On May the 20th 1999, I went to watch Feeder play at the Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton – it was the second time I’d seen them (in football terms I am a legacy fan). There were two supports that evening, Straw, I confidently predicted would be famous. The opening act on the other hand, I explained long and loud to my brother no one would hear of again. Muse, have done alright since.
I include that story by way of an apology to Chilli Jesson who I think you will be hearing a lot more of. From the ashes of Parma Violets, Jesson has emerged with a new outlook and a kind of glam sound. “Carolina Reaper” has a touch of The Killers about it, while “Gucci Want The Suit Back” has a little bit of swagger. This is an ambitious and wide-ranging set, the acoustic led “That’s Life” Also has massive harmonies, well “Icarus Style” takes flight impressively. Who doesn’t love a redemption story? And Chilli Jesson has the craft, the songs, and the presence, to make the most of his second chance.
It’s always kind of weird to me, when a band tours just before its album is due out. Quite rightly they want to play the new material, but are doing so to an audience who may not have heard it.
That is the predicament Feeder find themselves in this evening, new double opus “Red/Black” is due in a matter of weeks but there is the small matter of a sold-out Saturday night in Birmingham. Packed to the rafters, the crowd is ready as it always is when Feeder are in the second city.
And one of those new songs, starts things off here, “ELF” sounds absolutely massive too – a gift the Feeder have always had. Simply put, they can make anything sound anthemic.
But there are a few things with Feeder that sets them apart, one of which is this: until you see them you forget how heavy they are. “Kyoto” has them jumping around, and Grant Nicholas, who together with the bass player Takashi Hirose has been in this band for 30 years, pays his respects to Black Sabbath.
What they are clever though, is interspersing the new material with some choice cuts from the past. That “Feeling A Moment” is followed by current single “Lost In The Wilderness” is typical,
The pair are joined by Tommy Gleeson on guitar and Geoff Holroyde on drums. The former shines on the wonderful “Fear Of Flying” and another new one “The Knock” is fabulously energetic.
It is a measure of the confidence that they have in the new material that one of them, “Hey You” forms almost the centrepiece of the show. And it does need saying, all the new songs they play here really appear to belong.
But here’s the thing, there is a reason that you sell out venues for 30 years. And that is because you know how to pace a set. And for the last 20 minutes or so of this one, Feeder just reel off hits one after the other. Including the very first song I heard of theirs, “Tangerine”.
And it may be that they were so undemonstrative, but they never got quite the credit they deserved for how many fantastic songs they have. But “Come Back Around” , “Insomnia”, “High” and the mega-hit “Buck Rodgers” (a song that should never have worked but somehow almost defined the early 2000s for many) are as good at collection, as anyone from the era will peel off this year.
However, almost as if to prove this is not a legacy brand, the encore begins with a new song. “Soldiers Of Love” sounds epic too – and really you can only be excited for the new album.
However, there is one more crowd-pleaser, they simply have to play, and “Just A Day” sounds amazingly fresh.
It is noticeable too, that they all do. That is to say, if you didn’t know a single one of these songs, you’d never work out which was new and which was three decades old. And whichever way you cut it, that is something of a rarity.
Feeder have done something else too, they’ve carried their audience with them wherever they have gone. The chants of their name, happen almost after every song, and continue long after they leave at this stage,
This brings you to the other point to make about a band with longevity, they only get that quality, is their music truly connects, and make no mistake about it, that is Feeder’s biggest strength. Put them on any stage in front of their own crowd, they are basically unstoppable.
