It was me and my best mate's first gig with standing tickets, and we were so excited! Everyone was sitting down on the arena floor, waiting for the support acts to come on, and the atmosphere was quite relaxed.
Kidsymphony then came out onstage and played a very loud set! Everyone stood up suddenly to greet them. They were very energetic, but you could tell everyone was just waiting for Feeder to show. The next support act, Aqualung, then came on with a piano and played a calmer set. I felt sorry for them really, being the second support, because by now people really were anxious for Feeder, and getting agitated with standing and waiting.
Me and my friend were by this point quite squashed and were sandwiched in the middle of the crowd.
A little while later, the house lights went down and the Comfort In Sound angel was projected from the back of the stage. The image projected on all the walls of the arena and on to a thin curtain hanging down infront of the stage - a nice effect. Suddenly, Feeder came on!!! At once, everyone moved forwards to greet Grant, Taka, Mark and Dean as Come Back Around blasted through the amps and speakers.
Being only 14, and small, me and my friend were really getting squished! Seeing a band you adore onstage right infront of you is a great feeling, but with people trampling on your shoes (I lost one at one point) and you being sandwiched between two big blokes and struggling to breathe, its not good for little people! So once we found each other again, we wormed our way out to stand at the sides, where there was still a great view of the very gorgeous Grant Nicholas and crew.
We Can't Rewind swiftly followed, as did Insomnia. The crowd were really into it now. About three girls had fainted by this point. Grant thanked the crowd many times, usually after each song. At one point he said words to the effect of, "I've always thought of arenas as being very soulless places, but to see so many of you here tonight is great, thankyou for coming down!" The NIA is usually halved for gigs of this sort with a big curtain, but not tonight!
The rest of the set consisted of many great songs, and a few oldies which I'd never heard (call me a lesser fan if you will, I only own Echo Park and Comfort In Sound!). Songs such as We Can't Rewind, Child In You, Forget About Tomorrow, Comfort In Sound (not one person didn't sing along), Find The Colour and Just the Way I'm Feeling, during which I found tears in my eyes, as this is probably my favourite Feeder song. I liked the way Taka would walk to either end of the stage, just to say hi to those at the sides, and the way Grant prompted us to jump and jumped a lot himself, as did Dean (very good guitarist).
Grant dedicated Quick Fade to "absent friends" and sung it beautifully. He began Seven Days In The Sun by singing the backing vocal parts, and it was unrecognizable until the main riff began. Everyone jumped and froze in the breaks of the song, it was such a feel-good tune, and the atmosphere with the yellow lighting and Feeder jumping around onstage was electric! Then, inevitably, Grant said to us, "Fancy some singing?" and Buck Rogers began! The crowd screamed in recognition! No one stopped singing or jumping throughout!
After a song from one of their earlier albums (Descend, I think) the band walked offstage, thanking us. Of course, the crowd wanted more, and sure enough, Grant came back on and did a beautiful acoustic rendition of Love Pollution.
Dean, Mark and Taka then rejoined their band member for the remainder of the encore, to do a few more tracks (I forget the order of which, and they were probably some of those listed above.) They're such an energetic band.
The finale I do remember. Just A Day. I had only heard this amazing track for the first time earlier on in the day at school, but once it was played live I felt like I knew it off by heart. Grant teased us before the song began, he sang the intro riff with his voice, and stopped, looked as if he was about to begin the song and stood grinning! He did this a few times before finally beginning the song. And what a finale! The crowed loved it, and its such an energetic song anyway, played live it was astounding. Everyone jumped in unison for the last three minutes. Grant jumped weilding his trade mark guitar and landed on the last beat of the song. A perfect end to a perfect night!
I'm praying there'll be another gig in 2004 sometime, I just gotta see them again! Thankyou for an amazing night, Feeder!
Bella