Funeral for a Friend - Juneau

My first Leeds Festival was back in 2003 and the punk stage, then known as "The Concrete Jungle Stage" line up was absolutely epic. The line up was Funeral for a Friend, King Prawn, Thrice, Poison the Well, The Movielife, Boysetsfire, Turbonegro, Mad Caddies, Alkaline Trio, The Ataris, Lagwagon and Pennywise! Wow. I didn't really know who Funeral For A Friend were, but a friend who couldn't make it told me to go check them out. I did and to be honest I wasn't overly impressed. Screaming vocals have never really been my thing, but they had a 20 minute set and Juneau and This Year's Most Open Heartbreak both stood out as decent tracks. Their debut album had not yet been released, but the tent was rammed for them at 12pm.

They played a gig at Leeds Met the following October and as The Movielife were the main support act I went along. Unfortunately before the gig The Movielife split up and I was left with a ticket to a band that I wasn't overly fussed about, other than a couple of songs.

I saw them numerous times over the years and was never that impressed until in 2013 I went along, again at Leeds Fest, to see them headline the Lock Up Stage which wasn't long before they split up. Their live show was brilliant, much more suited to the smaller stage and the set was great.

A friends band were in regular contact with their management trying to get on a tour with them - both bands careers were almost running parallel in the early 2000's, except my friends struggled to get the breaks they needed while F4AF went stratospheric - but that's the music business for you, I suppose.

So whilst not a band I can claim to love, Juneau always brings back memories for me. "And I'm nothing more. Than a line in your book" defines emo and was used by many a teenage girl as their MSN status. The guitar and energy make this song for me. 

Even after everything I've just said, "Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation" will always have a place for me.