Feeding on ‘special’ Rock City vibe – and Marmite cashews!
LEAD singer of Welsh rock royalty Feeder, Grant Nicholas, has proclaimed his love for both Nottingham’s Rock City and Marmite cashew nuts, revealing they would feature on the band’s rider on their current UK tour.
The band are due to play the city’s iconic venue on March 25 on their BLACK / RED UK tour to promote their upcoming double album of the same name. It’s not many 30-yearold bands who would choose to release a mammoth double album, especially one that is “not easy to play” according to the singer.
“The forthcoming tour will be one of the longest that we have undertaken in many years now”, Grant said, “there are not that many bands out there that will do a month-long tour of the UK any more; they will play more like two weeks. This will be the longest tour that we have played since the Silent Cry Tour way back in 2008. I am really going to have to look after myself as we are no spring chickens and, as you know, a Feeder set is a total workout, not only vocally but also for the drummer” he laughed.
“Poor old Geoff [Holroyde] he’s got quite a job on his hands. He will most probably have lost a stone after doing the tour!”
The album is due to be released on Friday, April 5, and with a mammoth 23 dates – including a second appearance in Nottingham at Wollaton Park – it’s certainly a good job that the singer from Newport stated his love for playing live has not diminished. In fact, it seems it’s greater than in the band’s early days.
“Obviously, I love playing live; I feel as though I am enjoying playing live even more now than I did in the early days actually”, he said. “I feel that as you get older you accept what you do and you just do it, to the best of your ability. I really worked hard, and I think that when you are going to put a double album out, you have to, as it’s a big body of work.”
Rehearsals for the band started around Christmas, with a couple more refreshers taking place before the tour kicked off, on March 20 at Manchester’s Albert Hall.
“We did one rehearsal just before Christmas, just to enable us to get back into the room”, Grant said. This allowed the band to trial a few new ideas. Then, two more weeks of rehearsals followed before the tour kicked off.
The new album Black/red comprises 18 songs, a huge undertaking to say the least.
A double album is often controversial, with fans often worrying about whether there will be too little meat on the bones and reactions can vary widely;.
For Grant, he considers Red/black to be one of their best albums - this will be their 12th studio album to date. “I think that it is one of our best albums, and I’m not just saying that. I think that it ticks a lot of boxes. I have to say that sonically the last few Feeder records have been some of our best. Some people may very well disagree, but I am much happier with them. Black/red is most undeniably Feeder, but I am so pleased at how the album came out sonically.
“I really do beat myself up whenever I make a Feeder record - I go through the usual insecurities; is it good, is it terrible, I’ve been through all of that, and I have come through the dark tunnel, and I am out the other side now”, he laughed.
Good news then that Grant is out the other side and looking forward to playing live in front of UK audiences, particularly at Rock City.
“Oh, Rock City, I just love playing that place, it really is one of my favourite venues. We really have had some amazing nights there, the audiences, the vibe, the feeling; it really is such a special place.
“It feels like a small club gig, but it is actually really big. I think that it holds around 2,000 people, or close to that, so it really is an intimate show but at the same time a big show – there aren’t that many venues that can do that.”
Some rock stars are known for excess and hilarity in their backstage riders. For Feeder, it mostly consists of a “decent bottle of whisky” for Taka [Hirose – bassist] and a “nice bottle of vodka or tequila. Tommy [Gleeson – touring guitarist] likes a nice rosé. I personally drink a hell of a lot of water when we are on tour so loads of water plus a few odd things like avocados.
“I do tend to get a craving for some chocolate, so a few little chocolate bars are on there, just to keep me going. What we are really into, which the tour manager keeps stealing, are those Marmite cashew nuts. So, hopefully, I will be able to pinch a bag and hide them somewhere during my warm-up.”