Fat Dog are one of those few bands that manage to hit a radio slot with a single that doesn’t really reflect their live sound, with ‘Peace Song’ sounding out of place in the chaos and disorder provoked by them and their sweaty, chatty gig-goers over the course of the night in Edinburgh’s La Belle Angele.
The South London quintet (consisting of singer, Joe Love, Chris Hughes, Morgan Wallace, Jacqui Wheeler and drummer, Johnny ‘Doghead’ Hutch) engulfed the venue and territorially spread mania for the night, plugging their new track alongside their 2024 album WOOF, out on Domino last year.
Commencing with ‘Vigilante’ the band set the scene for the rest of the evening – aside from the brief breath of air already mentioned for ‘Peace Song’ – and created a front-row mosh pit. Morgan Wallace’s sax carried throughout the gig along with Joe’s occasional ‘Woof’s, but the sound I found was a little too jarring from where I was positioned at the back of the venue, where I struggled to zone out the din of many casual conversations – by no means indicative of the gig that seemed to be going on down front.
Down there, there was mayhem as many were unleashed from the day-to-day with Fat Dog’s ska and punk sounds that were an assault to the senses (more so than their recorded tracks), ‘King of the Slugs’ and ‘Wither’ were particularly kicking. The vibe was different further back: the technical distortion and sheer madness of the live band was lost a little, and the venue was rife with audience conversation. If the stage noise and audience engagement travelled further through La Belle Angele I’m sure it would’ve made for an entirely different experience.
Photo credit: Frank Fieber
