[Apologies for the late posting of this – editor’s error.]

The promo for this show states “Not for the faint hearted and definitely NSFW” so it is extra fun to see several rows of actual workmates from a local law firm in the audience of this properly naughty and hugely entertaining performance. I’m not sure if they find it awkward. I guess it depends on your definition of how much is too much information, but it is delightfully apparent from the opening minutes that The Fan Brigade do not subscribe to the device of a euphemism.   

After a sweary introductory chat, Amanda Kennedy surveys the crowd making the observation that some people ‘may not have read our bio’ before buying tickets and Livi Reihana advises them to buckle in for the next hour. As a result, this review comes with a warning for rudeness and naming of body parts.

With Kennedy on ukulele and Reihana on ‘sexy moves’, One Night Only is a ‘best of’ performed over an hour on a balmy evening at the wonderful Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival.

They start with RSA, one of their most well-known songs: a tragic tale about the plight of a young person trying to enjoy a moderately priced gin at the local club. It’s clever, full of witty rhyme and characters we relate to and the crowd love it, even when Kennedy breezily identifies a number in the audience being “actual RSA demographic”.

Despite the mature crowd, they tone down nothing, rolling out some past classics including ‘Toilet Sex’ (filthy in every way) and another about sketchy ex-boyfriends. The banter between songs is both revealing and hilarious and a little terrifying, especially when they give the audience a chance to interact. There’s a long stretch between “who’s been to an RSA?” (me! woohoo!) and “Would you like the song about your boyfriend being a dud root because of watching porn, or the one about a guy wanting anal on a first date?” (um?) Surprisingly the audience chooses the latter, although when I say audience I mean the ones brave enough to shout out a preference. To be fair, some don’t have a chance, like the older gentlemen in front of me who asks, “What did they say?” and gets a swift shake of the head from his companion.

Another crowd favourite is ‘The Absolute Worst Thing in the World’ with its controversial views on a beloved national sport. While they are on safer ground for laughs with this and the RSA song, the thing I love about The Fan Brigade is, as well as being very very naughty, they are fearless in writing and performing songs that highlight some of the real things women actually experience and talk about.

Kennedy is an accomplished musician and the composition of the songs are catchy and clever with opportunities for them to annotate along the way. The structures play to their vocal strengths giving us lingering, beautiful harmonies that juxtapose with subversive, and occasionally filthy lyrics and both of them are brilliant at fast paced delivery. 

The last time I saw The Fan Brigade at the festival I was with a younger male work contact and I alternated between snorting with laughter and self-censoring. This time I have sensibly taken my sister and buckled her in. Great fun and plenty to talk about at the law firm water cooler on Monday.

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