Funeral for a Friend

The Bridgend band Funeral for a Friend—the name not a nod to the Elton John song but rather a reference to a song from post-hardcore icons Planes Mistaken for Stars—formed in 2001 after vocalist Matthew Davies-Kreye joined the remnants of another band that had just broken up. Soon after, the Welsh group found kindred souls in the post-hardcore and emo communities then bubbling up into the mainstream. With their mix of angst-riddled vocals and chugging riffs, their 2003 breakthrough album, Casually Dressed & Deep In Conversation, spawned three Top 20 singles, including the introspective “Juneau” and the screamo-tinged “Escape Artists Never Die”. The 2005 follow-up, Hours, was cut from the same emo cloth—and spawned another smash, the chugging “Streetcar”—but subsequent singles, such as 2007’s “Into Oblivion (Reunion)”, toned down the punkish angst in favour of melodic pop-rock. Funeral for a Friend broke up amicably after a series of 2016 farewell dates but reunited in 2019 for well-received benefit shows and then stayed together. After the COVID lockdowns were lifted, the band played a series of well-received concerts in 2022.