SUPER FURRY ANIMALS | LIVE REVIEW
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Sat 17 Dec
Super Furry Animals fittingly ended their Fuzzy Logic 20th anniversary tour – also incorporating Radiator, the 1997 follow-up to that adored debut album – at the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, to a packed house. As much a homecoming as a normal gig, it’s quite surreal that an innovative band like SFA are now doing a nostalgic tour, akin to the likes of The Rolling Stones. Personally I would love to see them put out new material and tour off that, but it was great to get the chance to see them play some forgotten B-sides of these two albums.
Opening the night in a surprising pairing with SFA, Goldie Lookin Chain blasted the crowd: while I’m not a massive fan of the lads, people seem to respond well to a typically tongue-in-cheek set. Soon after, the Furries strolled onto the stage in their classic white boiler suits, accompanied by billowing smoke and beams of lights. Waves of applause rippled around the arena, the crowd anticipating the first blast of sonics. Guarding the stage were two massive inflatable bears designed by long time collaborator Pete Fowler, upping the wow factor.
At this point, the Super Furries have the art of arena gigs down to a science – including that of making the set feel somewhat spontaneous. Throughout, vocalist Gruff Rhys held up signs with each album’s name on it. True, there were parts where you sensed the crowd were drifting away slightly, but when they banged out songs like Fuzzy Birds, If You Don’t Want Me To Destroy You, Demons and Play It Cool you could feel a collective snap right back into Saturday night, pre-Christmas drunken abandon. These now-middle-aged guys still know how to rock it, make no mistake.
The show came to a euphoric end with The Man Don’t Give A Fuck. Bassy vibrations thundered throughout the venue; punters leapt up and down with hands aloft hitting the big white balloons which dropped from the ceiling. Feedback filled the air as SFA left, only to return clad in their famous yeti suits. The gig was a perfect night for any SFA superfan: two classic albums being played and an electric atmosphere that carried you throughout the gig.
words JAYDON MARTIN photos DAVID GRIFFITHS