Socks. Rocked. Off.

Gig Review: Feeder @ The Leadmill, Sheffield, 18/04/2010

The forgotten pop-rock trio have burst back into life. Record label departed - Echo dissolved - Feeder (or Renegades for the sake of their comeback tour of small venues across the country) have been born again. Dismissed by many as fading veterans going through the motions, their last few albums - since Comfort In Sound - were sedate affairs and sounded like the band had hit their plateau and were bored with music.

Their reinvention took another small step at the Leadmill, when, after an entrance to John Wayne music, long-haired, baby-faced, Jesus-esque, frontman Grant Nicholas emerged on stage and proceeded to rock like never before. It was refreshing to see a musician play with a grin on his face, the lads' thrashed out and hurtled through a catalouge of newly realised tracks, recorded recently in Wales, which exploded into life without polished build up and ended just as abruptly. It was a savage reaction to their previous fare. Full throttle, no holds barred, rock out.

Grant took the odd question from the crowd, and made no apology to the sell-out audience that this set would consist of new music - although they did go on to play some of their early, upbeat tracks such as Tangerine - which anyone who read up on the show and what the band had been up to would have realised before the stompfest began, but there's always one isn't there. "I came to see Feeder!" growled one angry punter, Grant didn't rise to him other than to tell him he'd come to the wrong gig, later he asked "Has he gone yet?", he had and to which some sections of the crowd reliably informed the band that the said chap was indeed a "w*nker" - yes, yes he was, everyone else was lapping up the fresh sound, a band released from their shackles and playing what they want to play, and clearly enjoying it. Down By The River was a standout track for me - a fusion of all that was great about Feeder and all that is exciting about Renegades.

It was a cool gesture that everyone who bought a ticket was offered a free four-track EP in the queue before the gig. If you get a chance to see the lads perform this year, don't hesitate. Prepare to rock. Bring on the album.