Feeder: Died and went to heaven; fueling the obsession
Oh My God, I touched Grant!!!!!!
I actually did.....
So, yesterday was an average school day, had a couple of lessons and some frees, ate some of Amy's (
elusive_shadow) birthday cake made by Kate (clouddweller) (very nice and chocolatey), got Dad to come and pick my stuff up. At lunch Amy, Michael (mikeycb) and Kate went off into town for lunch but I stuck around at school. I spent the remainder of lunch and some of the next lesson talking to Michael R (deronn66) about music and the Feeder gig, and one's he's been to like Muse. Then, finally, Josh (
belive_in_sleep) turned up in the Common Room with Angus and Greeny/ie (first thought 'he looks like someone out of the Lost Prophets'). Anyway, they and Terence who had also surfaced from the depths of the bank machine in Wheatley went off outside because apparently the common room was too hot! I stayed around for a bit and chatted to people, then met up with Tom who'd finished lessons and went to find the others who were playing Lemon Groin (why oh why do they keep playing it?!) in the tennis courts by the Old House. When they managed to tear themselves away at the end of school we headed into Wheatley to catch the bus to the park and ride. Then we got on the bus to Londinium.
Fun bus journey... we spent most of it taking the piss out of Josh whenever we could (awwww, you know I love you really). No one can ever have a go at me about making innuendos again, at least not if they've spent the whole afternoon and evening with those five guys...
Anyway, we got off the bus somewhere near Victoria and walked to the station. After we'd had some food (don't try banana and ketchup, it's a mistake Josh and I won't be making again!). Eventually we got the tube to Brixton. Josh and Angus apparently have some thing about saying 'six 'o' clock at the tube stop' at six at a tube stop.... but they couldn't do it because we were stationary in the tunnel between Brixton and the previous stop at the time! Hah.
We got to Brixton and went to the academy (no one offered me drugs, what the hell was everyone talking about?!) with people trying to buy and sell tickets all around us! We were quite early, it was about ten past six and the doors weren't meant to open until seven. The queue wasn't very long so we were down the first side of the building, right next to a door which people were constantly going in and out of. The queue wasn't moving so we were there for quite a while, speculating whether Taka was going to arrive and go in through it for some reason! But then at one point it opened and amongst a few other people was a guy dressed in an army jacket and a cap who was quickly bundled into a silver Renault Laguna and driven away. We stood there saying things along the lines of 'that was Grant wasn't it?' and Josh yelled 'Grant!' but to no effect.
My first Feeder sighting!!!! heheheh.
Finally the queue began to move and we got in quite quickly. Went straight to buy a T-shirt which is in the wash already (damn!). then we went into the main bit and went practically straight to the front, we were just a few rows back. After a little while the first support act came on, Thee Unstrung. One of their songs was reasonable but they weren't really up to much. They played a few songs and then buggered off. Then it took ages for them to get the stage ready for the next band. Slowly we were getting pushed forward and the crowd was getting closer together.
Then the next band came on, Cherryfalls. They were actually quite good, I might have to investigate them a bit more and see if their album's worth getting!
After that there was a really long sound check, getting all the guitars on stage and ready, checking the amps and everything. Tom went off towards the back to avoid getting squashed when Feeder came on. i decided that I had to stay because I would regret it forever if I didn't, even though Josh told me to go because he didn't want me to get squashed and the other three turned round and said 'ready to get mullered?'. My argument went something along the lines of not caring...
I want one of the no crowd surfing signs...don't know why but I do!
Finally, the lights went down and Feeder came on and the crowd surged and I realised why Tom had moved! Josh has said before that in the pit it feels like everyone's a foot taller than you (even though he's a foot taller than most people!) and he wasn't lying. I'm not exactly a very big person but i felt tiny! I was getting pushed around and i had someone's elbow in my neck! I actually don't think I've been that scared before in my entire life, I felt like I was drowning in people! I was really worried that I was going to fall over and get trampled!
I lasted for the first three songs:
Feeling A Moment
Comfort in Sound
Pushing the Senses.
Then I really knew I had to get out and managed to fight my way across the Josh. There are guys at the front who spend the whole time pulling out the people who are dying, so Josh hoiked me up onto the crowd and I crowd surfed the few rows to the front (sooooo fun!!!! but you go really slowly!) and I got lifted out so I was between the stage and the crowd. I got put to the side but i managed to stay in the front row so I had a good view of Grant, Taka and Dean but I couldn't see Mark or the video screen but i wouldn't actually have wanted to go anywhere else! And I was right next to the enormous speakers so it was really loud, just how rock music should be!
They played loads more songs, these aren't in order but they played:
Insomnia
Descend
We Can't Rewind
Turn
Just the Way I'm Feeling
Come Back Around
Bitter Glass
Tumble and Fall
Tender
Frequency
Pilgrim Soul
Five thousand people singing Just the Way I'm Feeling was amazing! it's such a great song! And I am so glad they played Turn, I don't know what it is about it but i really love that song! the first time I heard Echo Park it just caught my attention and i had to go back and play it again, and it was amazing live! Tumble and Fall was far better live too, because it isn't the most interesting of songs but it was really good! I'm glad they played Bitter Glass because from what I've seen of other set lists it wasn't neccessarily going to be played but it was fantastic, apart from the strobes which always send my head funny (that and being stood next to speakers with a 'wear ear protection' sign on them might account for the mammoth headache i have this morning!). It's one of the heavier songs on their new album and that's the stuff that really grabs my attention.
Pilgrim Soul was phenominal though, I think it was the best song of the whole night (maybe excluding Just A Day!). The whole crowd was leaping up and down!
At one point Grant walked over to the side of the stage I was nearest and I was clapping and he looked straight at me and mouthed thank you, I kid you not, there was eye contact and no one stood behind me! Yes I am quite probably obsessed but still, it was Grant...he IS Feeder. He is a living legend!
Aboout two thirds of the way through some guy got yanked out of the crowd and carted away with his hands behind his back, apparently he had a knife!
Then they did Buck Rogers which got everyone jumping around like crazy. After that Grant came down off the stage and was running up and down touching the hands of everyone dangling over the barrier, so yes, I touched him! His arm was sweaty, hehe. So close encounter number two!
Then they went off briefly and everyone was just chanting 'Feeder, Feeder, Feeder' and then they came back on and played High, fantastic song, I love it! (well, OK, i love most of their songs with the exception of Tinsel Town, Choke and Spill and a couple on CD 2 of POPY).
Then they did Forget About Tomorrow which was excellent two.
Then came the grand finale, Just A Day which really is their anthem! The reviewer in the Guardian on thursday clearly had no idea what he was talking about. The atmosphere was amazing, five thousand people singing 'do do do dooo' really loudly, then Grant cutting in! it's a manic song anyway but everyone was leaping up and down and singing and it was fantastic! the only bad thing was that it was the last song!
After that, feeling battered, hoarse, deaf, I went in search of the others. i saw Terence and went to catch up with him, Angus and Greeny, and Josh was a bit ahead of them. They'd seen me get out of the pit but had stayed there for the whole thing! They were absolutely soaking, it was disgusting! They went to buy hoodies and we found Tom. Elated, we headed out of the academy and towards the tube station, got on the tube back to Victoria and then got on the bus home.
I eventually got home at about quarter past one, told my parents how amazing it was, and fell into bed!
And thus ended my first proper gig, and my first Feeder gig! i am now even more obsessed before and i can't wait until the next one! Had I not found Josh though i think I actually would have got squashed to death! It was so amazing being part of the crowd, but to actually be up on stage performing your songs to five thousand people who are there to see you because quite frankly they love you, must be the most amazing feeling ever! I'm even more inspired to learn guitar now, I knew I would be!
That was the best night ever, I hope they're touring again soon! they're on TV in an hour too!
I actually did.....
So, yesterday was an average school day, had a couple of lessons and some frees, ate some of Amy's (
elusive_shadow) birthday cake made by Kate (clouddweller) (very nice and chocolatey), got Dad to come and pick my stuff up. At lunch Amy, Michael (mikeycb) and Kate went off into town for lunch but I stuck around at school. I spent the remainder of lunch and some of the next lesson talking to Michael R (deronn66) about music and the Feeder gig, and one's he's been to like Muse. Then, finally, Josh (
belive_in_sleep) turned up in the Common Room with Angus and Greeny/ie (first thought 'he looks like someone out of the Lost Prophets'). Anyway, they and Terence who had also surfaced from the depths of the bank machine in Wheatley went off outside because apparently the common room was too hot! I stayed around for a bit and chatted to people, then met up with Tom who'd finished lessons and went to find the others who were playing Lemon Groin (why oh why do they keep playing it?!) in the tennis courts by the Old House. When they managed to tear themselves away at the end of school we headed into Wheatley to catch the bus to the park and ride. Then we got on the bus to Londinium.
Fun bus journey... we spent most of it taking the piss out of Josh whenever we could (awwww, you know I love you really). No one can ever have a go at me about making innuendos again, at least not if they've spent the whole afternoon and evening with those five guys...
Anyway, we got off the bus somewhere near Victoria and walked to the station. After we'd had some food (don't try banana and ketchup, it's a mistake Josh and I won't be making again!). Eventually we got the tube to Brixton. Josh and Angus apparently have some thing about saying 'six 'o' clock at the tube stop' at six at a tube stop.... but they couldn't do it because we were stationary in the tunnel between Brixton and the previous stop at the time! Hah.
We got to Brixton and went to the academy (no one offered me drugs, what the hell was everyone talking about?!) with people trying to buy and sell tickets all around us! We were quite early, it was about ten past six and the doors weren't meant to open until seven. The queue wasn't very long so we were down the first side of the building, right next to a door which people were constantly going in and out of. The queue wasn't moving so we were there for quite a while, speculating whether Taka was going to arrive and go in through it for some reason! But then at one point it opened and amongst a few other people was a guy dressed in an army jacket and a cap who was quickly bundled into a silver Renault Laguna and driven away. We stood there saying things along the lines of 'that was Grant wasn't it?' and Josh yelled 'Grant!' but to no effect.
My first Feeder sighting!!!! heheheh.
Finally the queue began to move and we got in quite quickly. Went straight to buy a T-shirt which is in the wash already (damn!). then we went into the main bit and went practically straight to the front, we were just a few rows back. After a little while the first support act came on, Thee Unstrung. One of their songs was reasonable but they weren't really up to much. They played a few songs and then buggered off. Then it took ages for them to get the stage ready for the next band. Slowly we were getting pushed forward and the crowd was getting closer together.
Then the next band came on, Cherryfalls. They were actually quite good, I might have to investigate them a bit more and see if their album's worth getting!
After that there was a really long sound check, getting all the guitars on stage and ready, checking the amps and everything. Tom went off towards the back to avoid getting squashed when Feeder came on. i decided that I had to stay because I would regret it forever if I didn't, even though Josh told me to go because he didn't want me to get squashed and the other three turned round and said 'ready to get mullered?'. My argument went something along the lines of not caring...
I want one of the no crowd surfing signs...don't know why but I do!
Finally, the lights went down and Feeder came on and the crowd surged and I realised why Tom had moved! Josh has said before that in the pit it feels like everyone's a foot taller than you (even though he's a foot taller than most people!) and he wasn't lying. I'm not exactly a very big person but i felt tiny! I was getting pushed around and i had someone's elbow in my neck! I actually don't think I've been that scared before in my entire life, I felt like I was drowning in people! I was really worried that I was going to fall over and get trampled!
I lasted for the first three songs:
Feeling A Moment
Comfort in Sound
Pushing the Senses.
Then I really knew I had to get out and managed to fight my way across the Josh. There are guys at the front who spend the whole time pulling out the people who are dying, so Josh hoiked me up onto the crowd and I crowd surfed the few rows to the front (sooooo fun!!!! but you go really slowly!) and I got lifted out so I was between the stage and the crowd. I got put to the side but i managed to stay in the front row so I had a good view of Grant, Taka and Dean but I couldn't see Mark or the video screen but i wouldn't actually have wanted to go anywhere else! And I was right next to the enormous speakers so it was really loud, just how rock music should be!
They played loads more songs, these aren't in order but they played:
Insomnia
Descend
We Can't Rewind
Turn
Just the Way I'm Feeling
Come Back Around
Bitter Glass
Tumble and Fall
Tender
Frequency
Pilgrim Soul
Five thousand people singing Just the Way I'm Feeling was amazing! it's such a great song! And I am so glad they played Turn, I don't know what it is about it but i really love that song! the first time I heard Echo Park it just caught my attention and i had to go back and play it again, and it was amazing live! Tumble and Fall was far better live too, because it isn't the most interesting of songs but it was really good! I'm glad they played Bitter Glass because from what I've seen of other set lists it wasn't neccessarily going to be played but it was fantastic, apart from the strobes which always send my head funny (that and being stood next to speakers with a 'wear ear protection' sign on them might account for the mammoth headache i have this morning!). It's one of the heavier songs on their new album and that's the stuff that really grabs my attention.
Pilgrim Soul was phenominal though, I think it was the best song of the whole night (maybe excluding Just A Day!). The whole crowd was leaping up and down!
At one point Grant walked over to the side of the stage I was nearest and I was clapping and he looked straight at me and mouthed thank you, I kid you not, there was eye contact and no one stood behind me! Yes I am quite probably obsessed but still, it was Grant...he IS Feeder. He is a living legend!
Aboout two thirds of the way through some guy got yanked out of the crowd and carted away with his hands behind his back, apparently he had a knife!
Then they did Buck Rogers which got everyone jumping around like crazy. After that Grant came down off the stage and was running up and down touching the hands of everyone dangling over the barrier, so yes, I touched him! His arm was sweaty, hehe. So close encounter number two!
Then they went off briefly and everyone was just chanting 'Feeder, Feeder, Feeder' and then they came back on and played High, fantastic song, I love it! (well, OK, i love most of their songs with the exception of Tinsel Town, Choke and Spill and a couple on CD 2 of POPY).
Then they did Forget About Tomorrow which was excellent two.
Then came the grand finale, Just A Day which really is their anthem! The reviewer in the Guardian on thursday clearly had no idea what he was talking about. The atmosphere was amazing, five thousand people singing 'do do do dooo' really loudly, then Grant cutting in! it's a manic song anyway but everyone was leaping up and down and singing and it was fantastic! the only bad thing was that it was the last song!
After that, feeling battered, hoarse, deaf, I went in search of the others. i saw Terence and went to catch up with him, Angus and Greeny, and Josh was a bit ahead of them. They'd seen me get out of the pit but had stayed there for the whole thing! They were absolutely soaking, it was disgusting! They went to buy hoodies and we found Tom. Elated, we headed out of the academy and towards the tube station, got on the tube back to Victoria and then got on the bus home.
I eventually got home at about quarter past one, told my parents how amazing it was, and fell into bed!
And thus ended my first proper gig, and my first Feeder gig! i am now even more obsessed before and i can't wait until the next one! Had I not found Josh though i think I actually would have got squashed to death! It was so amazing being part of the crowd, but to actually be up on stage performing your songs to five thousand people who are there to see you because quite frankly they love you, must be the most amazing feeling ever! I'm even more inspired to learn guitar now, I knew I would be!
That was the best night ever, I hope they're touring again soon! they're on TV in an hour too!