You wanna go to Swindon on a rainy Saturday night?
Well, actually, yes...
tonight I want to! Why? To finally catch The Feeling,
who've been milling
about on my iPod for a couple of years with their
'MOR'eish sound.
Tonight's bill also included Gary Go, who has
been touring the festival
circuit, as well as being support for The Fratellis
and The Script, so I was
looking forward to a decent all round evening.
The first thing that struck me was the age and
genre of The Feeling's fanbase. Sitting in the
car before the gig it was a little difficult to
make out the type of people who have obviously
waited a long time in the queue (in the pouring
rain). I thought it was odd that everyone making
their way past the car seemed to be 'Next' style
couples, and not the normal merch decked teens
I'd expect at a gig like this.
Inside there were already a substantial throng
of fans drying out. There
was a tight core of hyped up youngsters at the
stage front, and I start to
get a feeling this is going to be a fun gig when
they cheer loudly every
time a roadie pops up on stage!
 First up, Gary Go and his band. Gary himself
reminded me of a Buddy
Holly/scrubbed up Morrissey style character, with
a nicely coordinated band
to back him up. They went straight into the first
song of their set with no
intro. They have a good solid radio pop sound,
but seem to lack 'live
energy'. Between sounds he did interact well with
the crowd, asking for a
glow stick count a couple of times.
'So so', one of the songs from their set was
another soothing pop song, but
the title kind of sums their live act up so well.
They're not a bad band,
far from it and between songs they do spend a
fair bit of time chatting and
rousing the audience, but I think if they want
to shift up a gear from warm
up to something more they're going to have to
get a bit of spark and
inspiration from somewhere.
After their set a large white curtain was put
up in front of the stage. I
did think it may to to protect the roadies from
their fans, but it was
actually there for The Feelings Intro to their
set... a pretty cool video
they've put together using fan footage sent to
them. Once the montage
(which included a rather cute line up of kids
singing track snippets) The
Feeling launch into 'Thought It Was Over'.
The curtain stayed up until around about half
way through the song, making
them look like giant shadow puppets. It was only
when their singer Dan
apologised for the curtain hitch later I realised
it was accidental! Good
effect anyway guys!!
 Next up was 'Fill My Little World', a song that
got all the crowd well and
truly fired up. It was quite good to watch the
audience reactions changing
through the night. A fair amount of the audience
was made up of guys who
had obviously been dragged along by their significant
others. For the first
couple of songs they were definitely more interested
in the contents of
their pints, but as the night went on you could
literally see them being
transformed into loyal Feeling followers!!
Why?... well as a band The Feeling have an amazing
rapport with their crowd.
Ok, there was a panto moment during 'Never Be
Lonely' where Dan split the
room into two teams and got everyone chanting
along, but in general The
Feeling are an entertaining, interactive group!!
It was great to see the
capacity crowd all going 'c-c-c-crazy'.
'Don't Make Me Sad', from their second album
(Join With Us) was a highligh
for me... their backdrop included videos of burlesque
dancers which seemed
to make the tune come to life more. Dan's introduction
to 'Rose'
highlighted their love of alcohol, a theme carried
through to 'Truth Comes
Out'.
 'Miss You' changed the pace a little, and allowed
the singer time to get his
breath back. The lights down/disco ball effect
again added to the song...
mind you, the line when he mentions he's had a
drink did rouse a fair few
giggles from both him and the majority of the
crowd!!
'Helicopter' has to go down as the highlight of
the night for me. During
the song Dan decides to do a stage dive, and is
then carried by the crowd
all the way back to the sound desk at the rear
of the venue!! Ok, maybe
he's done this on every night of the tour, but
it doesn't stop it from being
a thrill to be part of!! Then for the next song
the lights are off on stage
and he's handed a guitar at the sound desk, giving
the fans at the back an
unexpected turn at being up close for one song!
I could quite happily write for hours and hours
about just this one gig.
There were so many moments if I was to pick them
all out I'd be into the
realms of writing War and Peace (an Aha cover
'Take On Me' and 'Video Killed
The Radio Star' by the Buggles, the marching band
start for 'We Can Dance').
The Feeling are a band that are made for live
gigs... I've always thought
they have a good sound, but after a live experience
I can honestly say
they're one of the best bands I've seen live this
year!!
The Join With Us tour is a slick, well put together
tour that shows The
Feeling are not just a three minute pop act...
I've a feeling I'll be seeing
them again.
The Feeling 5/5
Gary Go 2/5
Review By Allie Brock
Photos By Scott Cole
|
The
Feeling 
