Funeral For A Friend, London Camden Underworld
** event was at Alexandra Palace**
When Give It A Name 2005 was announced, a whole load of bands were thrown into the mixing pot, but as the event drew closer, the list dwindled its way down, and eventually revealed a line up I wasn’t too over enthusiastic about, however a weekend away in London and the opportunity to watch Finch and Funeral was a decent reason to spend 28 quid on my ticket.
Upon entry to Alexandra Palace, or “Ally Pally” as the locals will insist, it’s the biggest indoor gig (with the exception of arena gigs) that I’ve been to. It holds 8,000 people, and when you have a storming warm day like this bank holiday Monday, one hopes you can meet the demands to keep these youngsters fed and watered. However, today’s organisers had slightly overlooked this fact, and two food outlets, run by the slowest service staff you have EVER met in your life, contributed towards the 3 hour queues you had to endure in order to get a sandwich. I know it is my job to write about the music, but whilst I personally stood in one of these queues along side a random girl who nearly collapsed half a dozen times, I missed three bands, and I feel it my responsibility to draw issue to this appalling lack of organisation. You simply can’t expect 8,000 people at an all day event to be able to survive on two, tiny kiosks. When I personally joined the queue it was during Lucky Nine, and I went on to miss sets by Alexisonfire, Rise Against and Coheed and Cambria, all so I could get a bite to eat. On top of that, the indoor cash machine broke, so half the kids who needed money to eat couldn’t as the venue operated a strict “No Pass Out” system.
Out of the bands I did manage to see, FIGHTSTAR were up first, and provided a ballsy performance which has improved a lot since their first gigs. It still seems a lot like it’s “Charlie’s band” and no-one else ever gets involved, but I admit, I’ve given these guys a roasting in the past, and this afternoons efforts were a lot more than I expected. “Palahniuk’s Laughter” proving to be a highlight of the set. (7)
I then went on to watch a small amount of MAE. I have to say, this wasn’t really at all what I had hoped for, and I was extremely disappointed. Someone had said these guys were the offspring of The Early November, but I found them quite bland, and for me personally and probably many others in the crowd, it would be the first time I’d seen them, and given this performance, I won’t really be looking to extend this. (3)
It was about this time I went for food. I have to admit, by the time I had finished in the queue I was on the verge of killing someone. However, it was the antics and genius of the one and only MC LARS that gave me a sudden will to stand up and enjoy the day I had made so much effort to be part of. He had been quiet all day, calmly introducing bands, and not really saying a lot to the crowd, however, he came out as the crew were setting up for Finch, and gave a short introduction before hitting through “Mr. Raven,” “Signing Emo,” and “i-Generation.” A random “Punktastic” was dropped into the lyrics of “Signing Emo,” and Lars got a decent response from the crowd for all his songs as there seemed to be a lot of people in attendance familiar with him. (8)
Finally FINCH took to the stage. It was the bands first major U.K show for a very long time, whilst working away on their new album, and I had fingers crossed that firstly, the new material was going to be good as their previous work, but also, that they wouldn’t just rocket a set full of the stuff. Neither disappointed. Despite what you have heard, Finch’s new material doesn’t sound a whole lot different to the last album, and judging by today’s performance is going to excite just as much. A few songs (names I can’t remember) stuck out, in particular one that seemed to last about 90seconds, where Nate just screamed and Shrieked through out. Like I said, thankfully Finch didn’t neglect their old material, opening with “Grey Matter” and later adding “New Beginnings,” “Without You Here,” “Worms Of The Earth,” “Untitled,” and ending on “What It Is To Burn,” Finch seem back to their best, and provided one of the best shows I’ve seen all year. (9)
Like Finch, it has been a long time since this evenings headliners FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND had been the main spot light. Also writing new material for a summer album, I was also desperate to see if the band had taken a new direction, or continued where their last record left. FFAF’s new material also sounds phenomenally good. Not a lot has changed, which to me is a good thing. It still contains the riffs, and the poppy singing melodies, but plenty of guts and screaming to back it up. FFAF, like Finch, also had time for some classic old tracks, “The Art of American Football,” “This Years Most Open Heart Break,” and “Rookie of the Year” coming across best of the bunch. Their return to the scene is lined up to be impressive. (9)
Pete @ Punktastic
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