Feeder @ Rock City, Nottingham, UK, 25 March 2024

Feeder

Feeder @ Rock City, Nottingham, UK, 25 March 2024,

March 28, 2024
By Dom Gourlay
Photo by Mark Moore
Web Exclusive

Celebrating thirty years as Feeder, most bands could be forgiven for resting on their laurels and relying on the back catalogue. But not Feeder, who are currently embarking on a mammoth seventeen-date tour throughout March and about to release their twelfth major player Black red next month. Always looking ahead and planning for the future (singer/guitarist Grant Nicholas told Under the Radar album number thirteen is already well on its way to completion earlier in the day), it speaks volumes for Feeder and their incredibly loyal fans that new material aired tonight. – just under half a set – is greeted as warmly by those up front as the tried and trusted numbers they play during the show.

Of the newer songs, most are already known. Opener “ELF” with its powerful intro and booming sonics could be Nine Inch Nails in a parallel universe, while “Playing With Fire” takes on a similarly heavy mantle that has always been part of Feeder's makeup. Elsewhere, the widescreen and anthemic “Lost In The Wilderness” might just be Feeder's best pop song to date. A glorious, breezy breeze that should be a staple on daytime radio playlists (and probably will be by the time you read this). While another former single “The Knock” combines all the elements people have become accustomed to with its creators over the years (think Ava Adore era Smashing Pumpkins for a bit more clarity). Go to “Hey You”, the upcoming single to be released Black red and finds Feeder at his most melancholic – he blinks twice and could easily have been an outtake from 2002 Comfort In Sound, is still the band's most commercially successful player. The sixth and final new line-up was played on the encore tonight in the form of “Soldiers Of Love”, a bagpipe driven lament that will almost certainly be a festival favorite this summer.

While playing a third of an unreleased new album might seem ambitious to some, for Feeder it's just par for the course. While core duo Nicholas and bassist Taka Hirose are the undoubted centerpieces of the show, live performers Tommy Gleeson (guitar) and Geoff Holroyde (drums) are equally important cogs in the live Feeder machine that still makes them one of the most exciting bands. on the circuit three decades later. With an exemplary back catalog to choose from, it's to their credit that Feeder don't always opt for the obvious when it comes to a live set-up. Second single 'Tangerine' – originally released in 1997, is resurrected for this tour with a fire in its belly. While the intense “Fear Of Flying” and the penetrating “Kyoto” both provide timely reminders why 2019's Tenth Player Tallulah stands tall as one of the finest collections in the band's impressive body of work.

When Feeder play a selection of their greatest hits. 1997's breakthrough single “High,” the soulful “Just The Way I'm Feeling,” the celebratory “Buck Rogers,” and the usual closer “Just A Day” among them. it doesn't feel nostalgic in any way. This is how all great British institutions should be. Next chapter follows.