O2 Academy, Bournemouth
The Feeling have always had a great relationship with Bournemouth and since their 1st gig here back in 2007 the band have always claimed it is one of their favourite places to play; as they publicly say, “it feels like a hometown show” as so many of their friends live in the area.
Tonight the tour rolls into Bournemouth at the O2 Academy and the date happens to fall on Halloween. The bar staff and much of the audience have turned out in full Halloween attire as well as with various illuminated, decorated pumpkins dotted around the place.
At 8pm; complete with animal Onsies and face paints, the support band “Yellowire” arrive on stage. The band play a fine set of bright well-crafted three minute pop/rock songs, combining piano and twin guitar to great effect. They are not unlike the Feeling and go down really well, with lots of positive support from the Bournemouth crowd. They end on a high with a great song that includes the chorus “She’s On Fire” which gets much of the audience singing along. A great warm up act paving the way perfectly for the main attraction.
When the hour of 9pm strikes three hooded figures, a witch and a masked menace appear on stage to the intro music to “Blue Murder” and place two perfectly carved “Feeling” branded pumpkins on to the stage. The hoods soon come off revealing obviously The Feeling. Front man Dan Gillespie is in a wicked mood tonight and the audience are so in for a Halloween treat such is the glint in his eyes. The band perform a set which includes the majority of songs from the new album “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”. Despite it being so new, virtually all of the audience are well versed in all the choruses and sang along to these infectious masterpieces including numbers “Anchor” and “Rescue”.
The fun really started at the encore when the band returned with a surprise version of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, along with an on stage protest against Russian president Vladimir Putins sanctions against openly gay people. The band all wore “Putin” masks and Dan held up banners stating “Hate Fear” & “Love Russia”. The Feeling then do what they do best turning into a party band playing a medley of popular covers making this one of the best Halloween parties in town. This section even included Ciaran still in his witches dress, hat and full make up singing the Phil Daniels vocals to Blur’s “Parklife” in a strong London accent……”Know What I mean”.
This was not the end though, one more sing-a-long was saved for last with “Love It when you Call”. This included yet more entertainment with two members of the road crew dressed up as a chicken and a fox chasing each other around the stage! This ended with the two guys in a heap on the stage, hilariously play fighting together much to the delight of the band and the audience. The set ended with the beautiful piano-led “I Just Do” with Dan excelling on vocals leaving a lasting impression on this audience. The Feelings love affair with Bournemouth continues and lets all hope they return here again sometime in the near future.
Set-List
Blue Murder
Fill My Little World
Helicopter
Fall Like Rain
Rose
Anchor
I Thought It Was Over
Never Be Lonely
You’ll See
The Gloves Are Off
Sewn
Rescue
Thriller(Michael Jackson)
Medley Including:
Day Tripper (The Beatles)
You Really Got Me (The Kinks)
Pinball Wizard(The Who)
Under Pressure (Queen)
Another Brick In The Wall (Pink Floyd)
Parklife(Blur)
Love It When You Call
I Just Do
Videos
Band-Links
http://www.thefeeling.com
http://www.facebook.com/yellowire
Review & Videos By Dave Chinery (Chinners)
Pictures By Charlie Raven