Funeral For A Friend

12:49pm Friday 21st December 2007

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WELSH rock quintet Funeral For A Friend performed at Parr Hall as part of a homecoming tour.

The band recently returned from a set of international gigs as far as Japan, Australia and Russia to promote their new album Tales Don't Tell Themselves.

"We always felt we had a lot to offer writing music and putting it out there without being confined to a specific genre."

Darran Smith

And now they are capping off the year by playing at a number of intimate venues back home just in time for Christmas.

Speaking before the show, guitarist Darran Smith said: "We're really excited about performing at the Parr Hall. We have played close by quite a lot but this is our first time in Warrington.

"It's always exciting to play somewhere different rather than the same old towns and cities.

"The gig is going to be a really mixed bag. We certainly won't be ignoring our old stuff. In fact, we've brought in some really old tracks from our early EPs that we haven't played in a while."

Darran said his favourite song to play live is Escape Artists Never Die, a single that was instrumental in the band's transition to the mainstream.

Now 2008 looks set to be another momentous year for Funeral For A Friend.

Darran added: "After all the hard work we've put in together we're now excited about the future.

"Plans are being pencilled in for shows in South America and South Africa. It's always amazing to have the chance to play in countries we haven't visited before.

"After a great partnership with our record label Atlantic, we're also looking into the possibility of coming up with our own imprint.

"We've got a few different options at the moment so we'll take our time until we find the perfect match for us."

The band are also hoping to finally shake the emo' label they have been tagged with since their inception.

Darran said: "We always felt we had a lot to offer writing music and putting it out there without being confined to a specific genre.

"There are many different styles and directions within the rock spectrum and we've always tried to incorporate more influences into our music every time."