GIG REVIEW: The Feeling
- Posted on March 11, 2008 11:44 AM
- 1 comment
The Feeling
Birmingham Academy
7th March 2008
By Paul Beevers
Life has been good to The Feeling these last two years. They’ve shifted a million copies of their debut album ‘Twelve Stops and Home’, aided no end by exceptional airplay for a string of hit singles, some victorious live appearances and plenty of glowing press coverage.
Birmingham is the first date of The Feeling’s latest U.K tour in support of second album ‘Join With Us’ and 3,000 people (seemingly aged from 6 to 60) have packed out the Academy to start their weekend.
And the public gets what the public wants. Recent single ‘I Thought It Was Over’ kicks off proceedings, and from thereon in it’s 80 odd minutes of unabashed guilt-free soft rock pleasure. Dan Gillespie-Sells has the audience in the palm of his hand and his judgement is spot on. After the opening bars of ‘Sewn’ he stands back to let the audience carry the entire first verse and chorus, and on ‘Never Be Lonely’ he even asks us for counter-point harmonies. Audience participation has rarely worked so effectively.
The new material also works brilliantly live, even the tracks that sound like pure cheese on record. ‘Join With us’ and ‘Won’t Go Away’ are clichéd and too jaunty by far on my i-pod, but beefed up for the live show they work perfectly.
‘Together In Electric Dreams’ is given a glorious new wave cover treatment and ‘Love It When You Call’ gets a predictably rapturous reception. Die-hard fans would have rued the absence of ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ and ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ but it would be churlish to complain when simply being in the band’s presence is so affecting.
On this evidence The Feeling look unstoppable. Winsome charm and wholesome good looks certainly won’t do them any harm. Nor will their strong appreciation of radio-friendly rock circa 1975 – 1985 and an ability to translate that into killer, hook-laden tunes.
Enjoy them in provincial concert halls while you can. Summer will bring the festivals, and after that you can be certain the arena circuit will beckon.
Related links:
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Seatwave's interview with The Feeling.
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Comments (1)
James Barton
Great gig - the second time I have seen them in Birmingham and as mentioned, I also have 'The Feeling' that they won't be playing there again!
Posted on March 18, 2008 4:06 PM
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