In many ways EartH in Dalston is the ideal, intimate venue to catch Fat White Family. The last date of a four-night residency, to put to bed the UK dates of their 2019 tour, it’s a homecoming (of sorts) for the band who infamously met in a Peckham squat in 2011.
They may have swapped south London for north, but the stripped down, back-to-basics venue provides a perfect backdrop for the band to showcase a greatest hits set, which relies as much on their back catalogue as acclaimed new release Serfs Up!.
The band kick off with Auto Neutron from the album Champagne Holocaust and crowd favourite I Am Mark E Smith, which set the tone for the show. By this point lead singer Lias Saoudi has shed his shirt and prowls the stage – it’s nigh on impossible to tear your eyes away from the frontman as he contorts and writhes, possessed by the lyrics.
He’s flanked by guitarist Saul Adamczewski, keyboardist Nathan Saoudi and the rest of the band who skulk in half shadows. The set is saturated in reds, neon pinks and green lights. Saul’s squalling guitar driving the sonic assault that transports us into the otherworldliness of the Fat White Family.
New tracks Fringe Runner and When I Leave are well received but Feet, the standout track from Serfs Up!, is the clear highlight of the night – its sleazy, hypnotic driving beat distilling the essence of the newly invigorated Fat White Family into five minutes of excellence.
Much has been written about the Fat White Family’s erstwhile shambolic sets but tonight’s show is a triumph of polished seediness. Their self-imposed exile to the Steel city of Sheffield has clearly given them an extra cutting edge. Next year should be a huge one for the group. Watch this space.
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