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Mar 28, 2024 By Dom Gourlay Photography 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, currently embarking on a mammoth seventeen-dates tour throughout the whole of March and about to release their twelfth long player Black/Red next month. Always looking forwards and planning ahead (Singer/guitarist Grant Nicholas told Under the Radar album number thirteen is already well on the way to completion earlier in the day), it speaks volumes about Feeder and their incredibly loyal fanbase that the new material aired this evening - just under half the set - is greeted as fervently by those out front as the tried and trusted numbers they play over the course of the show.

Of the newer songs, most are already familiar. Opener “ELF” with its powerful introduction and blistering sonics could be Nine Inch Nails in a parallel universe, while “Playing With Fire” takes on a similar heavy mantle that’s always been a part of Feeder’s make-up. Elsewhere, the widescreen and anthemic “Lost In The Wilderness” might just be Feeder’s finest pop song to date. A glorious, windswept breeze that should be a staple on daytime radio playlists up and down the land (and probably will be by the time you’ve read this). While another former single “The Knock” combines all the elements people have been accustomed to with its creators over the years (think Ava Adore era Smashing Pumpkins for a bit more clarity). Segueing into “Hey You”, the forthcoming single that will launch Black/Red and finds Feeder at their most melancholic - blink twice and it could have easily been an outtake from 2002’s Comfort In Sound, still the band’s most commercially successful long player. The sixth and final new composition played tonight surfaces during the encore in the shape of “Soldiers Of Love”, a bagpipes driven lament that will almost certainly be a favourite at festivals this summer.

While playing a third of an as-yet unreleased new album might seem ambitious to some, for Feeder its just par for the course. While core duo Nicholas and bass player Taka Hirose are the undoubted focal points of the show, live performers Tommy Gleeson (guitar) and Geoff Holroyde (drums) are equally important cogs in the live Feeder machine that still renders them one of the most exciting bands on the circuit three decades on. With an exemplary back catalogue to choose from, it’s to their credit that Feeder don’t always choose the obvious when it comes to a live setting. Second single “Tangerine” - originally released in 1997, finds itself resurrected for this tour with a fire in its belly. While a buoyant “Fear Of Flying” and incisive “Kyoto” both provide timely reminders why 2019’s tenth long player Tallulah stands tall as one of the finest collections in the band’s impressive canon of work.

When Feeder do play a selection of their biggest hits; 1997’s breakthrough single “High”, the poignant “Just The Way I’m Feeling”, celebratory “Buck Rogers” and customary closer “Just A Day” among them; it doesn’t feel nostalgic in any way. Which is how all great British institutions should be. Here’s to the next chapter.