It’s easy to say music brings people together - it does. But it’s the albums born out of extremes, joy or heartbreak, that really cut deep. They’re the ones that stop you in your tracks, that feel less like entertainment and more like someone holding up a mirror. A sense of nostalgia from a better day or sometimes finding a way to voice our own feelings through someone else's lyrics. Marking the anniversary of one of those very albums, Grant Nicholas and Taka Hirose of Feeder (alongside current bandmates Tommy Gleeson and Geoff Holyroyde) brought a performance of 2002’s 'Comfort in Sound' to the famous O2 Brixton Academy that nobody in attendance is soon going to forget.

After losing their drummer and friend Jon Lee, there was no guarantee the band would continue. They could have stopped, but instead, they wrote through the silence, letting the music dictate if they were to continue, and emerged with a record that turned mourning into melody. 'Comfort in Sound' became their navigation - a document of absence, self-awareness, and the faint but steady return of hope.

Two decades on, it remains their most human work. Re-released this year, it was the centrepiece of Brixton Academy tonight, played in full to a crowd that didn’t just know the songs, but remembered exactly where they were when they first heard them.

The band took the stage without fanfare. No introduction, no warm-up words. Straight into 'Just the Way I’m Feeling'. Thousands of voices rose with Grant’s, and the air in the room shifted. This was a collective memory being unlocked. 'Come Back Around' hit harder, more jagged, while 'Helium' felt like a deep exhale.

When 'Child in You' began, Grant stumbled on the opening lyric, stopping and starting again with a sheepish grin. It didn’t break the spell; it strengthened it. Later, 'Summer’s Gone' faltered too, Grant’s guitar refusing to behave. But if 'Comfort in Sound' is an album about fragility, then those cracks onstage only made it more authentic. One of the standout parts of any Feeder performance is how genuine the music is.

The set moved without interruptions. No stories between songs, no crowd chatter, just the record unfolding as it was meant to be heard; 'Comfort in Sound', 'Forget About Tomorrow', 'Godzilla', 'Quick Fade', 'Find the Colour', 'Love Pollution' and 'Moonshine'. Grant and Taka stayed locked in the music, their emotions obvious in the way they clung to certain lines, or how Grant seemed reluctant to let chords fade. At points they looked at each other more than the audience - two friends still carrying their bandmate with them.

The final notes gave way to silence, then the stage screen lit up with a single photograph of Jon Lee. For a moment, nobody moved. Then Brixton stood as one. It wasn’t polite applause - it was rapturous, a standing ovation that felt like both a celebration and a thank you.

After that release, the encore arrived like sunlight after a storm. Grant walked back out alone addressed the audience for the first time. An instant fan pleaser - he went into 'High' on acoustic guitar. The entire venue sang it back, the kind of communal moment that feels almost sacred. The rest of the band returned for 'Feeling a Moment' and 'Pushing the Senses', this time with Mark Richardson on drums. Mark, who stepped in for Feeder in the wake of Jon’s passing, brought another layer of poignancy to the night. His presence was a reminder of continuity, of music’s strange ability to unite and carry people through the unthinkable.

Mark made his farewells and Geoff rejoined the band. From there, it was catharsis: 'Feel It Again' kept us singing, while originally omitted album track 'Opaque' impressed, and accidental gold 'Buck Rogers' led us finally to the band closing out on 'Just a Day'. If the first half of the show was about grief and reflection, the encore provided some release - messy, joyful, arms-in-the-air release. Brixton sang every word, shouted every chorus, lived every beat. It was 2002 in 2025, some nostalgia and worldliness we are desperately missing today.

Feeder don’t need to explain what 'Comfort in Sound' means. They didn’t even need to speak at all. The record spoke for them, just as it always has. Tonight was proof that music written in the darkest of times can encompass the entire emotional spectrum and still, years later, light up an entire room.

Comfort in Sound:

Just the Way I'm Feeling
Come Back Around
Helium
Child in You
Comfort in Sound
Forget About Tomorrow
Summer's Gone
Godzilla
Quick Fade
Find the Colour
Love Pollution
Moonshine

Encore:

High (Grant solo acoustic)
Feeling a Moment (with Mark Richardson on drums)
Pushing the Senses (with Mark Richardson on drums)
Feel It Again
Opaque
Buck Rogers
Just a Day

Review and Photos: Chris Griffiths