that point, friends, that you will probably encounter when taking in a live Fat White Family show. And let me just tell you, it is a wonderful place to be. 

The snarky English outfit has an incredible amount of charisma, inherent showmanship butting heads with the aforementioned good fucking time/not giving a fuck. They were at times comical, and a smidgeon camp (accented to perfect effect by use of the club's disco ball), but primarily their set was filled with wonderfully churlish, pulsating noise. Theirs is a live experience I would imagine is never the same twice. Cookie cutter this band is not. 

The small but enthusiastic crowd was entranced by the FWF's antics, including a visit into the crowd and no shortage of interesting dance moves. And who doesn't love the mic-in-one-hand-beer-in-the-other stance? And lighting up on stage? Naughty, naughty. Honestly, they were even more madcap than I expected. Songs felt grittier, gruffer, and full of the potential to completely unravel at any moment. But they didn't, and therein lies the trick to the FWF trade. "Touch The Leather" was perhaps my favorite of the night, the deliberate control of the recorded song giving way to the insane energy of their live devilishness. 

All told, the set was sonically disheveled, controlled chaos. It was everything I hoped it would be, and more. See this band.   




[posted 7.3.16]
[photo copyright Megan Petty]

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