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Gig review: The Feeling at Cardiff University Student Union, Nov 12 2006
I had been listening to The Feeling’s album ‘Twelve Stops and Home’ to accustom my ears to the songs I could expect to hear live. And having seen them perform an acoustic set on television that same weekend, I thought I had the group sussed.
Not quite.
Striding on stage, the polished quintet was clothed in their trademark sophisticated shirts and trousers combo. Lead vocalist, Dan Gillespie Sells looked genuinely pleased to be up there, casting his eyes across the crowd and beaming with a bright, infectious smile.
Showcasing the group’s striking ability to vocally harmonise together; they performed their hit ‘Fill My Little World’ near the start of the show. It was refreshing to see a group put some thought into their vocals rather than relying on loud instruments and a rowdy audience to drown them out.
Notably, the atmosphere whilst performing their first single release, ‘Sewn’, was enchanting with Dan’s silhouette projecting onto the stage backdrop and a glitterball adding that extra sparkle to the hall. The group could have easily remained silent during this performance as the crowd hypnotically sang along.
With the occasional wave and consistent chats with the crowd in between tracks, it was nice to see Dan building up a rapport with the audience rather than just singing for his supper.
The group also performed their own version of ‘Radio Killed the Radio Star’. This was a quirky display of their talents as musicians as well as singers. It was also a winner with the fans judging from the applause that proceeded afterwards.
‘Love It When You Call’, their forthcoming release, would have been the perfect ending to the show – leaving the audience all warm and fuzzy from that staple ‘happy sound’ which The Feeling have mastered so well with their upbeat tracks. Yet, this was the lead into their encore which I found slightly disappointing.
The group describe themselves as ‘pop and proud’. And they do have all the right pop ingredients – big chorus-driven songs that you subconsciously sing along to and toe tapping sounds accompanied with that clean-cut image.
Yet by the end of the show, I found myself standing among the crowd slightly bewildered. Their happy skip-along tunes had started off well. The crowd had joined in and many had clapped along. But mid-way through some of their songs they had descended into soft-rock territory – with strobe lighting effects and erratic manoeuvres across the stage. Were they pop, or rock, or a hybrid of the two?
I realised that although it’s not possible to neatly package the group into a box labelled ‘pop’ or ‘rock’, the success of their debut album proves that the group have achieved widespread popularity. And their current 20 date UK tour is further testament to this.
The group already have a tour lined up next February, so if you’re after a night out complete with addictive pop riffs, compelling ballads and a splash of something like rock, then venturing along to see The Feeling certainly won’t fail to disappoint.
