It was a humid crucible full of sweat and banter as Fat White Family celebrated the release of their latest album, ‘Forgiveness Is Yours‘ at Oxford Art Factory earlier this week. Naarm/Melbourne artist RINSE delivered a stellar opening set. Fresh off their appearance at SXSW Sydney, RINSE showcased their sharp blend of shoegaze indie-pop perfection, a sound cloaked in so much melancholy.
Before Fat White Family emerged, the room became a terrarium for their signature mischief. The opening chords of AC/DC’s ‘Highway to Hell’ looped over the speakers, dragging on just long enough to provoke laughter, then groans. It was pure Fat White, cheeky, anarchic, and strangely disarming.
Lead singer, Lias Saoudi, was quick to spearhead the formation of a pit that surged for the duration of their very long setlist. Saoudi, as much performer as provocateur, repeatedly found himself tangled in his mic cord, his flailing movements like a punk rock marionette. His voice ranged from deep growls to soaring wails, cementing his role as the chaotic glue holding everything together.
The setlist spanned their career, blending punk anthems like their hugely successful first release ‘Touch the Leather’ with tracks from their evolutionary 2019 EP ‘Serfs Up!’. Each song carried its weight, whether it was stoking the chaotic pit to ‘Tinfoil Deathstar‘ or drawing the crowd into slower, more brooding moments, like ‘Religion for One‘ or even ‘Today You Become A Man’, the heavy-hitting spoken word track about circumcision.
The banter between songs was as cutting as their riffs, the kind of caustic wit that only Fat White Family could pull off. “F****in’ groupies,” Lias sneered, aimed at a fan apparently too overjoyed to keep their hands to themselves. But the teasing is part of the act—an unfiltered, gleeful negging that lands somewhere between camaraderie and critique. Like Trainspotting (1996), The Thick of It (2005–2012) and other cultural touchstones from the UK, Fat White Family revel in taking the piss, all while their mockery is heavily steeped in cultural and political commentary. The night was a strange, wild journey through the unapologetically messy heart of their craft.
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