Review: Fat Freddys Drop at Powerstation

Fat Freddys Drop. Photo / Richard Robinson

As the electric lash of Fat Freddys Drop's Shiverman throbs and pulses into existence it takes you back to the smoky and deliciously dingy dance clubs of the early 90s.

The added bonus tonight at a sold-out Powerstation is that the party-starting tune off the band's latest album, Dr Boondigga and the Big BW, keeps those hairs on the back of your neck on end for more than 15 minutes, rather than the standard 10.

Fat Freddys have an uncanny knack of seamlessly mixing electronica, shin-shattering bass, ballsy brass, a psychedelic fuzz, chinking guitar, and Dallas Tamaira's silky lilt, into an all-consuming feel good whole.

This formula has seen them go from a mellow yet edgy and underground Wellington act in the early 2000s, to a mainstream monster.

Boondigga was released earlier this year and while it's not likely to sell anywhere near as many as Based On A True Story it has continued the success of that 2005 debut.

You couldn't get a more diverse crowd at a gig: there's the oldies sitting to the side waiting for the show to start, the middle-aged masses in fine drinking form, young couples hugging and canoodling, heavily tattooed blokes with shaved heads, and a Scottish chap beside us who can't sing the band's praises enough.

"It's a privilege to be here," he grins.

He's here for a trip - and Fat Freddys oblige.

With band leader Mu directing things, and throwing in sonic squelches and tickles along with synth and keys demon Dobie Blaze, Boondigga's dark and thumping interlude escalates out of control, coming on like Pink Floyd doing deep, bass-heavy house.

Elsewhere they run through Ray Ray off the first album; there's the skanking chink of Roady, which tips its hat beautifully to Armagideon Time before a rousing "fire" sing-song brings it to a close; and they do a strange, slightly stilted version of Wandering Eye as an encore, before singer Hollie Smith takes us "higher" and shows she's got the pipes to match the Freddys' pulse.

Apart from a laboured and self-indulgent period of drivel two-thirds of the way through the two hour show - where they lost the crowd, and even the Scotsman started to wane - they soon kicked back into a groove and kept the party going.

And special mention has to go to tuba and trombone player extraordinaire Joe Lindsay who not only provides booming bass with that tuba of his, he's also his usual bundle of rolly polly energy.

The weekend's two sold-out shows are the band's last in New Zealand before heading to the US to see what the Americans make of their stomping, trippy and brassy reggae soul.

Then they are back for the Summer Shakedown Tour around the country over Christmas and New Year - it should be one blissful party.