Saturday, July 19, 2025 โ Cardiff Castle, Wales
By The Riff Report โ where the tears are real and the riffs are righteous ๐ค
๐ง๏ธ THE SKY OPENED, THE EMO HEARTS DID TOO
Cardiff Castle โ 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. ๐ฅ
๐ค THE SETLIST โ A MASTERCLASS IN CATHARSIS
Hereโs the full setlist from Cardiff Castle. If you didnโt scream along to Juneau, were you even there, butt?
- Roses for the Dead ๐น๐
- Streetcar ๐
- The Art of American Football
- Recovery
- Escape Artists Never Die ๐๏ธ
- History ๐ฐ
- 10:45 Amsterdam Conversations
- Red Is the New Black ๐ดโซ
- Bend Your Arms to Look Like Wings ๐ชฝ
- Alvarez
- All the Rage
- Into Oblivion (Reunion) ๐
- Monsters
- Juneau โ๏ธ
- Your Revolution Is a Joke (acoustic closer โ lighters up moment) ๐ฅ
๐งจ THE GOOD โ A PROPER EMO HOMECOMING
- Matt Davies-Kreyeโs 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 โ fire bursts during All the Rage lit the castle walls in pure ๐ฅ.
- Local pride was off the charts. You could feel the Cymraeg energy surging โ flags, chants, and โCโMON WALES!โ screamed between songs.
๐ฌ THE BAD โ NOT EVERYTHING WAS TIDY, MUN
- Sound mix early on was a bit ropey. Vocals drowned under drums until halfway through Streetcar.
- The rain didnโt let up โ 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.
๐ฉ THE UGLY โ 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 Satanโs 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. Cโmon butt, behave yourself!
๐ฐ VERDICT โ 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 cityโs heart laid bare, and a reminder that no matter how many years pass, those songs still hit like a freight train full of feelings. ๐๐
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.
๐ธ HIGHLIGHTS & FAN QUOTES
โIโve waited years to scream โRed Is the New Blackโ in my home city. Iโm hoarse and emotionally destroyed. Loved every second.โ โ Lowri from Barry
โThey were my soundtrack in uni. Seeing them at the Castle? Bucket list moment unlocked.โ โ Dai, 36, drenched but euphoric
โI cried during โYour Revolutionโ and I donโt even care who saw.โ โ An anonymous legend in a soaked My Chemical Romance hoodie
๐๏ธ TICKETS, COSTS & INFO
- Tickets: ยฃ42.50 + 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 โ their only other UK headline date in 2025
๐ The Riff Reportโs 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.
THATโS live music, mun. ๐ค๐ด๐ฅ
