First of my two gigs for this week sees me negotiating the dug up Elephant & Castle roundabout but soon reach the Coronet which unbelievably I don't think I've been to before and it's no doubt not long for this world with all the E&C redevelopment works. It's too big not to turn into flats. So the money will say. Get into the next door pub just in time for Pete's round and after two quick bottles of cheap beer we're in the queue. Damn cold to be queuing. Soon enough we're in and past the convenient bar to go down the front of this magnificent music hall venue. Big stage with very high ceilings with a gallery up the top though no one there at the moment. Big FWF flag behind the stage. Really looking forward to this and excited to see how they are as not seen them for a year or so.
We walk in halfway through
Paranoid London who are 2 guys on the decks / synths or whatever they are with the ubiquitous Macs and a guy in a rave bush hat doing a lot of shouty vocals. They are serving up classic 90s rave stuff which sounds excellent and has got the crowd jumping. Swooping uplifting music with a fair few unable to resist hands in the air moments and pretty good fare considering they're supporting a sleazy punky act. I guess that's what all the old punks got into anyway. Get's everyone in the mood and a good reception. We wander back to the bar where I bump into the Crass T Shirt Wearing Punter from the Sleafords gig at the Forum and she remembers I'm a bassist. Well, at least I play it. She bemoans her bass amp packing up at a recent gig but it's a brief chat as our respective groups are going different ways and I lose Simon and Pete for a while.
After a bit of stage shifting the FWF MC guy comes on to big them up and to tumultuous excitement the
Fat White Family take the stage. They're straight into their own brand of sleazy punky rock and the set spans old and new stuff. All sounds great and the packed venue is well into them. We're squashed together with no room to dance and as usual centre down front looks more roomy if you don't mind the risk of getting dragged into the mosh pit. We don't and soon Simon and I are bopping about like kangaroos in dodgems. The band are picking up the pace and the singer strips off his white suit jacket and is down to the skin. We're pretty hot too so Simon and I go back to find Pete hoping he's got a couple of beers in. He hasn't so we all go up the bar. Listening to Touch the Leather whilst at the urinal is slightly surreal and disturbing as I was thinking about it. After the beer we persuade Pete to mosh and it's all getting a bit frenetic. Jumpers on the floor, guys looking for lost shoes, security giving up on stopping the bouncing and to cap it all some guy leans back into me whilst I can't move my legs back and after desperately clutching at the guy in front I only manage to bring him down on top of me. Shouts of Man Down in the Mosh and I'm soon pulled up by a kindly young hairy man who I consider kissing but I've not had enough beers for that. We reach the climatic end of the set and despite our loud pleas the band are off for good. Damn cold outside and after a bit of faffing outside debating bus routes around the road works Simon and I say farewell to Pete and it's down into the tube with lots of other sweaty but happy FWFers. Class act.
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| Paranoid London on the decks or whatever they're on |
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| Fat White Family Band |
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| Simon trying to look cool next to road works, Pete not bothering |
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