Funeral For a Friend: Live in Cardiff 12.12.08
Welsh Rockers Funeral For a Friend blast Cardiff Student's Union
Dec 16, 2008 Andrew Swidenbank
The waiting crowd for tonight's gig just goes to show just how universal Funeral For a Friend's appeal is. From young, wide eyed kids with floppy emo fringes to seasoned, scraggy metalheads in faded Pantera T - shirts and everyone in-between, the audience is an eclectic mix of live music lovers, gathered in the Lego-brick building of Cardiff Students Union to see one of Wales' most successful musical exports bring down the house.
First though they must endure the support acts, which range from the generic but enjoyable standard rock of Attack! Attack! to the hardcore punk/shouty metal stylings of Cancer Bats. These Canadians know how to blast out a heavy tune, but vocalist Liam Cormier's delivery is so ragged that it's difficult to decipher what's going on in each song. They seem a band far more suited to a small, more intimate venue, but nevertheless the crowd is accepting of the aural assault, demonstrating that fact by opening up a respectable circle pit in front of them.
Funeral for a Friend
Once the Bats have left the stage, it's time for the home-grown heroes to take over, but not before the lights go out and Queens' "We are the Champions" cues over the PA, whipping the crowd up before the band emerge to blast straight into their set. No need for fancy stage dressing or complicated risers here, just a simple, stripped back row of amplifiers flanking the drums - the band let their live performance do the talking (so to speak).
Tonight's show marks a definite improvement in Funeral's live chops, their set sounding far tighter and more polished than several years ago when they bravely supported the mighty Iron Maiden to somewhat mixed responses.
Crowd Pleasers
Relatively new bassist Gareth Burrough appears comfortable with his new outfit, prowling the stage and leering enthusiastically out at the crowd, while vocalist Matt Davies masterfully controls the audience with humour and confidence. Getting everyone in the Union's Great Hall to point their fingers at guitarist Kris Coombs-Roberts, he orders them to shout "Go Motherf***er Go!" to launch the axe-man into the finger tapping intro of Roses for the Dead, and soon enough the band have their very own circle pit developing.
While the group of maniacs in the centre of the hall crash into each other in a sort of tribal show of appreciation for the music, the rest of the crowd are relatively calm, jumping along to the tunes in a far less violent manner. Not that they aren't appreciative - most just seem enraptured by what's happening on the stage - particularly so when the rest of the band leave Coombs-Roberts and Davies to perform the haunting Your Revolution is a Joke, with Davies announcing before-hand that the song is for everyone who feels they shouldn't have to conform to be themselves.
Memory and Humanity
While the new tracks from Funeral's latest offering Memory and Humanity get the Great Hall jumping, it seems that old favourites are what the crowd really want. History, a track from 2005 album Hours is perhaps the 'most wanted', and when it comes along the entire Hall sings it's collective heart out, each person with two fingers raised aloft as per Matt Davies' orders.
If Wikipedia is to be believed (which, to be fair, it often is not), Matt Davies may not be sticking around with Funeral For a Friend for much longer. It would be a shame if this were to be the last round of dates that the band play in their homeland. They performed at their peak to a clearly adoring crowd - a crowd who no doubt will keep coming back to see this unique band time and time again.
Funeral's 2008 Line up
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