I am a huge, huge fan of this band, and when I found out they were releasing a DVD I was practically wetting myself with excitement until the day I was able to press play with the disc in my DVD player. And following that moment, things took a turn for the worse….
The potential I thought for this DVD would be massive, the story of a band breaking through into what has to be said is one of the biggest musical phenomena’s of last year… but instead it appears a half assed attempt to get more fans buying more merch. In short, the content of the DVD is poor. Allegedly, the producers compressed a whole stack of DV camera tapes from the last 18 months of the band being on the road, to create the documentary, which in fact is short and poor. It has nothing to do with Funeral for a Friend as a band, but is merely vocalist Matt and bassist Gareth messing about. It shows a few “steady hand” shots of the band live, whilst album tracks are dubbed over the top. The rest of the band hardly appears. One of the more impressive points on the DVD is the “Trilogy” section with a specially made video for “Juneau” – unplugged.
The live gig is also a major disappointment. Surely this band have played some manic shows in the last year to venues full of kids hurling their bodies around and generally causing havoc. This must be one of the bleakest and un-energetic shows FFAF have played since breaking though. On some of the heaviest songs on the set list, (“Kiss and Make Up,” “This Year’s Most Open Heartbreak”) the crowd are just stood, completely unmoved and seemingly uninterested. The biggest let down, is the ridiculous decision the band make on a regular basis to combine “Juno” and “Juneau” when playing live, something I feel ruins one of the greatest songs ever written. However the quality of the sound and performance by the band through out the live show it has to be said is first rate.
By all means invest in this DVD and give it a good watch, I’m just warning you that from what I had anticipated, the whole thing has been a slight let down.
Pete
www.funeralforafriend.com