Funeral For a Friend live at NQ Live, Manchester 16.02.2013
written by David Beech
I often think that, as a band, it must be quite
disheartening playing smaller, more intimate venues after several years of
larger ones. It's almost an admittance on the behalf of tour managers/promoters
that your fan base isn't what it once was or that your music doesn't resonate
the same way it once did. However tonight's show at NQ proved that, for Funeral
for a Friend at least, a downsizing in venue doesn't always mean a
regression in career. In fact, the very notion that the band are still
releasing albums and touring when so many of their contemporaries have fallen
by the wayside proves that they're a band that still have a lot left to give.
The first band of the night are I Divide. Exeter's
freshest five piece have been hotly tipped as a band to watch out for over the
coming months and seeing them live it's easy to see why. Though they've only
been a band since 2011 their music is as confident as it is accessible. Pop
hooks punctuate heavy riffs throughout in a style that will no doubt appeal to
fans of bands such as You Me At Six or Saosin. The band upholds a
kind of youthful exuberance and despite playing to a limited crowd, it's
transferred to those already at the front, foreshadowing what's expected to be
an energetic show.
The second band to grace the stage are Major League,
a pop-punk quintet from New Jersey. Despite this being the first time in the UK
for the band, they have already garnered a devout following amongst aficionados
of the ever-growing transatlantic punk scene. Capturing the lovelorn innocence
of bands such as New Found Glory and The Ataris, it goes without
saying that Major League will break a whole new generation of hearts in much
the same way the aforementioned were doing ten years ago. You would be forgiven
for thinking that Major League were the headlining act tonight. They give their
all and the crowd reciprocates. Fans of the band already sing back every line
and clamour for the microphone each time it's offered by vocalist Nick
Trask. If the job of the support band is to warm up the crowd then it's
safe to say that Major League go above and beyond the call of duty and have no
doubt converted a slew of new fans (myself included) nationwide.
The final support are Such Gold, part of a new
generation of pop-punk bands who take as much influence from 90s emo bands such
as The Juliana Theory and Christie Front Drive as they do Blink
182 or Green Day. That doesn't mean their show is an exercise in
self-pity or pop-punk cliché. Their blend of hardcore inspired gang-chants
coupled with melodic guitar parts whips the crowd in to a frenzy. As they're a
band who have already established themselves, a fair few members of the crowd
are obviously here to see Such Gold above the headliners. Circle pits form at
least every other song and fans are drawn in with reckless abandon. 'Sycamore'
is a particular highlight of their set and is spurred on by vociferous crowd
reactions, much to the chagrin of a security guard who overtly and perhaps
unnecessarily felt compelled to make his presence known. However, over-zealous
security can't detract from the fact that Such Gold who, despite being fairly
new at the game, come across like they've been doing this for years. Their
mixture of hardcore and pop-punk might not be to everyone's taste but they were
a perfect choice for tonight's main support and only just overshadowed by Major
League's ebullience.
At 8.30 Funeral For A Friend take to the stage to riotous
applause. Despite it being 6 years since the release of their most commercially
successful album, Tales Don't Tell Themselves, Manchester's NQ is packed
to the unusually low rafters, confirming once again that commercial success
counts for little when your fan base is a loyal as FFAF's. Opening with
long-standing favourite 'She Drove Me to Daytime Television' causes the most
raucous response thus far. Choosing to omit the more melodic tracks from new
album Conduit was a wise decision given the bands limited time-slot and
the hardcore enthused elements of contemporary tracks such as 'The Distance'
and 'Grey' slot in next to fan favourites such as 'Roses for the Dead' and 'You
Want Romace?' as if they've always been there. Front-man Matt Davies keeps the
crowd entertained between songs, even going so far as to cheekily ask the
aforementioned over-zealous bouncer if the crowd could “start a circle pit
around the entire venue?” to which he understandably declines. Penultimate song
of the night is the band's début single and my personal favourite 'Juneau'.
Finally hearing this song live, a decade after it's release is something really
special for me, and the majority of the crowd too given their reactions.
However, the song that receives the best reaction of the night however belongs
to 'History', taken from 2005s Hours. Davies is barely audible
over the crowd who sing back every lyric as if it was their last night on earth
and as the closing chords ring out, there's not a person in the room who can
leave tonight doubting the staying-power of a band once tarred with the emo
brush.
Be that as it may, tonight wasn't without it's drawbacks.
There were some minor issues with the sound quality across the board, this was
particularly noticeable during FFAF's set which is a massive shame; this
however can be attributed more to the location of the venues sound desk (the
side of the stage) as opposed to the bands overall performance. In fact any
complaints on tonight fall at the feet of the venue as opposed to the acts.
NQ
feels more like the club it is than a venue that plays host to some of the
biggest bands of yesteryear and ending on a negative feels somewhat ill-fitting
given the quality of the music on show tonight. Sure there were some songs
which felt a little flat when compared to the singles, but that’s the perils
you face when playing newer material live. All in all this was a solid show and
one which cements FFAF's place as one of the top contemporary British bands. It
doesn't matter whether they're headlining the Apollo or a backstreet dive such
as NQ the passion and the heart that went in to their previous records is back
with a vengeance and as long as Davies and co keep making music like they are
doing, long may their hearts stay broken and permanently on their sleeve.
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