Went to catch my first London gig last week since the move. Fat Dog was playing the Electric in Brixton, supported by my favourite 2023 act Gurriers, as well as Morgan Noise, the band of Fat Dog’s saxophone player Morgan Wallace. A bill of my dreams! You might remember Fat Dog as potentially becoming my highlight of Eurosonic 2023. Well, sadly, that didn’t happen. After standing in a freezing cold queue for about 25 minutes, I only managed to catch a mere 5 minutes of their set, standing all the way at the back of Vera in Groningen. This time, I had already arrived 2 hours prior to their set, determined to catch every second of what eventually turned out to be a borderline legendary set.

Imagine being a band that has 2 songs out, selling out several decently sized venues in London and having a crowd that just goes bonkers as soon as you start playing your 7+ minute techno punk chaos called ‘King of the Slugs’. Mad! Standing smack bang in the middle of the first balcony, I had the absolute best view on the crowd going totally nuts. Fat Dog went on to play several more fantastic unreleased songs, including probably the lamest-yet-best cover of Benny Benassi’s ‘Satisfaction’, and having interludes by Lancashire actor Neil Bell, who also happens to be starring in the music video for ‘All the Same’. It was genuinely a really, really good and absolutely memorable gig. If you get a chance to catch Fat Dog live this year, definitely go and do so. You won’t regret it.