Funeral Party at The Academy 2 on February 1st 2011
Review by Conor Skinnader
Photos by Ronan Shaw
Having played Download, Reading and Leeds festivals in what has been a fantastic year for Funeral Party, they recently self confirmed themselves for Reading and Leeds again in 2011 before the line up has even been announced. It therefore wouldn’t have surprised many who were following their progress if the band had been dismayed to find themselves thrust into what could be perceived as the Academy’s basement.
However they threw themselves into their set with gusto, turning it into a very intimate, but highly energetic showcase of their recently released Golden Age of Knowhere album, in a venue I suspect wasn’t a far cry from the parties they started out playing in L.A. not that long ago.
Having interviewed the band several months ago I got the impression that they were just down to earth guys who were focused on making sure everyone enjoyed their music as much as they do. While not as raucous as their sound, they exude confidence on stage and were only too happy to interact with the crowd between songs, even challenging one fan to “a drinking contest afterwards”.
As could be expected their main hits from Golden Age of Knowhere such as their breakthrough track ‘New York City moves to the sound of L.A’, ‘Finale’ and ‘Car Wars’ went down an absolute treat. In fact, in what was a frenetic set, the only time they actually slowed for a breather was when they played ‘Relics to Ruins’, which is quite softer than their other material. It was definitely no surprise that they were called out for an encore and finished off a solid showing with ‘Just Because’, my favourite track off their album, leaving at least myself highly satisfied with their performance.
Funeral Party showed that they can more than hold their own with many of the bands I’ve seen over the past year. However, if I had one criticism of them, it’s that their material all sounds similar. While this formula has worked for many bands before, it’s difficult to see how they can top their first album without taking their sound in a different direction. Only time will tell if they have the talent required to do this, but for now this performance can only have galvanised their already burgeoning reputation among those at the gig, showing they can continue to ride along on the success of Golden Age of Knowhere on both sides of the Atlantic.
Skinn gives this a rating of 4 Skins out of 5.
