Funeral For a Friend are one of those bands that most people at some point in their teenage years, probably during that regrettable emo phase, used be infatuated by, myself included. Fast forward to 2013, when emo is a dying culture, Funeral For a Friend are playing a sold out show at the Relentless Garage, which is a feat in itself. Though they aren't the same band that we listened to when we were fifteen. With the release of their new album Conduit, they have reinvented themselves, or more like returned to their roots with a much more hardcore influenced sound. How was this new (or old) sound going to go down with the crowd?
The opening act of the night was post-hardcore quintet I Divide. Despite being the opening act, having to deal with a mostly empty room with people straggling in through the entrance throughout their set, they were definitely the band which drew most attention to the crowd. They managed to get every single person at the front to sway their arms in unison. Mostly for an opening act, when the front man jumps down to the barrier, desperately trying to communicate with the audience, it's rather awkward, but for Tom Kavanagh, this was not the case, getting members of the audience to wail into the mic. However, at the end of the day, I Divide did sound like a band trying to reproduce the same kind of sound and success that bands like Sleeping With Sirens have achieved. However, they did it VERY well incorporating some insanely catchy vocals, stage presence and raw emotion. Even without having given them a proper listen beforehand, you couldn't help but get swept up in their addictive melodies. Judging from tonight, I Divide are definitely a band worth keeping an eye on.
This tour was definitely displaying modern pop-punk/melodic hardcore in its full force with up and coming bands Such Gold and Major League, the latter of which was my first full set of the night. Major League were always going to struggle tonight, this tour being their first ever time playing the UK, and also that the growing pop-punk scene, lead by bands like Such Gold and The Story So Far, doesn't really seem to ring with a lot of the audience tonight at FFAF. Though this didn't wear them down. In true pop-punk style, they came out up beat and bouncing, eager to play their new album Hard Feelings to some new ears. Technically, Major League were faultless. Their fast paced brand of pop-punk is just so insatiably uplifting that whether they liked it or not, the crowd found themselves happily bouncing away with them. Unfortunately, with the exception of the already fans and general fans of the melodic hardcore/pop-punk movement, I doubt Major League made many more.
And finally, half the reason I came to this gig: SUCH GOLD! For some reason it took me until the latter part of last year to discover and truly fall in love with them thanks to their incredible debut album Misadventures, and I've been waiting impatiently since then to see them. Finally I had my chance. Though unfortunately this wasn't quite the environment that I was hoping to see them in. There were only a handful of people in the crowd who seemed to know who they are despite being the largest of the three support acts. And Such Gold seemed to notice this fact too. The lack of enthusiasm from the crowd definitely seemed to affect the bands performance for the first part of their set, frequently making jokes about how tame the crowd were. Though this didn't stop the few who were just as excited as I was about such gold from two-stepping and screaming along to Storyteller and Two Year Plan.
Undoubtedly tonight was purely Funeral For a Friends night. As soon as Such Gold left the stage, people were already eagerly surging forward. As the intro to She Drove me to Daytime Television roared in, the crowd, old and young, male and female, metal or punk, erupted into a sea of unified bodies and voices. Expecting this gig to be primarily about the release of Conduit, I was surprised to hear a set which spanned their whole history as a band. But even after a whole decade of being a band, and after six studio releases funeral for a friend are still on top form. Its rare for a band to have so many songs which still prove crowd favourites, such as Juneau, history and roses for the dead, and with FFAFs return to their roots, they still manage to please the crowd.
The set list felt like it was telling the musical story and evolution of Funeral for a Friend as a band. The middle part of the set displayed funeral for a friends return to hardcore. Despite these songs not being as established as the rest, they made up for this in breakdowns which commanded pits that any hardcore band would be proud of. Its just not musically that funeral for a friend are being loyal to hardcore, its in ethics as well, quoting Toby Morse of H2O "passion before fashion" (though I think this reference was lost on much of the crowd). Furthermore, there was a certain feeling that the current government and socio-economic situation in the UK may be slightly responsible for the increased aggression in funeral for a friend, citing the Tory government of the 80s responsible for the unemployment and struggles of Wales. It makes FFAF all the more relevant even today.
Not only are Funeral For a Friend musically on top form, beyond shadow of a doubt, tonight was the best performance I have ever seen from them. It honestly felt like they had rediscovered themselves as a band after the few lost years of Memory and Humanity. Despite having played to crowds and in venues much bigger than this, FFAF genuinely seemed humble to be at the Garage. The songs Juneau and History could have brought tears to Matthew's eyes as surely every single member in the audience wailed along to every single word in perfect harmony. And from his speech to introduce Juneau, it's apparent that these songs still
mean just as much, if not more, now as they did when they were first written.
The opening act of the night was post-hardcore quintet I Divide. Despite being the opening act, having to deal with a mostly empty room with people straggling in through the entrance throughout their set, they were definitely the band which drew most attention to the crowd. They managed to get every single person at the front to sway their arms in unison. Mostly for an opening act, when the front man jumps down to the barrier, desperately trying to communicate with the audience, it's rather awkward, but for Tom Kavanagh, this was not the case, getting members of the audience to wail into the mic. However, at the end of the day, I Divide did sound like a band trying to reproduce the same kind of sound and success that bands like Sleeping With Sirens have achieved. However, they did it VERY well incorporating some insanely catchy vocals, stage presence and raw emotion. Even without having given them a proper listen beforehand, you couldn't help but get swept up in their addictive melodies. Judging from tonight, I Divide are definitely a band worth keeping an eye on.
This tour was definitely displaying modern pop-punk/melodic hardcore in its full force with up and coming bands Such Gold and Major League, the latter of which was my first full set of the night. Major League were always going to struggle tonight, this tour being their first ever time playing the UK, and also that the growing pop-punk scene, lead by bands like Such Gold and The Story So Far, doesn't really seem to ring with a lot of the audience tonight at FFAF. Though this didn't wear them down. In true pop-punk style, they came out up beat and bouncing, eager to play their new album Hard Feelings to some new ears. Technically, Major League were faultless. Their fast paced brand of pop-punk is just so insatiably uplifting that whether they liked it or not, the crowd found themselves happily bouncing away with them. Unfortunately, with the exception of the already fans and general fans of the melodic hardcore/pop-punk movement, I doubt Major League made many more.
And finally, half the reason I came to this gig: SUCH GOLD! For some reason it took me until the latter part of last year to discover and truly fall in love with them thanks to their incredible debut album Misadventures, and I've been waiting impatiently since then to see them. Finally I had my chance. Though unfortunately this wasn't quite the environment that I was hoping to see them in. There were only a handful of people in the crowd who seemed to know who they are despite being the largest of the three support acts. And Such Gold seemed to notice this fact too. The lack of enthusiasm from the crowd definitely seemed to affect the bands performance for the first part of their set, frequently making jokes about how tame the crowd were. Though this didn't stop the few who were just as excited as I was about such gold from two-stepping and screaming along to Storyteller and Two Year Plan.
Undoubtedly tonight was purely Funeral For a Friends night. As soon as Such Gold left the stage, people were already eagerly surging forward. As the intro to She Drove me to Daytime Television roared in, the crowd, old and young, male and female, metal or punk, erupted into a sea of unified bodies and voices. Expecting this gig to be primarily about the release of Conduit, I was surprised to hear a set which spanned their whole history as a band. But even after a whole decade of being a band, and after six studio releases funeral for a friend are still on top form. Its rare for a band to have so many songs which still prove crowd favourites, such as Juneau, history and roses for the dead, and with FFAFs return to their roots, they still manage to please the crowd.
The set list felt like it was telling the musical story and evolution of Funeral for a Friend as a band. The middle part of the set displayed funeral for a friends return to hardcore. Despite these songs not being as established as the rest, they made up for this in breakdowns which commanded pits that any hardcore band would be proud of. Its just not musically that funeral for a friend are being loyal to hardcore, its in ethics as well, quoting Toby Morse of H2O "passion before fashion" (though I think this reference was lost on much of the crowd). Furthermore, there was a certain feeling that the current government and socio-economic situation in the UK may be slightly responsible for the increased aggression in funeral for a friend, citing the Tory government of the 80s responsible for the unemployment and struggles of Wales. It makes FFAF all the more relevant even today.
Not only are Funeral For a Friend musically on top form, beyond shadow of a doubt, tonight was the best performance I have ever seen from them. It honestly felt like they had rediscovered themselves as a band after the few lost years of Memory and Humanity. Despite having played to crowds and in venues much bigger than this, FFAF genuinely seemed humble to be at the Garage. The songs Juneau and History could have brought tears to Matthew's eyes as surely every single member in the audience wailed along to every single word in perfect harmony. And from his speech to introduce Juneau, it's apparent that these songs still
mean just as much, if not more, now as they did when they were first written.
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