By the end of this high energy gig the ceiling of the La Belle Angel was practically dripping. Not from Edinburgh’s notoriously fickle February weather, but from the chaotic energy unleashed by south London’s most unhinged quintet, Fat Dog, who transformed the venue into their personal playground for a night of glorious musical mayhem.
Support came from London’s RIP Magic. The duo of Marco Pini and Felix Bayley-Higgins delivered a set of abrasive electronic textures and Pini’s menacing vocals that cut through the noise like a rusty knife. Despite having yet to officially release any music, their reputation clearly preceded them, with the Edinburgh crowd already familiar with tracks like the pummelling Control and the hypnotic Boxed In. Their no-nonsense approach set the perfect tone for the mayhem to follow.
Opening with the pulsating creation story Vigilante, Fat Dog immediately established their modus operandi – to create what singer Joe Love himself has described as “screaming-into-a-pillow music.” The crowded room responded accordingly, transforming into a heaving scrum within seconds. Chris Hughes’ synths and Morgan Wallace’s sax cut through the fog like a searchlight on a stormy night, while the bass lines tunnelled beneath the floorboards.
The band got off to a flying start with Boomtown and All the Same, then tore the roof of with the Fat Dog anthem King of the Slugs. The crowd reacted passionately, slamming and leaping to the beats in response.
“You’re all bad dogs,” Love declared to the barking crowd before launching into Bad Dog from their debut album Woof. Johnny ‘Doghead’ Hutchinson’s drumming throughout was less keeping time and more declaring war on it, each beat landing like a challenge to conventional rhythm.
What makes Fat Dog so compelling live isn’t technical precision – indeed, there were moments when the whole enterprise threatened to derail spectacularly and the distortion on Love’s microphone was extreme– but rather the sense of community they foster. The line between band and audience dissolved completely during Fuck Urself with Love repeatedly climbing on the barrier to shout out into the faces of the roiling mosh.
Their Brixton-born blend of electro-punk and rave euphoria found a receptive home in Edinburgh. When they closed with an extended version of Running, the room reached a collective state of craziness that felt both cathartic and slightly dangerous. As the lights came up on a room of exhausted, sweat-soaked revellers, the evidence of Fat Dog’s impact was written across flushed faces. This wasn’t just another gig; it was a communion of chaos, a reminder that in an era of sanitised pop, there’s still room for bands willing to embrace the gloriously unhinged.
Words: Graeme White @head_in_the_bass_bin
Pictures: Calum Mackintosh @ayecandyphotography