Super Furry Animals at Nant Gwrtheyrn
by Huw Roberts

Tickets were like gold dust because they were limited to two per person and you could only pick them up in person from Nant Gwrtheyrn. This was unfortunately impossible for me to do. I live in North East Wales, while Nant Gwrtheyrn is in North West Wales, and due to various commitments, I wasn't able to make it.

A friend of mine who has also been into SFA since the very beginning heard a competition on Radio Cymru, rang up, and it was agreed that he could be a contestant the following night. With this in mind, he got his housemate to ring me up on his mobile so that I could help him with the answers! It was a 'name that tune' competition where he had to name the song from the intro - as many as possible within 30 seconds. We won hands down, getting all correct, and were awarded with two tickets.

As you can see from the ticket, it was billed as a Sesiwn acwstig unigryw - an unique acoustic set, and it certainly was unique.

My friend and I got there early and had a drink in the bar where we watched the amazing views and chatted to Rhys Ifans who was to be the bingo caller for the night (he apparently thought they wanted a dingo caller, but he couldn't find enough of the said creatures). He was bemused to learn that I am from Ruthin (as is he) and that one of my friends lived next door but one to his parents!

As we had a drink, we could hear the sound check booming from the chapel, and it certainly didn't sound acoustic. As a crowd gathered, we got in line, and to my surprise there were several old friends that whom I hadn't seen for ages, including an university mate and an old friend who used to be my former folk dancing partner when I was in primary school (don't ask!).

When we finally got in, it turned out that the gig had been christened Loteri Rhyng-genhedlaethol yr Anifeiliaid Anhygoel o Flewog - Nant Gwrtheyrn 2003 - The Inter-generational Lottery of the Super Furry Animals (inter-generational due to various furry family members who attended). This was a seated affair in a very small room in the chapel. However, they hadn't managed to put out enough chairs and I ended up sitting cross legged at the front right in front of Gruff.

It was a set based on the bingo shows from the Furrymania weekenders - i.e., a list of songs on the wall with numbers being drawn at random. Everybody was given a raffle ticket with the idea being that if a song was selected and they couldn't play it, then the person with the corresponding raffle ticket won a special prize. The prize turned out to be pairs of the band's old socks 'signed' with a black marker!

What followed was a mix of Mwng and older tunes, with a few false starts, including a funky acoustic intro to Dacw Hi which unfortunately, didn't go anywhere! Rhys Ifans could hardly see the balls, but struggled on regardless, and came up with some interesting new bingo calls instead of your more traditional 'two fat ladies 88', some of which I couldn't possible repeat.

The highlight of the gig was when Daf was having drum problems, and Gruff ordered everybody outside through the doors behind the 'stage'. He instructed everybody to hold hands and we all sang an a capella version of the Meic Stevens classic Y Brawd Houdini while dancing into the middle of the circle in a 'hokey cokey' style on the chorus. All this while the sun was setting over the sea, the view was breathtaking, and the whole thing was magical. It was kind of like something out of The Wicker Man, but without the sinister undertones!

We were then informed that the drums were back in working order, and the gig resumed. By the end Rhys was simply calling out the number of the song he wanted to hear next, and this led to a further version of Y Brawd Houdini - this time a full on band version, which was fantastic.

There was a really friendly and laid back atmosphere to the whole affair, and of the 25 or so times I have seen them live, one of the highlights. I had a word with one of the organisers, and hopped up on a chair to get the set list. I then went down to the bar again with my friends and we drank until the (very) early hours, chatting to various Furries (including Gruff, who as you see, signed my set list and ticket), Rhys Ifans and other random people.

All in all, a wonderful night.