Feeder Review – O2 Academy, Glasgow

With a solid career in rock that spans nearly two decades, Feeder must have a difficult time narrowing down their set list. That’s probably the reason, at least in part, that they have opted to tour under their pseudo name of Renegades lately. Doing this allowed them the freedom to return to their roots and experiment musically in small venues, without the pressure of the crowd expecting them to play a festival-like countdown of their greatest hits. It was a great idea, and one that has worked wonderfully for the band. However, last night they are played a sold-out show at the large o2 Academy in Glasgow and were billed as Feeder.

Strolling onto the stage to huge applause, the band instantly launched into their set and continued to knock out track after track, barely stopping for breath. Whilst their energetic set list contained odd magical moments of modern indie-rock nostalgia, the band controversially chose to primarily play a selection of their more obscure and heavy tracks which resulted in a lacklustre reaction from the crowd. It wasn’t that the songs weren’t any good; they just didn’t really sound like Feeder and the overriding feeling from the large number of casual Feeder fans in the audience was that they would be much more suited to a Renegades gig (even though they were, in actuality, Feeder songs). For the most part, the audience (bar the front few rows) stood motionless throughout these songs, silently (and, on occasion, vocally) willing them to play their more well-known hits such as Just a Day, Buck Rodgers and Just the Way I’m Feeling. However, this also worked to their advantage in that when they did play a hit the crowd erupted into a frantic frenzy, throwing beer in the air and singing along to every word. It was moments like this that served as a reminder as to why Feeder have maintained their success for so many years and they have to be admired for not playing it safe and doing what they want to do.

Overall, it was a credible set from a popular band that clearly craves to be taken more seriously. As the saying goes, you can’t please them all. And at the very least, Feeder are still doing a fantastic job of pleasing both themselves and their hard core fans…