Feeder - Ipswich Regent Theatre - 15/2/03
4/5
By: Matt Tomiak
Now that they're a bona-fide chart success act with three, full albums and an ever-increasing back catalogue of hit singles, the Feeder live experience is hardly likely to be a drab one.
Like all the dates on this tour promoting latest LP 'Comfort in Sound' (their first album since the suicide of drummer Jon Lee early last year), the venue is sold out. However, the good townsfolk of Ipswich, a location starved of quality live music for large periods as bands tend to neglect the sleepy corner of Britain known as 'Suffolk', feel in a particularly celebratory mood.
The band seem to be too, frontman Grant Nicholas reminiscing about his band's previous performances in the town, and although the last time they visited was nigh-on four years ago, when they were just a mere, decent enough pop-punk combo with a number of rollicking tunes, it is clear that the Feeder of 2003 have evolved into something quite majestic.
So, sure, we're treated to a selection of bouncy mosh-pit activating 45's spanning the band's career; 'My Perfect Day'. 'Seven Days In The Sun', 'Just A Day' and 'Buck Rogers'. But, inevitably, it's the more mature, pensive work from 'Comfort In Sound' that proves just why Feeder have made the step up into rock's big league. With the title-track and 'Forget About Tomorrow' exhibiting string-laden grandeur at its best, it's transparently obvious that Feeder's time has arrived.
And the response? Ecstatic - just look around; the Regent is all-seater, but they take three rows of seats out for every rock show, and then allow as many people who wanna mosh down the front in this small space as possible. Result? Half a row of destroyed seating by the end of the night. Although Feeder may now provide more introspective and moving performances than ever before, at least that racket of yore continues to send the kids into a state of utter chaos. Even if the venue will soon live to regret the band's presence.
Artists in this article: Feeder
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