Feeder @ Birmingham Barfly – 25th May 2008
Feeder‘s eagerly anticipated 6th studio album ‘Silent Cry’ graces our presence on the 16th June, with the first single ‘We are the people’ due out a week before. To celebrate this fact the band announced an 8-date whirlwind tour of intimate venues throughout the UK to show off it’s wears to devout followers of the band.
So far Feeder have taken in Newcastle, Glasgow, Sheffield, Birmingham, Brighton, Cardiff, and Manchester. The last date on the tour is Saturday 31st @ The Thekla, Bristol.
Support slots for the tour were given to local bands who entered the ‘Feeder support band’ competition through Feederweb the bands official website. [www.feederweb.com]
The last time I saw Feeder play live was 2006, after the release of their singles collection, at the NEC. Capacity for that show was an audience of 12,000 fans! Prior to that I saw them at Birmingham Academy, again headlining but on a comparatively lesser scale.
I am a big fan of Feeder’s having seen them on many occasions, even supporting Stereophonics at Millennium Stadium, which seems like eons ago. I never tire of Mr Nicholas’ voice or the fact that the lyrics have been mulled over and well thought out.
So when this date was announced I was like a bull at a gate and scrambled for tickets. It’s a very rare occurrence indeed to see such a band of this scale playing such an intimate venue as the Barfly in Brum. So much so that one single ticket for the gig was selling on Ebay for £52.00!!
I got to the venue and I was astounded as I have never seen so many people crammed in to one venue in my life. It was wall-wall full of people, you could feel the heat hit you in the face as you walked down the stairs and the constant ramblings of people and the unnecessary hum created by all the chatter.
A trip to the bar was like a challenge on Gladiators. I was half expecting Shadow or Wolf to jump out on me with a pugil stick and beat me about the head, but luckily after a 15 min wait I was rescued by some kind soul who took my order and quenched my thirst, thank you kind sir!!
One challenge over, then a trek to stage front to see if I could at least get a glimpse of Feeder when they graced the stage. Prime position sorted stage right so I could at least see the band and didn’t have anyone 7ft tall in front of me.
Support for the Birmingham show was Frances Lobo a female vocalist with fiery red hair. Her voice was totally amazing, I likened her to Amy Winehouse, the vocals of each song just seemed effortless. Pure class!! Only a short set of five songs which was slightly disappointing to say the least, but I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of her.
Feeder came on stage at 9pm to the loudest cheer I’ve ever heard in my life. The crowd was made up of 20 and 30 somethings, with a few teens thrown in for good measure. It made for such an enthusiastic night and I have never seen so many fans mouth the lyrics to so many songs. I even joined in for good measure!
The Set list consisted of:
Feeling a moment
Shatter
We are the people
Miss you
Come Back Around
Itsumo
Tracing Lines
Guided by a Voice
Just the Way I’m Feeling
Pushing the Senses
Sonorous
My Perfect Day
Fires
Yesterday went too Soon
Lost and Found
High
Just a Day
Quite a lot of new material made it to the set list which made me sit up and listen, every note was a blessing to my ear, especially Itsumo which struck a mental chord with me.
Old favourites like ‘Come Back Around’, ‘High’ and the Feeder anthem ‘Just a Day’ whipped the crowd up into such a frenzy, lots of figure pointing, arm waving and crowd surfing which is the norm at any Feeder gig.
Between songs Nicholas bantered about the new album and possible new tour in October and how cool it was to play such intimate venues and be so close to the fans. Much to his dismay he was heckled by the crowd with chants of ‘Feeder, Feeder’ and ‘I love you Grant’ to which he did chuckle.
The set was 90 mins long, full of vitality and passion and over too quickly for my liking. The new material suggests that Feeder have gone back to their roots with heavy guitars, showing that they are constantly evolving as a band, reflecting passing time while never forgetting exactly what first inspired them to come together all those years ago.
The new album will definitely be worth its weight in gold for sure.
Review & Photos – Michelle Owen