The last time I saw Fridge (summer '99, Union Chapel) they were really going for it on the last song when one of them looked up to see me, sitting quite near the front, having the biggest yawn of my life. I felt bad about it ever since, especially since I quite enjoyed them and was only yawning as I had had a really long day!
Anyway, there has been a lot going on since then, not least the release of their very fine album 'Happiness', and Kieron Hebden's other project Four Tet's excellent debut album 'Pause' - the critical reception for both of these is presumably the reason why they're able to play places like the Scala.
However larger audiences often have less of an attention span, and that's certainly true tonight as Fridge's music doesn't seem to get through to everyone here. Admittedly the sound is fantastic - the bass just goes right through you! - and overall this was a pretty good show, it's just that I wish I had seen them play somewhere smaller. It's not just because they're an instrumental act either - they just don't make an initial impression when they come on in the way that Godspeed, Yo La Tengo or even Billy Mahonie would.
Despite that, some of the quieter, melodic pieces from 'Happiness' work really well, as does the dubby material. It's good to hear a band like this work in jazzier structures though some of that is lost on the crowd. A straight 4/4 guitar and drums interlude doesn't go anywhere and leaves most of us sratching our heads.
For me, it isn't until the last few songs that the gig starts to click into place and the last couple of songs and the encore are really very good. I hope they don't take this review the wrong way, because we need more bands like Fridge who are willing to stretch things a bit, and you should all check out their last couple of albums ('Eph' and 'Happiness').
