Super Furry Animals Review: By Toby Featherstone age 16.

Whilst waiting out side 'The Palace' in the well-known town of Bridgwater my friends and I were unsure of what to expect of both the venue and the band (never having seen them live before. I had been previously surprised about the fact that it was only a two band set, a one band support seeming a little small for such a band.
Anyway as we slowly edged our way into the venue the sound of live music hit and our cold wet spirits were suddenly uplifted. Both the venue and the music were a lot better than we expected. The support band (El Goodo) were what can only be described as a cross between The Killers and Madness oh with a bit of Hawaiian influence thrown in for good measure. Over all it was a thoroughly enjoyable support set with one of the fastest electric organ players I have heard for a few years.
During the set change we enjoyed background music from the likes of The Lightning Seeds and The Beautiful South, whilst enjoying a rather refreshing beverage on the couches on the second floor. As the time ticked on I left the comfort of my sofa and wound my way to the front of the gig towards the stage where I found an appropriate place to stand at the front (without spilling my drink). As the Super Furries entered there was a large explosion of cheers and screams emerging from the crowd. With this the Super Furry Animals entered the stage dressed in space age, ultra-violet suits with green reflective glitter plastered over them.

They kicked off on an extended-intro version of slow life (allowing the crowd to filter forwards in time for the real start of the song). The first thing I noticed was how close to record quality the music was in comparison to a lot of 'famous' or supposed 'highly talented' bands I have seen. The only thing I feel that let down the first song were the ever so slightly mumbled vocals. They then followed with Rings, Do or Die and The Horn. All equally as good as slow life in terms of music but the vocals becoming increasingly better as the songs progressed.
The fourth song came as a little surprise to me as I thought they might use it as the ending song but none the less it was played. An awesome rendition of Hello Sunshine. For those of you who don't know the Super Furry Animals very well it's one of the theme songs from The O.C.
With the crowd truly uplifted by the song the gig really started to step up a notch, with everyone jumping and dancing from the ages of 15 to 65.

Frequency was played for track 6, I can only comment on the sound for this one as the lights were suddenly swung up to face the crowd and all I could see was a very vicious, luminous orange glare. (Actually that's a lie I caught a glimpse of the green suit of the bass player when the lights went down halfway through the song but after that the angry-sun lights were shining nicely again).
Frequency was followed on by Run! Christian, Run, another song to get the crowd singing. This song finished up with the guitarists creating a pyramid with the necks of their guitars. From the feedback created by this they launched straight into Zoom! I felt that this was played rather weakly, but it may have just been the change from the outstanding performance of the previous song. Atomik Lust and Fire in the heart were yet again distinctly average but this was compensated for with a breathtaking performance of Juxtapozed (that's how they spell it on the play list, it's not a spelling error) With You. This song sounded like the Lighthouse Family a bit more than on the recorded version which was no bad thing really because it appeared to be slightly more upbeat.

Lazer beam was more spectacular visually than some of the other songs as the lighting rig was equipped with yes you got it lasers. I was so impressed with these lights that once I had finished marvelling at the way they bounced around the stage the song was pretty much over. The next song I hadn't heard in a long time and had forgotten how good it actually is. Something for the Weekend is one of those songs that just get in your head for the rest of the week.

With the gig coming close to ending I could hear people in the crowd discussing which songs would be played. There were quite a few shouts for Demons, a request that was not met. However, there were also a few cries for Ice hockey hair. This song is always good for a laugh for no other reason other than the infamous robotic voice changer.
The penultimate song was Calimero, which I assume is a new song as I have never heard of it before and can't find any trace of it. I'm never really very good at judging a song on a first listen but it appeared to be another of their above average songs but probably not one of the absolute classics.

The only song left to play well it could only be one thing now, The Man Don't Give a Fuck. And what a song to finish with. The backing track allowed them to put on a bit of a performance whilst exiting the stage. It gave them plenty of depth to mess around with slightly impressive moves. Personally I think that this ruined it a bit as they really can't carry off the rock star look and it just resulted in a few waves of the guitar neck in the general direction of the crowd.

If I had to put a star rating on the gig out of five it would be a three and a half or possibly a four. The music itself was top notch but I feel that the actual performance they put on needed to have a little more about it to gain my five stars.