THE FEELING | LIVE REVIEW
Solus, Cardiff University Students Union, Sun 3 Nov.
Ivor Novello award winners and Brit nominees The Feeling played the final gig of their 13-date tour in Cardiff University’s Solus venue. Having the chance to meet the guys beforehand one thing is for sure, these guys are all about the fans and all about the music. After nearly 20 years together there has been plenty of time for ego building and self-indulgence, but these guys possess none of that.
So what’s the secret to The Feeling’s success? You turn on the radio and one of their songs comes on and you know straight away it’s them. They have an individual pop-rock sound with distinctive lead vocals; that sound is something that separates them from the passing fad bands that seem to saturate the charts at the moment. This gig was not just tailored for die hard Feelers (that’s what they call The Feeling fanatics), but also incorporated anyone in the audience who was new to The Feeling experience.
So I asked the guys what goes through their heads when they are planning a gig like this. To them every gig is different; it’s all about judging the vibe from the crowd on the night. The gig opened with a mixture of new and old material. Frontman Richard Jones then slowed things down to play the sultry 2007 hit Rose along with some more soft rock-ish acoustic numbers on his mirrorball piano. The band then regrouped to play us out with some old favourites. It was easy to see the band was ending their tour on top form: spirits were high and the crowd definitely picked up on that. Their aim is to entertain and that’s precisely what they did.
While the older anthems were highlights of the night for most, The Feeling’s new stuff possesses that same, timeless instantaneous catchiness. Their new album Boy Cried Wolf is a little different to the older stuff; having changed record labels, the band have had time to develop a mature sound, with amazing melodies and poetic lyrics that can only come from getting older and enduring more life experiences.
words DENIECE CUSACK