Ben Sadler has a statement to make. “We’ve reached the point..” he confides “Where people say we’re over rated, over hyped..and over weight”. For those not familiar with the Getdown Services – which in tonight’s Brudenell crowd appears to be absolutely nobody – this is exactly the kind of self effacement for which they’re so loved. It’s a pisstake. It’s a conscious subversion of the pop-celebrity rules. It’s anti-bodyshaming. And the last bit is true.
It’s not hard to see why they might be getting some snide gear from the haterz. Along with childhood friend Josh Law, the duo from the sleepy town West Country town of Minehead once called themselves Britain’s Best Band (When in their defence they thought nobody would notice) and in 2024 earned themselves a feature in Rolling Stone. Pretty good going for mates who started making music as an escape from the drudgery of their then working lives.
The music? Well, it’s a conflation of disco, glam rock, heavy metal, laptop beats and tonight, a dash of techno. Lyrically is where it gets complicated, the words a profane slap of hip-rap-prose-rant-hop that goes long on observational randomness. It shouldn’t have a chance in hell of working, yet largely because of the pair’s obvious chemistry and a willingness to send themselves and their audience up mercilessly, it’s pure gold.
But is it working though. Is it really. Well, two sold out shows on the same night – the first that starts at a commute unfriendly 6.45 – tell their own story. And from the moment the pair enter the stage to Status Quo, the vibe is about letting yourself give in. Audience participation is mandatory, hand gestures universal and the food scoffing contest that precedes Eat, Sleep, Quiche, Repeat ends up being almost a work of surrealist performance art by itself.
If potty mouthed thirty somethings who’ve stripped to the waist by the middle of the set can be, then tonight’s subtext though is remarkably wholesome. As much as the likes of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver are mercilessly skewered (Get Back Jamie) it’s far more banterous than anything a tabloid journalist would spew out. Money from tickets is being donated to the Music Venue Trust, departed friends are being remembered and Josh reflects back wistfully on his University era home in the nearby Kirkstall area: ‘What a shithole’.
The show’s curfew time approaches rapidly, but if there any fucks being given that the doors for the next one are open in 10 minutes they’re not obvious during an epic encore rendition of Dog Dribble, celebrated in the crowd by one of the most unlikely circle pits in recent music history. Afterwards everyone’s left smiling and knackered, it’s just that we don’t have to do all this again in 90 minutes.
The Getdown Services then everybody: overweight, under dressed, in your town and soon to be more popular than chips.
The Voice Of Unreason 