Review: Feeder @ Manchester Apollo

22 October 2008

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With support from Fightstar

So this is what they’ve all the eager Feeder fans have been waiting for; queuing up in the freezing cold with leaves blowing round their feet in the nervous anticipation of seeing the incredible Grant Nicholas and Co tearing up the stage with their well-known Indie anthems.

Firstly, is it only me or does everyone else seem to always get stuck behind the tallest person in the entire venue when you go to a gig? There’s only so much a 5’5” girl can see when she leaves her killer heels at home in order to survive a standing gig! Luckily I was in for a real treat as these three ‘gentlemen’ that came and stood right in front of me kindly asked me if I wanted to stand in front of them so I could see what was happening… why don’t they make men like that (who are my age) anymore?)

The venue was packed with people of all ages, and to be honest, most of the crowd seemed to be over the age of 30, so I didn’t really expect much pushing and shoving… just a nice, relaxed and enjoyable gig…and oh how wrong I was - well not about the enjoyable part!

The lights go down and the fans go mental, there’s a surge of movement as everyone surges to get that little bit closer to their heroes for the night, hands are clapping furiously and cameras begin to flash… and all this before the guys have even taken to the stage!

When they hit the stage I thought the room was going to explode; whether it was the sight of the guys, or the fact that they all have colour co-ordinating red and black outfits on I don’t really know, but nevertheless; off we went, on a wonderful musical ride.

Their stage set up was exactly the same as Fightstar and I found myself wondering why such a big band had what was an essentially boring stage set up. Their opening song was also pretty slow and I wasn’t the only one who was looking around and wondering what the hell was going on.

But those cheeky little tricksters had an ace up their sleeves,; as they launch into Feeling a Moment the black curtains at the back of the stage drop to reveal huge floodlights behind the guys and once again, the crowd go wild.. I mean come on guys - it’s just a couple of lights - but it seems as though Feeder can’t do anything wrong tonight, and with the fans screaming the words back at the tops of their lungs I’m sure there are going to be some sore voices in the morning.

By the time we get to the third song the lights turn into animation displays and this really gets my attention, I’ve never been to a concert quite like it - granted most of the gig’s I go to are in tiny pubs and full of sweaty hardcore dancing… so for this I felt like I should be sipping on some champers rather than a pint of cider in a plastic cup. It’s all very impressive and I’m sure they’ve spent a couple of quid on these fancy effects.

However, this doesn’t really have any effect on the music as Come Back Around is delivered flawlessly and I’m sure these boys have been practising! I get the feeling that these guys could be playing in your garden shed and still be utterly bloody brilliant. But with anthemic tracks like this; who cane really blame them?

They don’t just stick to their new stuff either, each song is from a different album, ranging from their first really successful offering of Echo Park to Comfort in Sound and Pushing The Senses as well as their newest hit; Silent Cry; which was released in June and whose logo (a bird of prey in flight) can be seen adorning the drums, and the LED display as well as the numerous bags and tee’s for sale in the foyer.

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