Excellent set from Wales' nicest band
Given the fact that this gig sold out fairly early on, it's surprising then that there's not much of a build up to Funeral for a Friend coming on. Perhaps it's because the roadies don't take long to set up, but there's barely a smattering of handclaps and chanting from the mosh pit. Whatever the reason, I'm almost taken by surprise when I look up to see the band onstage - it seems like there's not much cheering.
After Bullet for My Valentine, the first song 'Rookie of the Year' seemed a lot less heavy, and a damn sight more melodic but I'm not complaining (and neither is anybody else). Tonight the atmosphere is a little weird at first, and only Matt really seems to be getting into it. Of course, needless to say, as soon as I start thinking that the rest of the band appear to get the hang of it.
And so it seems that the band begin to relax, and the banter flows more freely. After a few aborted attempts at it, Matt gets started, going off on the first of many song explanations of the night. "This next song, as I've been saying a lot recently, is about a cold, hard, bitch", before Funeral launch into a furious version of 'Juneau' (that, according to bassist Gareth, '"requires a lot of singing along"). For now, we've got no problems doing that.
And, before you know it, "it's time for a new one", but not before more general chat on stage. Matt starts joking with us that "you guys are the shit" (for buying the new album), "which apparently means you're cool". It made me laugh, but I'm not sure everybody found it quite as funny. The new one turns out to be 'Recovery', and also the only song of the set that seems to be a little lacking in spirit and passion. Maybe it's because of the fans onstage that apparently "cool you down and scramble your brain" according to Matt.
The next two songs really are Funeral trademarks, with the meandering, hypnotic riff. One is a new song, the other is an oldie. 'Monster' comes first, and is cracking live. It's a bit hopeful, a bit melancholy, and is one of the standout tracks of the set. This is followed by ' Red is the New Black', and the crowd goes totally wild for it. It starts off so unassumingly, then builds and builds to end up in a superb heavy, rocky finale. But, they're not even half-way through yet and this band are proving why they're such good value.
After another of Matt's many explanations (which get longer and longer), a massive cheer goes up for 'Roses for the Dead' - despite being a new one, it's clearly quickly become a favourite. The whole pit is moving, but that doesn't stop the band Matt and Gareth encouraging them to mosh anyway. 'Roses...' finishes with a bang, and that's when we find out that Matt is really short sighted, so he can't really see that set list so isn't too sure what comes where. It gets some laughs, but, again, some people really aren't too impressed. He can assure us, however, the next song is 'The End of Nothing'. Whatever else it is tonight, there is some awesome drumming during it.
And so the explanations continue; there may be a lot of them, but they make some of us laugh, and others just totally bewildered. This particular one goes something along the lines of: "Imagine the biggest fucking stetson a head can carry. Can you do that? No? Just as well that this is 'Alvarez' then." The disjointed, woozy feel of this song easily makes it one of the best songs of the set - it's not particularly Funeral, but it does have a brilliant riff.
Of course, in time-honoured gig tradition, there's an encore (albeit a short one). An impassioned 'History' kicks all off again, whilst 'The Art of American Football' pounds everyone into submission. Then, it's the song I've been waiting for all evening: 'Escape Artists Never Die'. I love this song to pieces, as do most people here so we sing along to every single word. The band may want to 'burn some bridges and make it out of here', but we're more than happy to stay and watch.
Tonight saw a wonderful set from one of Wales' loveliest bands. Funeral are so happy to be playing, and that we turned up to watch them, it makes for a real 'awww bless' moment. Matt Davies may look like he doesn't know what to do with himself during instrumentals, but the set is worth watching just for the between song banter. Alright, it may not have quite lived up to the Download set, but it was pretty bloody close.