The crowd at Nottingham’s Rock City is testament to that and everyone excitedly settles in to watch the unique Welsh quintet do their thing. You never know quite what to expect at a Furries gig, with space helmets, golf carts and yeti costumes all being part of previous shows. Hmm, shouldn't be boring then!
Turquoise and purple lighting combine with electro sounds to build the mood and the band stroll out, led by the astonishingly hairy Gruff Rhys. They launch into mood setting opener Baby Ate My Eightball, an infectiously catchy track from the new record, and follow it up with the rocky Golden Retriever, a popular one that gets the crowd immediately on side.
Tracks new and old follow, and it becomes clear that the Furries are a well oiled machine; their sound is polished and they play with a professionalism that other bands would do well to match. Something seems missing though and it's the wackiness and crowd interaction that I was expecting. Rhys hasn't addressed us much so far and the crowd, although rapturously applauding each song, are not dancing around and getting into it as much as I would have thought.
A Welsh flag briefly appears but this is about as exciting as the audience gets. The quick-fire opening track on Hey Venus!, Gateway Song, leads straight in to the latest single Run Away, and this raises the spirits a bit. The latter is a gem of a track which slots in alongside other Furries classics with ease, but this aside I'm starting to wonder if the boys are ever going to pick up the pace.
I was wrong to doubt them! Things are taken up a notch when the robotic vocals of Juxtaposed With U rouse the crowd into life and Show Your Hand, another new track, keeps up the tempo perfectly. Receptacle For The Respectable whips things up to a fever pitch, complete with carrot munching sound effects from Gruff, and the guys cross their guitars as they take the crowd by the scruff of the neck.
The band go for a break but fortunately manage to keep up the momentum on their return. The space helmet comes out and Gruff stands at the front arms raised, saluting his crowd. Ah, here is the craziness! Rings Around The World is stunning as is Neo Consumer, the band pulling off a stormer in the closing stages. The slower singalongs of If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You and Hello Sunshine act as the calm before the storm as the inevitable chaos fest of crowd favourite The Man Don't Give A F**k occurs.
It has everyone jumping around like loons and the helmet is back out, band and crowd as one. It would have been a fitting finale but the lads find time to squeeze in Keep The Cosmic Trigger Happy, before strutting off stage with a sign reading "Thanks Nottingham, from S.F.A". In reality, we should be the ones thanking them.
Newiddiadurwr: Dan Palmer Ffotograffydd: Lisa Mayfield
http://www.ng-magazine.com/Diary/Music/Diolch:_NG_Magazine_reviews_Super_Furry_Animals/
