Review by Michelle O’Rance
The Rev in Fortitude Valley was once hailed as a premier venue with its intimate settings and tonight it has reopened its doors to live music to host the first show on the Australian Funeral For A Friend tour.
Tonight’s bill is somewhat mixed with post hardcore locals Dollarosa and Sydney punk band Relentless taking the stage to warm the crowd up for the Welsh rockers.
Lachlan Dann has just a square meter of room to move around in on the tiny, crowded stage but he manages to manoeuvre around the drums and his fellow band mates and the local fans appreciate the energy he puts into his performance.
Dollarosa can boast a tight live set that backs up their musical ability and following the releaseof their latest single which includes a collaboration with Dan Marsala from Story Of The Year it is good to see they can take to the stage and prove they have what it takes. Big things are on the horizon for this band, so keep an eye on them.
Next up are Sydney band Relentless. The punk fivesome start off slowly, but as the set continues they warm up and the crowd responds. They have some fans here and the singer reacts to this as he surges over the front of the crowd to shove his microphone into a fans face. The kid just as eagerly screams the lyrics back at him and the grin on the singers face is reward enough for the fan.
Although they do seem better fitted to a lineup being headlined by 28 Days, Relentless play just as their name suggests and can safely say they have won a lot more fans tonight with their no-holds barred approach and great stage performance.
As the crew prepare the stage for the headliners the area in front of the stage fills with fans, young and old, eagerly awaiting the punk hardcore tunes that Funeral For A Friend are known for.
The band have just released a new album, ‘Conduits’, and there are quite a few songs off the album that they are debuting for their Australian fans tonight but they also have an extensive back catalogue to select from and this ensures that only the best are played.
Singer Matthew Davies-Kreye seems to have some sort of throat issue and it takes him quite a few songs to warm up the vocal cords before he can really start to let loose. But the problem continues to plague him throughout the set as his voice never really seems to kick into gear and the back-up vocals of Gavin Burrough and Kris Coombs-Roberts seem to feature more and more.
But the crowd still loves the performance, and they should, as it is energetic and polished. Davies-Kreye has a great rapport with the fans and encourages circle pits in the tiny space and there are even a few attempts at crowd-surfing.
The set is full of gems such as Red Is The New Black and the anthemic sing-a-long Histories, along with a few new ones off the latest release Conduits. They also play Alvarez, which Davies-Kreye tells us has never been played to Australian crowds before.
The night ends without an encore as they launch straight in Juneau and Escape Artists Never Die which finishes off the evening perfectly.
http://www.facebook.com/funeralforafriend
http://www.facebook.com/relentlessHC
http://www.facebook.com/Dollarosa
