Photo: Fraser Kerr

Live Review: Feeder – Torpedo Tour – O2 Academy Brixton

Following the recent release of Welsh rockers Feeder’s latest album ‘Torpedo’, all that was left was to get the songs on the road, and play their heavier new songs to the masses. I just had to head down to the final date of their tour at O2 Academy Brixton and finally get to hear these tracks live. Here’s what went down.

The night got underway straight away with The Grungers, who despite not really filling the massive stage, managed to shake the room alive for the modest amount who turned up early to check them out. A great start to the night.

Not to keep the stage quiet for too long The Wild Things followed. The band – formed of Sydney Rae White alongside her husband and brother – had a great stage presence, and managed to keep the set interesting with their husband and wife banter (even announcing that it was their fifth anniversary and they’d never thought they’d get to play Brixton Academy).

When the lights went down for Feeder, there was nothing left but to just mosh out. Putting their new songs front and center, there was no better way to start off the night than with ‘Torpedo’ opening track ‘The Healing’, before heading straight into the heavy stuff with ‘Magpie’. It’s clear that fans are already on board with their new heavier material. Despite this, the band started throwing things back starting with ‘Feeling The Moment’, which was met with a lot of love from fans who sung it back word for word.

As the set went on, fans were treated to hit after hit, from a range of the band’s albums, with everything from 1997’s Polythene to 2019’s ‘Tallulah’ on the table. Playing through their set, the band really showed their range of sounds with both soft and intense moments. The set “ended” on a high with… ‘High’, which fans seem to connect together with, as they sang loudly together, with Grant Nicholas even allowing a moment for the fans to sing without him.

Of course the night couldn’t be over without some tracks from 2001’s ‘Echo Parks’. Before playing anything after returning to the stage for their encore, Grant mentioned how before the tour they had considered dropping the songs from ‘Echo Parks’ from their live set after the 20 years in rotation, but they thought ‘Fuck it, let’s just play it’. This of course saw the band launching into their mega hit ‘Buck Rogers’, with the crowd getting a final renewed burst of energy. Not a single soul in the building was left standing still. Keeping the energy alive, the band then ended on ‘Just a Day’, which received just as much love from those in attendance.

After nearly 30 years in the game, it’s clear to see both how and why Feeder are still bringing the noise to stages such as Brixton’s. The performance saw great support from The Wild Things and Grungers, who thoroughly warmed the crowd up. It was great to finally get to hear their new music performed loud and live, fitting in snuggly with old classics from the band.

Photo: Fraser Kerr