Entry tags:

gigs, music, travel

Funeral For A Friend @ Brixton
Awesome.

This is the best word to describe the first gig I watched outside of the Philippines. It would also be the 3rd foreign act/event I've seen live aside from POD and Incubus.

Getting to the venue was pretty easy with one bus ride and two tube rides. The moment you step off Brixton Station you would know that you are in the right place since there are already people selling tickets to the event.

Carling Academy was just a few meters from the station and can easily be located since it can be seen from the street corner. Of course, checking the vicinity first online via Google Maps helped as well as following teens dressed for the event.

I snapped a picture with my camera phone before entering but I cannot find it now. So this one of the Kaiser Chiefs should do.

The line was pretty long as it wrapped around until the back of the building but the line moved real fast. On estimate, I'd say I spent less than 15 minutes.

The type of ticket also didn't seem to matter as you could get in and move from the upper area to the lower one with no problems. The tickets cost the same anyway, so this isn't such a big thing.

Once in, there was this huge booth where merchandise was being sold. Wanted to buy a band shirt but opted not to due to the number of people buying. I also didn't want to carry around something in my hands the whole night.

Decided to purchase some beer instead which was pretty expensive at £3.30 for a large plastic cup. That's more than 300 pesos in the Philippines. Sorry, since I am still not earning my own money here I multiply everything by a hundred. Oh, the girl selling beer actually asked me for identification. Thankfully I had my trusty provisional licence which came a week ago.

The Haunts opened just before 8 in the evening. They are okay but nothing special. I actually sat down after 2 or 3 songs. They do seem to be a local band though and had their own amps and drumset with their names on it. They played around 6 songs I think.

Purchased a second cup of beer. Wanted to walk around the venue and look for girls but that was just not me at all so I just walked and found myself back on the same spot I was earlier.

Around 8:30, The Receiving End Of Sirens started playing. They are a band based in Boston, MA and have been touring with Funeral For A Friend. I have heard their songs already and they were pretty nice but nothing special when seen live but significantly better than The Haunts. I'd say they played around 8 songs.

Short break. Time for another beer but I didn't have any spare change anymore and didn't want to break a £ 20 bill as one beer would lead to another then another.

Funeral For A Friend played around 9:30 just like what the sign said outside the venue.

It was pretty crazy. The crowd was jumping around and singing/screaming. Being the main band, they played more songs, certainly more than 12 in one set. They played around 3-4 new songs and the rest where old favorites. The songs I could remember were Into Oblivion, All The Rage, History, She Drove Me To Daytime TV, Juneau, Bullet Theory, Roses For The Dead, The End Of Nothing, Walk Away, Streetcar and Escape Artists Never Die.

Highlights of course were the amazing opener of Into Oblivion straight into All The Rage, the hands and fingers during History, and most especially the encore which totally blew everyone away. Sorry, but I am not used to encores so this is quite a new thing to me. Gigs in the Philippines do not have encores. After their set, they dimmed the lights and everyone left on stage. However, the crowd was still there not moving and then shouted for more as they did expect more. Then the familiar telephone sequence could be heard over the sound system and boom, the band was back and kicked in with Streetcar followed by Escape Artists Never Die. The encore was real crazy and awesome.

The crowd though was quite crazy but not like crowds in big concerts in the Philippines. I expected the worse but thankfully, didn't experience it. Also Brits don't smell as bad as local orcs do back in Manila. No bodysurfing was allowed in the venue. Those who bodysurf are immediately pulled out of the crowd by the bouncers in front. There is even a sign for this.




Tranport home was no problem either as everyone was taking the tube and with Brixton being the last station on the Victoria line this meant two trains waiting when we got down. I was also fortunate enough to catch a bus right after leaving Stanmore Station or else I would have needed to wait for 30 minutes for the next one.

With this near blissful and awesome gig as well as the ease of commute, I'd certainly be watching more gigs and concerts in London. Hopefully by then I'd know someone I could be with at gigs and concerts. Better start checking out the local forums and mailing lists then.

I'd also consider bringing a decent camera next time, if I'd really consider taking pictures as this was the best shot I got off my camera phone.




For those who would want to watch some videos check them out on Youtube.