Liverpool University Academy, Thursday 25th May 2006

God this audience is young, but for all their youth, they live it and they love it. Speaking to a few before show, they have seen this band more than 20 times; alongside Lost Prophets, B4MV, My Chemical Romance; and they all seemed to have been at the recent ‘Give It A Name’ Festival. You can tell the dedication from the fact that they all have the Tee, the CD, the Wallet, the Belt, the Pin Badge, alongside the oblitigory right trainers or sneakers. They can also tell you all the lyrics to all the songs, and have countless theories on what they mean. Make no mistake, they may be young but they are committed to ROCK!

So it’s Light’s Out in Liverpool, and first up are Beyond All Reason, the singer looks twelve, but is in fact 23. He has a Skid Row tee on, I’m smiling to myself at the irony, but it becomes very clear very fast that these guys are not here to make up the numbers. They deliver a strong set, lead vocalist Venno has a style that deserves to grace the big stage, they don’t seem overawed by this tour, they just get on with it. They remind me of B4MV eighteen months ago, and they rip through tracks from their impressive debut album ‘WORDS OF BETRAYAL.’ Highlight of the nine song set is ‘Love Crossed Pistols’ - check them out at: www.beyondallreason.co.uk

Now Fightstar! Don’t get me started, but, yes there is a ‘but’, they have delivered a strong debut album in the shape of ‘GRAND UNIFICATION’ and only the very cynical would say that if they were 14 they would not like this band. Trust me, this place is full of girls, and the boys like girls, and liking Fightstar gets you closer to those girls. I watched this band while putting to the back of my mind any ‘Previous’ and you know what, they are pretty fuckin’ good, they try a little to hard to be metal on times, you get the feeling that they are more Hawthorne Heights than Slayer, but they play eight songs from their debut album and the delivery is as good as the record. Highlight is ‘Hazy Eyes’ - this song on the L.P. is where they get it spot on and I hope is the direction they lean more to on album number two. Sure the older crowd may never accept Charlie, but this band a forging a new audience, and they will stay with them. I expected, well I didn’t know what to expect, but I would go to see them next time around, this band could really become something special, if everyone gets off their back.

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So to the main event Funeral For A Friend. Now these guys have been on the road forever; they play over 300 shows per year (that’s only 52 days off, including Christmas and recording an album) they put in the work; this tour is a bit of a goodbye, because for the first time in five years the band are coming off the road, taking a breather and recording a new album, and are not expected to be back live until 2007!

They tear open their set with ‘This Years Most Open Heartbreak’ from ‘SEVEN WAYS TO SCREAM YOUR NAME’ and then rush into ‘Roses’ and ‘Juneau.’ It’s clearly evident that they mean business, they say hello, then just tear it up some more at breakneck speed. There is no let-up in the sheer intensity of the delivery, you would think that they were just breaking, not ending the touring schedule. The hunger is evident, the musicianship is spot on and the vocals, well look into Matt’s eyes and believe, close your own eyes and it’s the record, which with their style is no mean feat. Highlights of the middle section include ‘Bullet Theory’ and ‘10:45’

Twelve songs in and they do something unexpected, they shift up another gear and detonate with ‘History’ and ‘She Drove Me To Daytime Television’ - both are years apart, both are like brothers, both are received like long lost friends. For the crowd at this point have become the band and the band the crowd, it’s all as one, everyone is just jumping, screaming, singing, having the best of times. It’s fuckin’ great to watch, this is rock’s future, and the future is good my friends, better than good. They end the set with a quite unbelievable ‘Streetcar’ which is one of those songs that you fall in love with instantly. They return for just one more, but that one is worth the admission price alone, it’s ‘Escape Artists Never Die’ and we end the night just as we came into it, one band, 3,000 fans, 15 songs and me. Nights like this, when you are young, pass by in a blur, and when you are older the memories of concerts like this flood back. This is one of the best of times to be under 20 years of age, a rock purple period and F4AF are at the forefront, fuck knows where they go next, but if it’s anything like where they have been, we are all in for a treat.

Jj 2006