Super Furry Animals

Liverpool Royal Court, Saturday 27th March 2004

Expect the unexpected - that is something that you come to take for granted with a Super Furry Animals live set these days. For a band that has made the live experience something different this tour saw the Super Furries with a hard act to follow.

Sadly no Quadraphonic sound, Inflatables, or Tanks this time - upon entering the Royal Court tonight the stage is set up with huge cardboard cut outs of the animals that adorn the latest album ‘Phantom Power’.

The show starts surreally enough with lead singer Gruff wandering on wearing what looks like a cross between Darth Vader’s helmet and a Bikers helmet.

The set covers all points of a career, which has been very productive in the extreme. Some of the songs they played I had forgotten that they had done them, but I was grateful for them for reacquainting me with them. Wonderful tunes were unearthed from the classic debut album ‘Fuzzy Logic’.

Newer songs held up quite well too. ‘Hello Sunshine’ has the potential to be a future summer hit and the recent single ‘Golden Retriever’ was played with gusto, but sadly not in the costumes that accompanied the video.

The bi-lingual band also played songs from the Welsh Language album Mwng– songs such ‘Calimero’ were aired much to the delight of the audience, with no doubt a few punters from across the border singing along.

Visuals were used to good effect when accompanied with the songs, especially on the final song of the night ‘The Man Don’t Give A Fuck’. The screens flashed the slogan “All Governments are Liars and Murderers” while subliminal images of Blair and Bush appear.

The song mutates into a fifteen minute DJ set before the band return in the Golden Retriever costumes to finish off a wonderfully varied and interesting set.