Live Review
FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND
@ HUU Asylum, Hull
Do FFAF still have the bollocks for blasting out a spleen-destroying performance at non-festival gigs, and yield the infestation of indie’s to decide that £15 is a fair price to pay for the hardcore lifestyle of the rock and roll? We were about to find out. But first I had to endure the Scottish 3-piece In Case Of Fire. With a muse styling they had elements of progressive metal, but were unable to pull this off. Very uninspiring.
So with a distinct lack of appreciation for the previous band lingering in the snakebite moistened air, and with Cancer Bats entering the fray, the mood instantly lifted with the onset of these bushy bearded American metal heads. Ear bleeding vocals stained a talented group of musicians. Unfortunately I found myself being inextricably bored after two and a half songs. We’ve all heard the “I drink a bottle of JD for breakfast” style metal a thousand times before and a hundred times done better.
Enter our emphatic hosts for the night. With an intro of We Are The Champions, the Welsh rockers bounded onto stage, filling me with a massively insecure sense of anti-climax. And the first song didn’t do anything to alleviate those worries. It felt like they were fumbling around with my supple breasts while I lay there still bored. Would this be the standard for the remainder of the set? Would I have to finish myself off? No. Juneau kicked in and instantly, from the first note, everyone grew a smile as big as Asylum, and started jumping up and down like only a few songs per generation can do. Everyone remembered why they fell in love with Funeral in the first place, and fell in love all over again. Although it has been ten years since their first full studio album was released, they did manage to play more of their earlier material, much to my delight. An awesome rendition of Your Revolution Is A Joke stole the show, and with a rip roaring encore they bid an enraptured crowd fair well, but not without saying “Hull” many, many times during the set. No one told him there is no ‘H’ in ‘Ull.
Dan Carlin
Loading ...