Reviews

Live Review-FFAF Birmingham Academy, January 2010

Welsh post-rock upstarts `Attack! Attack!’ kicked off tonight’s proceedings with a set delivered with the aplomb and slickness usually reserved for seasoned veterans. The quartet were met with an enthusiastic reception from the 2,000 person strong O2 Academy, as they pulled out tracks from their debut self-titled album.The large audience within the room was a testament to the band’s progress and ever-increasing popularity. On a side note, the band’s back-drop revealed their appearance on the latest `Guitar Hero’ video game, a franchise which has now sold over `$1billion’. T the future appears bright for the welsh act.

As fellow Welshmen Kids In Glass Houses walked onto the stage, the age of tonight’s crowd was made clear through a crescendo of screams and whistles. As they opened with the thunderous `Good Guys Gone Rad’, the crowd’s buoyancy seemed to fuel their energetic performance. Frontman Aled Phillips gave a clinic in crowd interaction as he conducted the Academy through endless hand-claps and synchronised dance moves.

However, despite the band’s best efforts, tonight will not be recognised as an outstanding performance for the group. Even with a £5million revamp, the sound issues hampering the Academy remain and unfortunately turned parts of KIGH’S set into a sound guy’s worst nightmare.The usually impressive `Fisticuffs’ was the worst casualty. Poor work from the mixing desk meant drummer Luke Bentley helplessly muted the band’s vocals and caused any guitar work to be inaudible. Ultimately, the sound issues failed to halt the crowd’s energy. This was exemplified in set closer `Saturday’ as Aled recognised the sound’s plight and left the microphone alone, allowing Birmingham to flex their vocal muscles and participate in a game of group karaoke.

Any worries regarding poor sound for headliners Funeral For A Friend were wiped away within seconds of their first track `Streetcar’, as Darran Smith’s intricate guitar work accompanied Ryan Richards’ drum beats faultlessly . FFAF’s set improved progressively from that point onwards and a note-perfect rendition of `Roses for the Dead’ evidenced that the band were back at their best after the departure of long-serving bassist Gareth Davies over the summer.

Ordinarily, the group interact with the crowd frequently during their performances, which has consequently earned themselves reputations as comedians in disguise. Their comedic antics even landed themselves a spot on the latest DVD release from MTV’s `Dirty Sanchez’ crew. Surprisingly, tonight is different. Due to traffic congestion around Birmingham, tonight’s concert started later than advertised and the band have had to remove their usual frolics to enable them to complete their set list. Front man Matt Davies acknowledges the dilemma and blames the city’s “ridiculous traffic system” which is greeted with applause and cheers from the crowd.

With a new label and a new member in Gavin Burrough, the band appears to have a transformed mentality. With a finale comprising of three tracks from their first E.P `Between Order and Model’ -released in 2002-they have removed the outside influence of major record labels and are playing songs only they want to play. This is a new-look Funeral for a Friend ladies and gentlemen, and I implore you not to miss them.