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Biography
Comprised of vocalist Matt Davies, guitarists Kris Roberts and Darran Smith, bassist Gareth Davies, and drummer Ryan Richards, Funeral for a Friend derives their name from a song by Planes Mistaken for Stars. The band’s initial recordings with fellow Welsh band “From This Moment On” in 2002 were enough to secure Funeral for a Friend a two album deal with Mighty Atom Records. The group’s debut EP entitled “Between Order and Model” arrived in 2002 and introduced the band’s screaming style and post-hardcore influence on the public.
After the success of Funeral for a Friend’s second EP “Four Ways to Scream Your Name” in 2003, the band won the Kerrang! award for “Best UK Newcomer”, largely due to the swelling size of their devoted fan base. They followed the win up with an appearance at Reading and Leeds Festivals before releasing their debut album “Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation” in October 2003. The album was exclusively a UK release and spawned the Top 20 singles “Juneau”, “She Drove Me to Daytime Television” and “Escape Artists Never Die” and was followed by a European tour in support of Iron Maiden.
After the release of the EP “Seven Way to Scream Your Name” in America, featuring songs from the band’s two EPs, Funeral for a Friend supported Linkin Park on a tour of the States, and headlined the second stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2004. The group’s subsequent release “Hours” arrived in June 2005 on Atlantic Records and produced their fourth consecutive Top 20 single with “Streetcar”. Funeral for a Friend supported the album with local shows in their home-country of Wales, a significant stint on 2005’s Warped Tour alongside Thrice, Saosin, and Atreyu, as well as a UK tour with the likes of Killswitch Engage and Rise Against.
After vocalist Matt Davies recovered from laryngitis and released an album with his alt-country side project the Secret Show, the band returned in 2007 to release their third full-length album “Tales Don’t Tell Themselves” late 2007. As the band developed and matured a slight changing of sound and influence can be heard, focusing more on anthemic and melodic emo with fewer screaming vocals. This can be heard on the band’s fourth studio album “Memory and Humanity” released in 2008, which was succeeded with Funeral for a Friend’s apocalypse-themed “Welcome Home Armageddon” in 2011.
The releases were again followed with the kind of relentless touring fans had come accustomed to, including their first ever show in South Africa. The release of the EP “See You All in Hell” marked the departure of long-time drummer Ryan Richards who was replaced by Pat Lundy, who recorded on the band’s sixth studio album “Conduit” in 2013.
Live reviews
Funeral for a Friend has been blasting away their audiences for quite some time now with their ultimately, catchy and heavy style of music.
Funeral for a Friend has been paving the way for the British post-hardcore scene ever since the release of their first album, Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation, in 2003. They have garnered a reputation for their intense live performances, which include thunderous drums, heavily, distorted guitars playing intricate melodies and rhythms at the highest volumes, and loud, boisterous singing from Matthew Davies-Kreye. Each member in the band is highly engaged in the performance, mustering every bit of energy they have to wildly rock out to their music and jump around stage with fierce intensity.
The crowd is just as enthused as the band, starting up mosh pits, crowd surfing, and head-banging. At one Funeral for a Friend concert I attended the band asked the audience to split in half making a division in the middle. The band then told each side of the audience to all run at the opposing side of the audience when they started the music. Once the music started the audience followed their command, running at each other like they were in some epic, Roman war, starting up a massive mosh-pit to the sound of the heavy metal music playing in the background. You can expect to hear a diverse list of songs at a Funeral for a Friend concert, which encompasses most of their career. You will hear the more melodic and catchy songs from the albums, Hours and Tales Don’t Tell Themselves, but you can also expect to hear the more metallic, and gritty songs from their newest album, Conduit, which is an album that takes a return to the band’s heavier roots.
wjmcc
Wale’s Funeral For A Friend have had a career of highs and lows, involving losing key band members and struggling to maintain fans while their post-hardcore sound has evolved. But they have always been a fantastic live band. I’ve seen them so many times over the years: from their early metalcore beginnings, when they released their Between Order and Model EP, through to their emo heyday, where they headlined Give It A Name, London, in 2005. However, their forays into more melodic and interesting post-hardcore, such as on Tales Don’t Tell Themselves, made they a more interesting live band, as their sets had more variation and put Matt Davies’ vocals front and centre – their main stage performance at Reading was one of their best as a result. More recently, they’ve returned to a heavier hardcore sound and their live shows are predictably much more aggressive as a result. Their set at Dour 2013, Belgium, was hectic and sweaty, just like proper hardcore should be! But, as is always the case with a FFAF show, the highlights were the old emo anthems ‘Juneau’ and ‘Escape Artists Never Die’ – two songs that cemented them as the best UK band from that whole emo era.
cliverozario
Watching Funeral For A Friend in a variety of venues in Scotland over the last 15 years (SECC, Barrowlands, Corn Exchange) it was great to have the chance to see them playing in an intimate venue as the Cabaret Voltaire. What was most exciting was witnessing a band playing with electric energy, excitement and looking like they were having as much fun as the crowd. Playing as part of the #standforsomethingtour 5 quid a ticket was a bargain for any concert yet the guys looked like they were playing the most important gig of their lives, they got the crowd ecstatic from the get go with songs such as Hours, Juneau, Roses for the dead and History to name a few. There was something for every FFAF fan played tonight, as for the crowd, security and venue itself, they were all on par with the band. Announcing that they will be back in January to play a UK Tour (King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow) I was already eager to get my ticket before the gig, on tonight's merit I would recommend anyone who is interested in having a fantastic night out and a great concert to get a ticket soon. #standforamazingbands
Fozzybear85
The venue was great! Lovely to see 2 new artists. Sadly as a fan of funeral for a friend and having seen them before we were really disapointed. The sound was awful. Only because we knew the songs did we have a cule what they were singing.they were only on for an hour too which was really short , it took us longer to travel to the venue.
heatherdwtr
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