I saw the Feelies reunion yesterday. Very satisfying. For anyone not familiar with the Feelies, they are a New Jersey band started in the late 70s/early '80s, and sound sort of like a cross between the Talking Heads and the Velvet Underground. Made up of guitarists Bill Million and Glenn Mercer, Brenda Sauter on bass, and Stan Demeski and Dave Weckerman on percussion, the Feelies dueling guitarists and percussionists made for a frenetic jangle pop sound with an underlying, almost mathematical, precision. They were a tight band. They would become a big influence on REM, but not a major commercial success themselves. The Feelies broke up—amicably—in the early 90s and had not played an official show together since.
In keeping with their tradition of playing on major holidays, the Feelies reunited this July 4th (after a couple of tune-up gigs), opening for Sonic Youth at the River-to-River festival in NYC. They played in Battery Park. It was a mellow crowd with a nice mix of young and old. Aging hipsters (though not too hip, as the Feelies are kinda dork-rock) and college kids and everything in between. Many were there to see Sonic Youth of course, but the local Feelies fanatics were also out in force.
The Feelies didn’t disappoint. They stormed through a 50-minute set that included songs mostly from their first two (of four) albums. They seemed a bit nervous at first, though their sound is a bit nervous to begin with so it was hard to tell. The first half of the show, they played fast, as always, but it sounded like they were a bit rushed. But at about the half-way mark, they seemed to hit their stride. Million and Mercer let the rhythms build and eased into the material more. This tightly wound band seemed to relax a bit, and the results were great. The band even started dancing around a bit; imagine a bunch of math teachers dancing and that’s pretty much spot on in terms of the image.
The Feelies played one encore, and promptly left the stage. Abrupt, precise, understated. Just like old times. Well done.
