I Divide kicked off tonight's event as
the first of four bands. Their fast pasted pop
punk and energetic performance drew a crowd at
the Red Bull Bedroom Jam stage at last year's
Hevy festival. They were on form again tonight,
with lead vocalist Tom Kavanagh's powerful vocals
setting the bar for everyone following. He wasted
no time in engaging the crowd trying to encourage
them to close up to the stage, but with little
success in spite of a number of attempts throughout
the set. "Runaway" followed before Dave
Mooney's drums lead the way into "This Ship's
Going Down". The entire band bounced around
the stage like hyperactive kids, with bassist
Kristen Huges standing on the speakers at the
front of the stage before leaping backwards. By
"Follow Me" a track off of a free album
sampler given away after the set the room had
started to fill up a bit more and a few of the
crowd were bobbing along. Sadly as things started
to pick up with the crowd it came time for the
final track "Burning Out" with its massive
digital bass drops. I Divide are worth a watch
so if you see them supporting make sure you get
there, I've caught them twice now and it's always
been good.
New Jersey pop punk outfit Major League
where net to the stage. Opening their set with
"Nightmares" from "Hard Feelings".
The vibes from the end of I Divides set carried
over with a few of the crowd tapping their feet
and bobbing along. Bassist Kyle Bell was the main
source of energy at the start with the others
joining in as the set went on. The non-acoustic
version of "Need I Remind You" followed
with Brian Joyce and Matt Chila getting playing
some catty riffs that sounded great. "Because
Heaven Knows" had some good shouty vocals
backing vocals and earned them the first applause
of the night. The college rock sound of Major
League was most notable during the last two songs
"Baltimore" from the album "Cities
and States" and "What You Make Of It"
from "The Truth Is...". Resembling "Set
Your Goals" but not getting what they deserved
from this crowd. They put on a pretty good show,
but the crowd was definitely here for Funeral.
A good effort for their first UK tour and from
what I've seen and heard it won't be long before
they're welcomed by fans screaming lyrics back
at them and breaking out into mosh pits.
The Melodic hardcore group Such Gold where
the main support for Funeral, with their fast
paced yet intricate music. Opening with "Two
Year Plan" with a noticeably heavier tone
than I Divide or Major League. Ben's shouty vocals
much more emotional than either of the openers,
as he bellowed out the tracks. Such Gold had all
the energy of I Divide, with much more ferocity.
Most of the tracks where from their recent release
"Misadventures" including "Higher
Places", "Understand and Forget",
"Survival of the Fondest", "You
Are Your Greatest Threat (The Doctor Will Serve
You Now)", "Storyteller" and "Locked
Out Of The Magic Theatre" with the older
tracks "Gutrot" and "Sycamore".
Such Gold combine the aggressive music of Senses
Fail with their own more scratchy raw vocal sound.
Bouncing around the stage constantly, with some
incredible licks and riffs that go hand in hand
with top notch hardcore bands. Combining punk
and metal both musically and in the nature of
their performance, Such Gold would have fit in
brilliantly at Hevy last year, and more than that
they would have stood out. "Misadventures"
and the change of bassist to the extremely talented
Steel Wolf could really be the start of something.
Finally after the long line of talented support
was done it was time for the iconic welsh rockers
Funeral for a Friend. Having seen Funeral
at Slam Dunk festival last year I knew they would
be good, and getting to see them in a small intimate
venue like the Fleece certainly suits the Hardcore
scene. "She Drove Me to Daytime Television"
kicked off the set beautifully, with the crowd
singing along at the top of their lungs from the
first word. If you own any of the live albums
like "Final Hours at Hammersmith" or
"Live At Shepherds Bush Empire" or the
EP "The Great Wide Open" that mostly
comprises of live tracks, you'll know that Funeral
sound great and have a bit of banter that adds
to the show. And like all Hardcore bands you know
the show is going to be packed with energy and
emotion. Needless to say tonight was no exception,
although front man Matthew Davies-Kreye swapped
a few of the humorous comments for a big brother
like mini speeches about how any up and coming
musicians should be 'selfish' and write songs
for themselves, or describing what inspired the
songs. Whilst this did put a bit of an odd tone
on the show, with the change from Ryan Richards
to Pat Lundy and the year off the group seem to
be rebuilding and rediscovering themselves. This
new identity (though very much the old Funeral
we all know and love) had a mentor vibe with a
little less going crazy and bouncing round for
the sake of it, and a bit more this music means
a lot to us and we're glad it does you. Recovery
saw the first mosh pit take place at the front
of the stage whilst the back of the room was content
at tapping there foot and singing along. The fast
passed "Red Is the New Black" started
by the guitar of Kris Coombs-Roberts and Matt's
vocals before kicking in with a scream. Pat Lundy's
drums thumped away throughout, if it weren't for
the fact everyone knew he was the new kid in the
band no one would say he'd only played a handful
of gigs with them. The show really stepped into
overdrive as bassist Richard Boucher jumped into
the crowd and surfed back to the stage. "Roses
for the Dead" was the last of the older tracks
before Funeral delve into "Conduit"
with "Travelled" and the title track.
The new tracks went down fairly well but didn't
get the entire room singing along, and certainly
didn't carry the emotion of the crowd like the
rest of the tracks.
The set was rammed with energy from everyone on
stage and there were a few humorous moments such
as "the pizza maker" a term Matt used
for a circle pit, that he requested from the crowd
by rotating his finger in the air. Though generally
the show had a more "preachy" feel to
it at times as he discussed the "haters"
and those whom "stab you in the back".
None of the other members sought to make any comments
about it and played a fantastic set with a few
jokes thrown around between them. Generally it
felt like quite an intimate affair of people who
loved them for over a decade, singing along in
a small room with the tracks they loved. Most
notably "The End of Nothing", "Dammed
If You Do, Dead If You Don't", "Broken
Foundation" with a great solo, and the final
track of the set "Alverez". It was only
the front few rows who sought to jump around and
mosh, and seemed most interested in "Grey"
and "High Castles" when they were played
compared to the more mellow crowd behind.
The show had an odd air at times, and didn't have
the crowd bouncing off the wall like I expected
but as the band has grown over their 11 years
so have their fans. Much like a long relationship
some of the heat and energy fades but a strong
and deep emotional bond if formed. That being
said one member of the crowd did leap onto the
stage before jumping across behind Matt who like
the rest of the band carried on as normal, before
he dived into the crowd.
As the encore tied of the night beautifully, with
two big sing-along's that for me sum up Funeral
at their best. There not the heaviest screamiest
hardcore band in the world like early blackout,
and they're not the poppiest or softest, but they
are better at those slightly softer songs so well
and "Juneau" and "History"
are perfect examples. As everyone sung "raise
your fingers for one last salute" as they
did so themselves. The most incredible moment
of the night came during the group vocals at the
end of the track when Matt held his mic down and
lent out over the crowd supporting himself with
one of the pillars as everyone in the room on
and off stage sung together, it truly captured
the intimacy of the tour and the gig. I spent
a lot of time trying to think of something to
compare tonight too, but Funeral are the band
that you compare hardcore bands too, as many are
noticeably influenced by their music and performance's.
I Divide 3/5
Major League 3/5
Such Gold 3.5/5
Funeral For A Friend 4/5
Review By Marc Rich
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