Fat Freddy’s Drop, Auckland NZ, 2020

Fat Freddy’s Drop

7th November 2020
The Cauldron at Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand

Review by Kate Taylor, with photography by Doug Peters. 

Look, every live music review at this point in time; this ridiculous skip bin fire of a year and our collective pandemic reality; is going to feature an epiphany of gratitude for being able to be in a crowd again, to enjoy the energy of people you don’t know, undulating together in the same pursuit of vibe. As Fat Freddy’s Drop themselves chorus, they do it for the love of music. So, seeing one of New Zealand’s most beloved acts, knitting all these broken and weary strangers together into a heaving, sweaty mess of smiles and cathartic expression, was a beautiful thing. It was an excellent precursor to remind us that here in New Zealand we’ve got the chance to enjoy what the rest of the world would consider, a ‘normal’ summer ahead. Complete with backyard BBQ’s where Aunty is pumping “Based on a True Story”; and people will be packing up their stuff to go to a variety of festivals, including Rhythm & Alps on December 30th where Fat Freddy’s again, will work their magic.

Walking the mezzanine at Spark and slipping into the crowd was sublime. Spine-tingling pleasure of observation, people hugging, eating, drinking, laughing. For this night at Spark Arena, we could pretend, just play pretend that everything’s OK. Moving into the Cauldron to take a seat; the welcome sight of Mark James Williams at the decks spinning for us was warming too. Purveyor of excellent merch and music as part of his The Loggcabin project on bFM or online; Mark is also one half of one of my all-time favourite pieces of NZ Music History. Yes, the track ‘Money Worries’ by MC OJ & Rhythm Slave. That takes you back, doesn’t it? Or if it doesn’t, proceed directly to Spotify (or click the link above to peep the video) after reading this and go give it a listen.

It’s nigh on impossible to stay on top of every genre and every artist in New Zealand. Everyone’s got a mate that’s a producer. We’re a musical country, it’s how we express our pain and for a nation that mumbles our words into our chests when we’re talking; conversely, we’re quite comfortable with leaning back, opening our throats, and giving it a hearty singsong. I love reviewing for the fact that I get to encounter new music for the first time in exactly the way it needs to be experienced, live. Enter Avantdale Bowling Club, how have I not discovered these guys before? Whom I did misspell their name on Instagram stories all night, sorry dudes, but to be fair I was so enamoured with your beats, your bass and your approach that I was surrendered to the atmosphere you all so thoroughly warmed before Fat Freddy’s took the stage. Avantdale Bowling Club began with a rolling, roiling start of notes and scales and I felt my soul swell, the feeling of a live gig again deep within me. Filling me with optimism, opening wide my love of being lost in the crowd, one of the throng. Tom Scott spitting these bars with aching, heartfelt precision, the tightness of notes and that trust that comes from the shared creative vibrations that only a band can make. “We make music to give a soundtrack to the Auckland housing crisis” Tom said, before launching into Pocket Lint. Scott’s cadence is undeniable, exceptional flow over the sonorous soaring of bass and brass. Julien Dyne, NZ Music legend, used to lurk for hours in the crates when I worked at Real Groovy Auckland, his dedication to digging, made me a confirmed Sola Rosa fan back in the day and to see Dyne leading the troop from the back felt like some important, full circle realisation for me. Tom led chat of Reeferendum Peaceful Protests within the crowd, quipping about the irony that people who voted No on one, but Yes on the other will likely eliminate themselves later. Risky comment? Dark humour? I fucking loved it. If I wasn’t already an absolute Avantdale Bowling Club convert by this stage; Tom introduced the next track – Old Dogs, that’s crammed with Basketball references and nods that only a true fan of the game would understand. Avantdale Bowling Club, you are far from a “poor man’s Cavaliers” well played team, well played.

There’s no faffing about tonight. Very quickly Fat Freddy’s Drop descend to the stage and are immediately into the groove, the reverence. Serving delicious drips of ragga philosophy nestled into beats and the sass of their horn section. Dallas is the Captain, piloting us safety through our flight of groove. As the Captain announced, “I think NZ has the happiest people in the world right now” and while this may or may not be true on the grand scale, in this moment together it was accurate. Special Edition was mystical and had the audience well lubricated by the end of it. MJW is the familiar sight throughout the night that reminds us and draws our attention to elements that should not be missed and encourages our love and recognition for the horn section; generally giving us the permission to get hyped in case we’ve all forgotten how. Effortlessly switching to downtempo skank with a darker introspective edge; Blackbird received a warm response as smiles broadened, as punters felt emboldened to dance out their worries. We bid farewell to the brass as Dallas and co work a groove up into existence in an appropriate interlude. After this swirling trance of a beat that Dallas mixed vocal elements into; we transitioned back into a more rapturous arrangement. As the MVP of the night, the guy who reminded us to let it all go took the stage – Hopepa aka Joe Lindsay. This guy, aye. Hopepa is arguably the band leader, the heart and soul sporting a white sequinned cape, long socks, sequinned kicks, and a sequinned wrestling styled two piece with a big H emblazoned on his chest…thank goodness he’s come to save us! This extended horn section flex allowed for Dallas to chill for a moment. As Hopepa used the stage space, cutting shapes, relentlessly chasing down our submission of an energetic response. Moving into the photographer’s pit Hopepa treated us to slashings of bluesy harmonica tones.

I’m not going to tell you how to suck an egg. If you like Fat Freddy’s Drop, then quite simply you should have been there. As my first experience of seeing Fat Freddy’s Drop play live after all these years, it felt like a box tick that I’ve been waiting to complete in my New Zealand Music, Live Show “collect them all” mentality. I’m certainly not for a moment going to think that I can submit a few hundred words to describe the joy that Fat Freddy’s Drop brought to our aching hearts and ears at Spark Arena last night; but I suppose you could sum it up best by what happened next. As it was Ladi6’s birthday and she was in the house, she was invited on stage where suddenly, we all felt like we were at someone’s house party; as we lustily sang Happy Birthday for one of the best MCs our nation knows. Ramping into a joyous crack through of Roady, Ladi6 shone like that megawatt lamplight she is, spitting her verses with domination and the obvious pleasure of getting to do this again in front of a wild, welcoming crowd on her birthday. You could see she felt damn good. Same sis, same. Taking their leave of the stage; it was a bedazzled and sequinned meerkat-like Hopepa that popped back around the corner of the stage and decided that yes, we needed some more. A delightful, relaxed encore of Hope was gifted to us, as some punters spilled gently towards the exits, while the true school stopped where they were and turned to enjoy this last salvo for the night, before we all returned to reality.

You know it. I know it. We’re so very fortunate to be in the position we are in New Zealand; but know also, that there is no such thing as luck. We make our own luck in this nation, tucked away at the bottom of the globe, but lighting the way. Now, go and listen to Money Worries, it’ll remind you of a simpler, pre-pandemic time and give you a chuckle.

2023 Taite Award Nominees Avantdale Bowling Club – photo by Doug Peters

Avantdale Bowling Club – photo by Doug Peters

Avantdale Bowling Club

Were you there at Spark Arena for this chilled out Kiwi-Reggae gig? Or have you seen Fat Freddy’s Drop perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Note: [AD] Eccles Entertainment / Fat Freddy’s Drop provided passes to Ambient Light to review and photograph this concert. As always, this has not influenced the review in any way and the opinions expressed are those of Ambient Light’s only. This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product using an affiliate link, Ambient Light will automatically receive a small commission.

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