SUPER FURRY ANIMALS TAKE OVER THE ELECTRIC ARENA

Author – Rachel Masterson. Originally posted on Electric Picnic live blog Reposted with permission. Photo credit Leanne Sullivan. 

As Friday night at Electric Picnic heats up, it’s trails all lead to the Electric Arena where Super Furry Animals are about to embark on a journey of musical infusion. We are swept off our feet from the offset with Gruff Rhys leading the parade. From there on in it’s like a musical experiment of punk, electro, pop, rock and the much loved psychedelic sounds the Super Furries are known for.

Donned completely in white and singing in their native language, Super Furry Animals offer a hypnotic performance to which the crowd is receptive. Their powerful yet sombre tones are revitalising after a busy first day. It’s time to regenerate through really good music.

Having not released an album in seven years, the world was graced with ‘Bing Bong’ in May of this year; a bizarre football anthem sung entirely in Welsh. While their releases are infrequent, it hasn’t stopped them from touring an entire back catalogue of favourites, which we embrace tonight. It’s a sure sign that good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll isn’t dead, even if it has been usurped by electro in recent years.

Super Furry Animals give a thoroughly enjoyable performance, with quips when launching into ‘Juxtaposed’ they signaled they wanted us to shout louder, by literally holding up a sign which read “louder” and “prolonged applause”. Without needing prompting, we all applaud on the announcement of ‘Bing Bong’ which Gruff says will be sang through his eyes, thus needing our help. He proceeds to put on a red power ranger helmet placing the microphone to the eyes.

Launching into songs that would mark them as a more traditional rock outfit, it’s almost as if a new band walked on stage. This is where the sheer talent lies with Super Furry Animals, the ability to offered varied music without ever straying from who they are. With the crowd clapping and jumping up and down to an epic assortment of lights and loud riffs, SFA stand out as one of the best performances of the day.

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