Concert Review by Jamie Homer
Astoria, London – 28 June 2005
Tuesday night at the Astoria in London a sold out crowd was present to witness Welsh rockers Funeral for a Friend. It would be fair to say that not a single person present on this night felt cheated or unsatisfied when they streamed out of the Astoria at the end. To be honest, I was not very familiar with this band and I may have heard only two tracks before I listened to both their albums the night before the show. But like every other person at tonight’s show, I too felt that I had seen a solid, professional gig and will have to consider myself as a fan.
With supporting acts from A Static Lullaby, a California five man piece that frankly would do better as four (minus the loud and rather useless ringleader who I don’t recall actually ever singing), and fellow Welsh rockers Bullet For My Valentine who simply are too young and haven’t lived enough life yet to be that pissed off, the stage was set for FFAF to appear.
Having listened to both albums made to date, their second release HOURS sounds to me, and to be fair I have a largely untrained ear, much more polished and melodic than their first. I guess it’s almost a pop album, or certainly contains a few MTV worthy tracks, or at least a few tunes which could make their way to video some day soon. I must say, however, that this band remarkably sounds better live than they do in the studio. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with their studio sound, I think they are best described as a live act. They carry energy, passion and certainly a lot of commitment in their music.
It was solid gig, a class act (performance wise), look out for these guys, I think they just might be on to something…
