Funeral for a Friend
Funeral for a Friend at the Waterfront Studio
This was a great performance from these veterans of the post punk/screamo scene, who after 15 years and a couple of line-up changes, are still going strong. FFAF's audience has dwindled from what it was in the heyday of Hours and Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation, and with fans still favouring songs off these albums rather than their newer work you could be forgiven for expecting an air of bitterness from the performance. This was, however, not the case and the band seemed to be as happy and comfortable on-stage and with each other and the crowd (at one point discussing politics with the audience) as I have ever seen them.
Packed onto the tiny stage in the Waterfront Studio the five band members barely had enough room to manoeuvre, but this did not stop them from delivering a ferocious performance starting with material from their latest album Chapter & Verse. They went on to play a selection of songs from their previous albums with the exception of Memory and Humanity from which no songs were played. Crowd favourites such as Street Car got the audience jumping (even a small mosh pit appeared) and History had everyone singing along. The set ended with the song Roses For The Dead. The guys in the band are all fantastic musicians and performed their parts exceptionally, but unfortunately the performance was let down by the poor sound quality in the Waterfront Studio, and the newer and less well known songs lost the impact they could have had if there had been a better balance between instruments and vocals.
This was the fourth time I have seen FFAF live and for me was one of their best performances. Although the stage and audience have become gradually smaller each time, the band just keep getting better.
