They sold out. Lost their passion. Traded post-hardcore for stadium rock. They forgot about their fans. All accusations thrown at Funeral for a Friend in recent years. All refuted with latest release Memory and Humanity, a return to their earlier dynamics, and further reinforced in a live setting, as they reconcile any complaints through action.
First tonight however, fellow Welshmen People in Planes get the chance to entertain the crowd, which is at this early stage in the evening (drinking time), laced with 14 year old girls. Their lack of asymmetrical haircuts does little to appease this demographic, but their choruses get everyone nodding in recognition as they are driven home with arena-filling power.
Following this, the young female contingent is far more pleased with the arrival of We Are The Ocean, who’s best Alexisonfire impression is commendable, if their delivery is a little pretentious. They aren’t headlining, and many people aren’t moving. Over the course of their set they learn to stop telling them to do so, and start making them.
FFAF encounter no such problems. All darkens, brilliant white spotlights sweep the room, and the Terminator theme blares out. The crowd are prepared for an Arnie-style onslaught, and as soon as the opening drum beat of ‘All The Rage’ is sounded, it is delivered. The floor opens up and bodies fly.
What follows is a set that introduces material from the aforementioned latest release and pays homage to the band’s early career, with an almost total disregard for the album that left a sour taste for many, ‘Tales Don’t Tell Themselves’.
‘Anyone remember 2003?’ asks frontman Matt Davies-Kreye, and it’s clear that, the now relatively few teeny boppers aside, much of the gathered crowd have grown up with FFAF. Testament to the quality and passion of their debut, people still connect so strongly with it over 5 years on. Whether it be thrashing in the pit like it’s their first time for ‘You Drove Me To Daytime Television’, belting out the poignant refrain of ‘Juneau’, or lolling exhaustedly to the final riffs of perennial closer, ‘Escape Artists Never Die’, those there the first time around channel their never-to-be-forgotten youth.
As shown by an impromptu response to fans with a Journey singalong mid-set (the hallmark of a Sheffield student crowd, surely?), FFAF by no means forget them. They are their lifeblood. They may never truly speak out to them quite as resonantly as they once did on record, but their live show is stronger than ever, and the energy when these original fans come together is off the scale. They will undoubtedly continue to come back for more.
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