American indie-rock band Fun. arrived on the music scene with a bang, as their début charting song We Are Young soared straight to the top of worldwide charts. If this doesn’t seem that rare, the last time any rock orientated band achieved the same achievement was 11 years ago, when Chad Kroeger and the rest of the Nickelback team kicked off their mainstream careers with How You Remind Me.
Over half a million copies of Fun.’s debut anthem were sold in the UK, and follow up single Some Nights contained the same uniquely funky soundings as their previous record. After receiving several nominations for the MTV Video Music Awards, Fun. embarked on a five date tour of the UK, and they certainly put on a fine performance at the sold out Glasgow O2 ABC on 8 October.
As soon as the raised lights unveiled a giant backing banner with the name of the band neatly scrawled across it, the group dived straight into their first song, the unbelievably catchy Carry On from their recent album Some Nights. The audience, of whom this average sized reporter was one of the tallest members, sung whole-heartedly along from the word go, as charismatic lead singer Nate Reuss unleashed his fantastic vocal talents on a number certain to be infinitely stuck in the heads of whoever should listen to it.
Reuss, resembling a thinner, floppy haired Mark Wahlberg, was cool and collected throughout, providing naturally distinctive vocals perfect for the group’s anthemic style of music with seeming ease, and All Right was another song that particularly highlighted his talents.
Several tunes from Fun.’s previous album Aim & Ignite also went down well, with At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used To Be) proving a particular hit with its oddly funky beats. An emotional rendition of The Gambler, a song that would fit perfectly over a heart-retching montage from a Pixar movie, was another high point of the group’s older work, with the band taking time to joke with the crowd before delivering the uplifting number which employs everything from violins to French horns.
If the feel-good vibe of Fun. comes across from listening to the group’s work on iTunes, it is even more blatant live, and the matchless noises of the group, putting keyboards to great use, meant it was near impossible to stand still during the concert; even if you had never heard the playing song before.
Of course, We Were Young was the peaking moment of the set, with a few lighters being thrown in the air as the unforgettable tune was belted out, and when the group’s latest single Some Nights was put to use as the encore, the audience went equally as wild.
The only criticism to place of the gig is that the audience were tamed during certain songs due to a lack of knowledge of some of Fun.’s past work, but this is more of a hindrance than a criticism of the group, and it is likely much of the audience went home to download the band’s work after this fantastic Glasgow gig.
Overall, Fun. were impressively unique, ineffably funky, and most of all, incredibly fun.
Now you didn’t think I was going to go through the whole review without making that pun, did you?
4 out of 5
