Live Review | Funeral For A Friend | Cabaret Voltaire

Having been a band since 2001, Welsh rockers Funeral for a Friend have no doubt played a number of unusual venues in their time, and a tiny cave-like room under Edinburgh’s cobbled streets –  known as Cabaret Voltaire – could probably count as one of them.

Taking to the stage as part of the Dr Martens ‘Stand for Something’ tour, the Bridgend five-piece easily demonstrated that, over a decade into their career, they remain one of the UK’s finest bands.

Tracks such as ‘All the Rage,’ Monsters‘ and ‘Roses for the Dead‘ from 2005’s breakthrough album ‘Hours’ were met with rousing cheers from the small but enthusiastic crowd, while new song ‘One Percent‘ slotted in pleasantly beside the older material and was well received.

However, it was songs from 2003 debut ‘Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation’ that excited the audience the most. The opening chords of both ‘Bullet Theory‘ and ‘Juneau‘ sent the room wild, with singer Matt Davis-Kreye having to cut the latter short thanks to some Funeral regulars having a hairy moment with the barrier along the front of the stage.

A moving singalong to ‘History’ brought a nostalgic night in the company of some of the band’s biggest fans to a satisfying close.

With their seventh album set to be released in January 2015, Funeral for a Friend showed that there’s plenty of life left in them yet.




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