According to the internet, it is 11 years since Super Furry Animals last trod the boards in Manchester. With over a decade in the books, one of Wales’ finest exports remind us all how great they are.

GETDOWN SERVICES

Getdown Services arrive riding the crest of a wave. Their star has been growing steadily over the past few years through their immensely fun live sets and a growing discography of witty songs. The duo take to the stage, bounding on like entertainers at an all inclusive holiday. Would Manchester on a Thursday night prove to be a tough gig?

Well, it takes them a little time, however they are at it from the start. Even before a note is struck, introductions are made, and admissions of this ‘being like Butlins’ are offered. When they kick into gear, the music is a lot of fun. Punchy, disco heavy beats and glittering guitar lines lay the foundation. Lyrically, Getdown Services sit in the Venn diagram somewhere between The Streets, Sleaford Mods, Big Special and Goldie Lookin’ Chain (whom tonights headliners have previous with).

They are confrontational in getting people involved; jibes about London being better, and aiming for the cheap pops of being from Wythenshawe and playing a guitar made in Ancoats all add to the mood. Evil On Tap, Head Down For The Conversation and the brilliant Don’t Cheese Me Off are all highlights. The 6Music bothering Radiator is entertaining and the closing salvo of Dog Dribble, with its Manchester referencing lyrics help set warm the crowd superbly before Super Furry Animals.

SUPER FURRY ANIMALS

It has been 11 years since Super Furry Animals last trod the boards in Manchester. In that time, no new music has come from the group, save for Gruff’s solo work and the endeavours of Das Koolies. It is actually 2009 you have to go back to for the last new Super Furries album (Dark Days). The reality is, Super Furry Animals don’t need any new music to warrant a tour. When the gap between tours has been so big, and when you have a back catalogue of the ilk of the Welshmen, you know you are going to get a great night of music.

Wherever I Lay My Phone, That’s My Home opens the set. Gruff Rhys ambling onstage with Trigger Happy TV style mobile phone. It’s a playful track, like a lot of SFA’s output. From here, it is an absolute best of the best from the band. (Drawing) Rings Around The World, Do Or Die, Golden Retriever and Something 4 The Weekend set the tone for the evening. Each and every one is a genuine big hitter from the catalogue.

When they hit the distinctive opening of Ice Hockey Hair, there are grown men losing their minds. SFA offered a different sound in the late 1990’s. I guess it was the embodiment of alternative indie. In contrast to that, If You Don’t Want Me To Destroy You is probably the most Britpop sounding track the band have. The strings are lush and the general feel of the song has a sense of looking for a chart hit.

OLD FRIENDS

Each passing songs feels like an old friend you haven’t seen for a while. The opening set of songs are all framed amongst subtle lighting and minimal visuals. When Hello, Sunshine arrives, the stage bursts with colour. The song, with it’s iconic, ‘I’m a minger’ lyric, is sung back ten fold by the crowd. Unless you are a Welsh speaker, Ymaelodi â’r Ymylon is a trickier one to sing back, but it represents the bands staunch Welsh sense of pride. Mwng was an album released entirely in Welsh, and it’s great to see it represented here. A track that maybe wasn’t on the bingo card was Let The Wolves Howl At The Moon from Hey, Venus. ‘This is the last song…’ says Gruff, ‘on the album,’ he jokes, in a rare moment of interaction outside of songs.

Juxtaposed With U garners a huge response, and album fellow Run! Christian, Run! is a real highlight. It is a sprawling country tinged epic that still brings out a tonne of emotion a quarter of a century later. With harmonies to die for, it is a genuine jewel in the Super Furry discography. Receptacle For The Respectable is another from Rings Around The World, and marks a move towards the final furlong in mind bending way. It’s closing part is famed for Paul McCartney’s involvement on ‘carrots and celery rhythm.’ Gruff brings on the vegetables to chomp through them before throwing them into the crowd. Demons, Play It Cool and God! Show Me Magic (with great crowd participation on the ‘GOD!’ part) make up another set of big hitters before a massively cosmic closing salvo.

SLOW LIFE

Slow Life has always been a mainstay of the Super Furry repertoire since release. Gruff wanders around the stage with his Power Ranger helmet on, seemingly singing out of the ear of the helmet. Complete with orange high-vis jacket, he holds up his electronic signs asking for ‘Applause’ before changing to ‘Go ape shit!’

Night Vision goes further into the bands penchant for electronica before the inevitable closer; The Man Don’t Give A Fuck; starts to ring out. We all know who ‘The Man’ is, but the verse feels more pertinent in 2026 than it ever has.

Out of focus ideology
Keep the masses from majority
Head space brainwashed, tumble dried
Left to bleed whilst vultures glide

To cap off the night, the band lead a riotous crowd through the Steely Dan sampling chorus. Cian Ciaran stays onstage to drop some twisted electronica. We don’t get the full techno meltdown of twenty years ago, but the tension ramps up as the rest of the band leave the stage. For an aficionado of the Super Furries, you know that the band will return, in their famed yeti costumes for the closing coda. It is complete euphoria as the audience bound around and the band cut their heavy metal poses onstage, with guitars crossed in blinding white light.

Super Furry Animals are a vintage band. Yes, they haven’t put out a new record in a while, but quite frankly, who gives a fuck! Nights like this are a wonderful trip down memory lane, but these songs still sound fresh. They show just how forward thinking the Welsh outfit were/are. I hope it isn’t another decade before these songs are dusted off once more.

SFA OK!

Super Furry Animals: Website

Getdown Services: Website

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