Words and Photos by Jaz Wilkins
New Zealand based band Fat Freddy’s Drop recently made four stops across Australia on their SLO MO Tour to promote their 2024 album release SLO MO. Hailing from Wellington, New Zealand, Fat Freddy’s Drop is a genre-blending powerhouse that has captivated audiences worldwide with their unique fusion of dub, reggae, soul, jazz, and electronic music. Since forming in 1999, the band has released multiple critically acclaimed albums over the years, leading to the band gaining a massive worldwide following and allowing them to tour the EU and UK twice in 2024 alone during summer and winter. I had the incredible opportunity to capture Fat Freddy’s Drop’s live show at The Fortitude Music Hall on Friday the 14th of March. I would like to express a huge thank you to their tour management team for making this happen!
On the crisp Friday evening of 2025, excited fans lined up outside of the venue, waiting in anticipation for the doors to open. As 7pm hit, the doors swung open and the crowd began flooding inside to take their places at the front of the barricade, while others chose to take themselves upstairs to the mezzanine to better view the show from above. The vibes were happy with excited fans taking photos together and admiring the stage setup before the opening act took his place on stage. Louis Baker took to the stage at 8pm to play a half hour acoustic set which set the scene for the amazing night ahead. Louis opened with his song “Black Crow,” where his soulful voice bounced off of the walls and echoed beautifully throughout the venue. His voice carried the show while his guitar blended with it gracefully, making for a wonderful and intimate performance. Midway through his set, Baker delivered a stunning acoustic rendition of “Purple Rain,” transforming the iconic Prince classic into a deeply personal and moving experience. As he strummed the opening chords, a hush fell over the crowd before erupting into a heartfelt singalong, with voices soaring in unison. Each note and lyric seemed to reverberate through the walls, uniting the audience in a shared moment of musical nostalgia.
Fat Freddy’s Drop took to the Fortitude Music Hall’s stage at 9pm, with all seven members taking their places on stage, each donning different instruments with their own unique purpose. Opening with one of the newest tracks from their album SLO MO titled “Stand Straight,” the band expertly built layers upon layers of instrumentation, rhythm, and melody. Each member dressed completely different from one another, with one adorning a button up blazer similar to that of a school principal, to another wearing an outfit similar to one you’d see a tourist wear on a holiday to Hawaii. The way the orchestral instruments blended seamlessly with the electric guitars and the boom of the bass guitar made for a very satisfying to the ear performance. In typical Fat Freddy’s Drop fan fashion, not even thirty seconds after the show started multiple showgoers lit up their stowed away joints that were hidden in their bags, the smell wafted through the venue as it was passed around between avid fans who were absolutely having the time of their life behind the barrier.
The band played hit after hit as the night went on, from “Blackbird” to “Roady” to “Boondigga,” each receiving an excited response from the eager audience. However, the cheer became deafening when the band played the introduction to their hit song “Wandering Eye,” effortlessly transitioning from their song Shady. The song was transformed into a captivating and infectious odyssey, filled with a combination of horns and dub effects from the DJ booth up the back of the stage. The bassline pulsated throughout the hall, being felt all throughout your body and drawing you into their captivating world of reggae and RnB. Joe Dukie’s vocals cascaded between the waves of reverb that were resonating from his guitar, transporting the audience into an otherworldly dimension. In the track’s final moments, the band locked into a deep and infectious groove that made time itself feel like it had slowed down. The crowd were so entranced and in the moment, it was obvious to tell that they didn’t want to let go of this experience. When the final note rang out, the audience roared in excitement, the room filling with whistles, chantin, and loud rounds of applause.
My time experiencing Fat Freddy’s Drop showed me that they are far more than just a band. They are performers that transcend the boundaries of music and bend the genres they play into something beyond special and unique.Their mastery of live improvisation and ability to build and release tension, along with their seamless mixture of dub, reggae, soul, and electronic elements make this show an unmissable, once in a lifetime event. For those that were lucky enough to attend the sold-out show, they can surely attest that the collective experience was unlike any other, and that the show was one that left the audience buzzing long after the final note had faded into the night.
Loudspeaker Collective 