Big Freedia @ Oxford Art Factory

Unlike many stories, this one begins at the end. The rear-end variety, that is. There was plenty of it doing the rounds (pardon the pun) as the towering Big Freedia made a return to town. Although many were indeed disappointed not to have Freedia and co. returning to the dark, sweaty dungeon of Goodgod Small Club, the inner-city vibes continued over to Oxford Art Factory, which was about as suitable a replacement as one could hope for.

Admittedly, things were not off to a hot start. Goodgod alum Andrew Levins, AKA Levins, practically did his bounce-oriented DJ set to any empty room. Things picked up marginally with two-thirds of Black Vanilla taking over, which coaxed a few more people out onto the floor. You’d have to credit this, at least in part, to the irrepressible energy of Marcus Whale, also of Collarbones fame. You seen that guy bust a move recently? You are only doing yourself a disservice if you haven’t.

Sure, an 11pm start is probably an early night in Big Freedia’s world, but that was not going to deter her – nor her fantastic dancers – in the slightest. She wanted ass everywhere, and that’s certainly what she got across her 50 minutes and change onstage. It’s admittedly quite a peculiar thing to critically analyse a performance of Big Freedia’s – how does one measure and then subsequently dissect it? What angle does one take? There is very little to report on in terms of it being a live performance – Freedia essentially toasts over her own songs, not even backing tracks, and the transitions are jolting on account of Sveta more or less DJing the performance on the fly. If one is looking for energy and excitement levels, however, that is quickly taken care of. It wasn’t long before the entire stage was filled with young women releasing their collective wiggle. No matter how few or how many Freedia is dealing with, she knows how to keep an audience on its feet and connected to her brand of brassy, booming music.

As she signs off, Freedia goes through her various nicknames – the Queen Diva, the Dick Eater, et cetera. One thing she really should give herself credit for, however, is being an outstanding entertainer. Yes, it was an inconsistent and occasionally odd evening. When it was fun, however… Lord, was it fun.