Review: Funeral Suits, Electric Arena

Funeral Suits, Electric Arena, Friday

Atmosphere: A minuscule crowd turns into a fairly respectable one as Funeral Suits' dark and brooding sounds fill the giant blue arena.

High: Florida is a piercing and opener with plenty of oomph.

Low: When will festival tent sound engineers learn not to max out the bass? At times the murkiness of it makes it hard to search out the musical intricacies at work.

Quote of the set: "They're decent" - one security guard mouthing to another. Well-said my high-vis vested friend.

Verdict: Opening the second stage on the opening day of any festival is no easy task, but these instrument swapping new-gen Dubliners grab the challenge by the Korgs. The Cure-ish echoes of Screen-test follow Florida, a taut, moody synth-driven tune that espouses fashes of Friendly Fires. Some of the subtleties of their sounds are lost throughout, but Colour Fade still excels. Impressive.

Stars: *** 1/2