Five Alarm Funk – SOLD OUT
Five Alarm Funk released Abandon Earth, the band’s fifth studio album, on June 7 at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, BC. The concept album, describing the destruction of planet Earth by a giant robot, is the culmination of 10 years of relentless touring and the 9 musicians’ love for high octane, delirium-inducing dance music. Five Alarm Funk uses gruff funk vocals, psychedelic rock guitars, Balkan-inspired horns, intricate arrangements, and a few well-timed explosions to tell the tale of a technological behemoth rising from the center of the Earth and unleashing a torrent of natural disasters and monsters on humanity. Abandon Earth was recorded at the Farm Studios in Vancouver, BC and produced by Ben Kaplan, whose recent credits include fellow Vancouverites Mother Mother and UK superstars Biffy Clyro.
As BC Musician Magazine put it: “Launching out of its cage like a pack of hyenas wired on PCP Vancouver’s Five Alarm Funk drop their fifth album with the subtleness and precision of a Predator Drone. A concept album in the Japanese monster movie tradition Abandon Earth is the sonic equivalent of a burning munitions bunker.”
Five Alarm Funk’s fourth album, Rock the Sky, was nominated for ‘Instrumental Album of the Year’ at the 2013 Juno Awards and ‘Instrumental Recording of the Year’ at the 2013 Western Canada Music Awards. In November 2013, Five Alarm Funk celebrated its 10-year anniversary as a band with two sold-out shows at the Imperial in Vancouver, BC. The band’s 2010 album, Anything is Possible, won Instrumental Album of the Year at the 2011 Western Canada Music Awards.
On stage the group is an unstoppable orgy of energy. Nine musicians perform intricate and airtight arrangements with delirious dance moves and full-on head banging. Choreographed arm movements coincide with melodic climaxes, while the three percussionists create an absurd spectacle.