In September 2015, Funeral For A Friend announced to the world that they were ending the band and that they would be bringing things to a close with their Last Chance To Dance tour of the UK. They announced that they would play two nights at each venue; one playing ‘Hours’ in its entirety, the second, their debut album ‘Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation’. Tonight is their second night in Cardiff, so the debut album it is.
Before that however, we get two exciting and very different support bands. First up are 
Zoax (9) who are from London by way of Ireland. Their bearded frontman Adam imposes himself on the crowd, starring at the faces looking up at him and humorously picking out anyone whose energy during their set isn’t quite hitting high enough levels. From their opener, ‘The Bad Blood’, he bounds not only around the stage, but along the barrier at the front of the stage; his presence similar to that of Frank Carter. Having yet to release their debut album (that’s due in May), the band are using this opportunity to showcase their music and tracks that will undoubtedly appear on that album. By the end of the set, the stage is no longer big enough for him, so Adam ends up performing their set closer ‘Ksychia’ in the centre of the crowd, getting right up close and personal with the fans. Undoubtedly a new band to many in attendance, tonight Zoax have certainly left their mark on those present.
Following such a performance was always going to be difficult, so Shai Hulud (9) have their work cut out. This American band find themselves on this tour at the request of Funeral For A Friend, owing to the fact that they were a huge influence on the band. Despite this influence, in the UK, they’ve never really had huge amounts of media attention, even though they have been going for 20 years. Their current line-up consists of the band’s two stalwarts Matt Fox and Matt Fletcher along with some fresh blood. 
However, on this tour, Stefan Hojnacki steps in for an absent Matt Fletcher. Like Adam before him, Shai Hulud’s singer also does barrier duties, standing on top of it, looking out at all the faces. Founding member and guitarist Matt also takes to the mike to encourage people to get moving and have a good time, in readiness for the headliners. He also takes time to show his gratitude to the headliners for inviting them out on this special tour; their frontman watching the entire set from the side of the stage. The band’s heavy hardcore sound resonates around the venue. They pop a cheeky cover of NOFX’s ‘Linoleum’ into their set, which sounds great and succeeds in getting the crowd pumped up. Along with this, particular highlights include ‘My Heart Bleeds The Darkest Blood’ and set closer ‘Misanthropy Pure’.
The anticipation levels are high for Funeral For A Friend’s (10) performance and there are many present who were also here last night. With this being their home show, there’s also a large presence of family and friends. So like Matt says when he addresses the crowd, “This is Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation.” Therefore, the set opens with the energy of ‘Rookie Of The Year’ and ‘Bullet Theory’, for which the crowd go absolutely wild and sing along with every word. For single ‘Juneau’, the band are joined on stage by Zoax’s Adam, who assists with the shouty vocals that were originally sung by their guitarist at the time, Darran Smith. As expected, ‘Escape Artists Never Die’, ‘She Drove Me To Daytime TV’ and ‘Red Is The New Black’ are particular high points and the energy and passion with which these, and for that matter, all songs are played tonight is incredible.
With the album all wrapped up, the band move straight on in to performing some firm fan favourites, starting with ‘This Year’s Most Open Heartbreak’, for which they are joined onstage by former member Ryan Richards, to assist on vocals. Understandably, he gets a very warm welcome from the crowd and the band.
From there we move back to where it all started with a selection of early EP tracks and B sides. However, nothing can prepare us for the rousing finale of ‘History’ and ‘Roses For The Dead’, two of the band’s biggest and most anthemic tracks that each and every crowd member sings along to at the top of their voice. By the time their final track comes to a close and the band take a bow centre stage, singer Matt is clearly emotionally caught by the moment and stands there crying, savouring the moment, whilst the crowd re-ignite the vocal cords to deliver their rendition of the chorus of ‘History’. This is a moment that everyone present will never forget.
Were it not for Funeral For A Friend, there are many bands, most notably in Wales, but also further afield, that would never have aspired to follow in their footsteps. They leave behind them 15 years of great music and for that, they deserve all the applause that they get tonight. Thank you for the music boys!
splizzmag 