Photos by www.sarabowreyphotos.com

Fat White Family, 18th May 2021, Bexhill De La Warr Pavillion

The headline perfectly describes the audience at Bexhill’s De La Warr Pavillion as three sevenths of Fat White Family played their fourth set since lockdown rules allowed them to get back on a live stage.

This was the second show on the second day of their ‘Moonbathing in February’ tour – a homage to their recent film, which was coincidentally inspired by a 1am mushroom-fuelled dip in the sea at Hastings.

The combination of vocalist Lias Saoudi, keyboard whiz Nathan Saoudi, and sax-man (here turned flute-player) Alex White, proved to be a truly engaging trio and offered up a show that was a million miles from the normally raucous and riotous affairs that FWF gigs typically descend/ascend into.

We laughed.

We sat in silent wonder.

We wondered if we should be shocked or laughing.

And we experienced a perfectly executed exercise in poetry infused jazz, that smacked of Hank William III-style country, and included some beautifully Noel Coward-esque music-hall stylings. All underpinned by subtlety throbbing synth wobbles and counterpoised by not-always-perfect, but none the less lovely flute solos and melodies.

From the outset I stabbed out gig notes and jotted down mid-song banter in preparation for writing this review…but within a few songs I stopped and just sank back in my socially distanced seat to enjoy the moment.

I decided that any detailed blow-by-blow write-up would just be a plot spoiler for those who are lucky enough to have tickets to the later dates on the tour.

So that’s all for this piece… except to say that if you don’t yet have your seats booked and there is a Fat White Family show near you in the next few weeks make a bee-line for it.

You’ll not be disappointed.