After a scattering of UK festival slots at NASS and T In The Park, FIDLAR embarked for a sold out show at the Electric Brixton. After first hearing ‘Cheap Beer’ roughly 3 years ago, I’ve had 3 opportunities to see FIDLAR, all of which fell through – however, at long last my time finally rolled around to bare witness to LA’s coolest skate-punk outfit.
Opening up for a night of absolute chaos were Public Access TV. Expecting a chilled support slot, I was proved entirely wrong as a mosh pit opened in front of me and the crowd geared up ready for the night ahead. The highlight of Public Access TV’s set for me was ‘On Location’ with its dreamy guitar licks, while their main track ‘In The Mirror’ had the greatest crowd response.
Up next was FREAK, whose set comprised of the entirety of his debut EP ‘What Happened?’ (you can read our review of it here) alongside some unreleased tracks – all of which were warmly received by a riotous crowd. The monstrous title track ‘What Happened?’ closed the set as the adoring fans eagerly awaited FIDLAR’s arrival.
Donning mockery ‘Community Payback’ outfits, the band took to the stage at 9:30. Rumbling through the likes of ‘Stoked and Broke’, ‘Cheap Beer’ and ‘Drone’, FIDLAR showed their ferocious energy with Zac Carper’s yapping and screamy vocals, and the skate punk music they are accompanied by.
Undoubtedly the most crazy crowd reaction of the night was reserved for the summer anthem ‘West Coast’, as fans scrambled to stay on their feet throughout the sun-drenched track. After this, FIDLAR quickly transitioned into ‘5 to 9’, with crowd-surfers galore. The enthused crowd also wished drummer Max Keuhn a happy birthday, spurred on by the rest of the band.
Surprisingly, FIDLAR brought out lesser played tracks like ‘Bad Habits’, ‘Sober’ – and the unreleased ‘Chinese Weed’ later in the encore. The crowd-pleasing and intense ‘Cocaine’ closed the set, with some of the crowd sitting down ready to jump up as soon as the song kicked off.
After a triumphant main set, the band were immediately met with chants of ‘FIDLAR’ and ‘WAKE BAKE SKATE’ repeatedly, galvanising an encore after a non-stop tumultuous show.
The band emerged back on stage swiftly ready to run through ‘Chinese Weed’. Also featuring in the encore was the not quite long enough, yet utterly mental, ‘Wake Bake Skate’. Following a rip-roaring rendition of the short track off their debut LP, the lights came on, and bewildered fans filtered out onto the streets of Brixton after an evening of sweat, excitement, and sheer adoration.
Check out our pictures from the show here.
Words by Jasmin Robinson