Saturday, July 19, 2025 – Cardiff Castle, Wales
By The Riff Report – where the tears are real and the riffs are righteous 🤘
🌧️ THE SKY OPENED, THE EMO HEARTS DID TOO
Cardiff Castle – a fortress of ancient stone and modern bangers. Saturday night saw a homegrown emotional onslaught as Funeral for a Friend returned to the Welsh capital for one of only two UK headline shows this year. And what a bloody night it was.
The beer was flowing, the hoodies were up, and the rain? Oh aye, it came down like a post-breakup sob sesh. Tidy weather for a band that made crying into your sleeve fashionable.
This was no nostalgia cash-in. This was a defiant celebration of pain, passion, and post-hardcore power. 💥
🎤 THE SETLIST – A MASTERCLASS IN CATHARSIS
Here’s the full setlist from Cardiff Castle. If you didn’t scream along to Juneau, were you even there, butt?
- Roses for the Dead 🌹💀
- Streetcar 🚗
- The Art of American Football
- Recovery
- Escape Artists Never Die 🖌️
- History 🏰
- 10:45 Amsterdam Conversations
- Red Is the New Black 🔴⚫
- Bend Your Arms to Look Like Wings 🪽
- Alvarez
- All the Rage
- Into Oblivion (Reunion) 🌊
- Monsters
- Juneau ❄️
- Your Revolution Is a Joke (acoustic closer – lighters up moment) 🔥
🧨 THE GOOD – A PROPER EMO HOMECOMING
- Matt Davies-Kreye’s voice is still raw silk. When he belted out Roses for the Dead, every soul in the castle felt it in their chest cavities.
- Guitar tone? As crisp as a fresh Greggs steak bake. Kris and Darran were tighter than your jeans in 2005.
- Crowd singalongs on History and Juneau made grown men cry. Literal tears, mun.
- Pyro and lighting were surprisingly lush – fire bursts during All the Rage lit the castle walls in pure 🔥.
- Local pride was off the charts. You could feel the Cymraeg energy surging – flags, chants, and “C’MON WALES!” screamed between songs.
😬 THE BAD – NOT EVERYTHING WAS TIDY, MUN
- Sound mix early on was a bit ropey. Vocals drowned under drums until halfway through Streetcar.
- The rain didn’t let up – fine for the front rows moshing in soaked denim, not so lush for those halfway back slipping on castle cobbles.
- No merch restock! Hoodies and shirts sold out by 7:45pm. Fans were tamping. Sort it out next time, lads. We want to rep the FFAF drip.
💩 THE UGLY – ONLY A FEW DODGY NOTES
- Security at the gates was slow as a stoner in a mosh pit. Some missed the opening support because of bag checks that went on longer than the second chorus of Escape Artists.
- Toilets. By 10pm they smelled like Satan’s armpit. Cardiff Council, please, we beg: more loos next time!
- One bloke in the pit went full WWE during Monsters. Flailing arms, big boot energy, nearly took out a teenager and a pensioner. C’mon butt, behave yourself!
🏰 VERDICT – A NIGHT TO REMEMBER IN THE LAND OF CASTLES AND CHORDS
Funeral for a Friend at Cardiff Castle was more than a gig. It was an emotional reunion of old friends, a city’s heart laid bare, and a reminder that no matter how many years pass, those songs still hit like a freight train full of feelings. 💔🚂
The band delivered a set packed with passion and precision, the crowd gave back every ounce of love, and Wales stood proud under a stormy sky.
Final Score: 9.5/10
Would we do it again in the rain? In a heartbeat.
📸 HIGHLIGHTS & FAN QUOTES
“I’ve waited years to scream ‘Red Is the New Black’ in my home city. I’m hoarse and emotionally destroyed. Loved every second.” – Lowri from Barry
“They were my soundtrack in uni. Seeing them at the Castle? Bucket list moment unlocked.” – Dai, 36, drenched but euphoric
“I cried during ‘Your Revolution’ and I don’t even care who saw.” – An anonymous legend in a soaked My Chemical Romance hoodie
🎟️ TICKETS, COSTS & INFO
- Tickets: £42.50 + fees (worth every bleeding penny)
- Support Acts: TBC (we missed most of it due to the long queues, but what we heard sounded solid)
- Next stop: Leeds, Friday July 18, Sounds of the City – their only other UK headline date in 2025
💀 The Riff Report’s Final Thought:
You can keep your stadium sellouts and AI hologram bands. Give us Funeral for a Friend, a wet Welsh castle, and 2,000 people screaming their bloody hearts out.
THAT’S live music, mun. 🤘🏴🔥
Michael is the founder, editor, and chief riff wrangler behind The Riff Report, an independent Welsh rock and metal publication built by fans, for fans. With a lifelong passion for loud guitars, unforgettable live shows, and the incredible community that surrounds rock and metal, he created The Riff Report to celebrate everything that makes the scene special—from legendary headline acts and grassroots venues to rising bands that deserve to be heard.
A familiar face at festivals across the UK, Michael spends much of the year covering events including Download Festival, Bloodstock Open Air, Steelhouse Festival, Firevolt, Plumpton Revival, and many more. Whether he’s battling the Welsh weather on a mountainside, surviving a weekend in a muddy campsite, or squeezed against the front barrier with thousands of fellow fans, he’s always searching for the next great story to share.
As editor of The Riff Report, Michael writes festival guides, breaking news, album reviews, gig reviews, interviews, opinion pieces, nostalgia features, and behind-the-scenes stories from across the rock and metal world. His writing combines honest opinions, humour, and a genuine love for live music, bringing readers closer to the bands, festivals, venues, and people that keep the scene alive.
Michael is particularly passionate about supporting independent artists, local venues, charities, and the wider UK rock and metal community. He believes every band deserves a chance to be discovered and every festival has a story worth telling. Through The Riff Report, he aims to shine a spotlight on both the biggest names in rock and the future stars waiting to break through.
When he’s not writing or interviewing artists, you’ll probably find him exploring festival campsites, photographing live shows, chatting with fellow fans over a pint, or planning the next road trip in search of more riffs, bigger crowds, and unforgettable moments.
Above all, Michael believes rock and metal are about more than music—they’re about community, friendship, and creating memories that last a lifetime. That’s exactly what The Riff Report exists to celebrate.
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. Always chasing the next great riff. 🤘
Comments