The Feelies at Bowery BallroomSo Bruce and Rock & Co. cancelled on me and my fellow New Yorkers - From the Jam for no obvious reasons cancelled most of their U.S. tour, just to announce gigs in Vienna, Austria, a few days later. Hm. Didn't they say they want to have a new record out by the new year, anyway? Maybe Paul Weller has some songs he can spare?
Enough already, now for one of the greatest reunions ever: The Feelies played two well packed shows at the Bowery Ballroom in the original line-up, Bill Million rejoining the gang for the first time in 15 years. And boy, were they good! My friends and I saw them decades ago in Zurich and were blown away, but honestly, i think this was even better. Glenn Mercer is by now one of the best and most precise guitar players i have ever seen, Million is the glue that bindes the band together. Looks like only the two drummers ever smile - the strings work and sing like a manic machine, strumming and pumping ahead, spinning melancholy and melody. Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo in the front lines with an open mouth. A frenetic audience, but where were you Brooklyn hipsters? These are the masters you could learn so much from!
