Live Review : Funeral For A Friend + Holding Absence + Static Dress @ The Academy, Manchester on March 2nd 2022

Given the age I am, I found rock and metal during the nu-metal era of the late 90s/early 00s. I was a regular little mosh monkey in baggy JNCOs and my band tees. My KoRn tshirt was literally my pride and joy, despite it clearly being a bootleg that my parents got me from a market stall. Aside from my friend Becky, I didn't know many other metal fans and I was forever grateful to her for being a constant support in a world that could actually feel pretty lonely and isolated.

Fast forward a few years and by the time Funeral for a Friend exploded onto the scene, they had somehow passed me by a little, although they were firm favourites for so many of my friends. I was never overly sure I understood them properly in my teens, but having so many friends who were completely enamoured with them, their music became quite familiar to me over the years. I could not resist the opportunity to walk down memory lane.

Before we visit the angst soaked world of my teenage memories, we have an angst soaked world of present day stuff to experience, starting with tonight’s excellent openers Static Dress.

These guys are busy busy busy! Opening for FFAF, preparing to release their debut album and getting ready for a headline UK tour, Static Dress have obviously been working so incredibly hard at what they do for the past few years, almost creating their own hype and having it work out so beautifully well for them. 

The Leeds based band move between a variety of sounds, flashing from post hardcore into an almost grunge like melodies. For me, I heard flashes of ‘Glassjaw’ as I listened into singer Ollis impressive vocals. A great example of what they do comes in the form of latest release ‘such.a.shame’. Ones to watch over the next few years I imagine. You can see Static Dress for yourself on April 12th at Key Club in Leeds or April 16th at Star and Garter in Manchester. 

There’s more post hardcore joy from Cardiff’s Holding Absence, who just completely fill the room with this glorious wall of sound and light. I love a band who present layer upon layer within the music they write without it being too complex and pretentious, and that’s exactly what Holding Absence have so beautifully managed to achieve. 

A super emotive performance of ‘Wilt’ towards the end of the set cements the little lump in my throat and ache in my stomach. Lucas’ vocals soar on the line “Hold me now, for a little bit, the love that we watched wilt” and as someone going through hands down the most awful painful break up of her life, I wasn’t expecting to feel such an unbearable twang of emotion in the middle of the Manchester Academy. 

Moments like that are made to be experienced with friends, so how lucky was I to bump into some of my closest friends from home just before Holding Absence came on stage. At the very second I thought “Oh dear God, I am going to cry in the middle of the crowd” my friend pulled me in for a squeeze, just because she is light and beauty itself. A wonderful moment. 

In no time at all the headliners were on stage, and the audience was genuinely a sea of complete awe and ecstasy. For so many tonight, the adoration for their heroes was still as important now as it ever had been, and as they kicked off their set with ‘All The Rage’, followed by ‘Juneau’.

‘Juneau’ remains an excellent sing along song, purely for the “Nothing more than a line in your book” bit which I can guarantee I’ve probably angrily sang alone in a kids play park at 2am when I was in my late teens and discovering alcohol and ecstasy don’t really mix. 

Don’t do drugs by the way. 

There’s so many of these wonderful cathartic “hands in the air sing your lungs out” kind of moments throughout the night, and it’s incredibly difficult not to be swept up in the nostalgia of it all. 

I’ve never been one for harshly critiquing a performance, and again here tonight there’s nothing for me to be overly judgemental about. It sounds on form, which is excellent for a band who didn’t play together for such a long time, and the audience was so enthusiastic all night it was incredibly difficult not to be swept along in the joy of seeing so many of my closest friends with the biggest smiles on their faces. 

By the time they close their set with the absolute anthem that is ‘History’, I’m just a mass of euphoria with the cheesiest of grins. An unexpectedly great night out with great people, and proof that maybe we should all step outside of our comfort zones from time to time. If you’d told me a few weeks ago I was going to be having fun at a Funeral for a Friend gig, I wouldn’t have believed you at all. 

 Much love to Lee for the big hugs, Ray for the lift home, and Anna for looking after her fellow gig goers so wonderfully.