Members of the jangle pop band Felt have come together for the first time in nearly four decades, and performed under the name ‘Feel’.
The British band formed at the end of the ‘70s, and dropped 10 albums across the ‘80s, from 1982’s debut record ‘Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty’ through to 1989’s ‘Me and a Monkey on the Moon’.
For over three decades now, they have not been seen together as part of the group nor played any shows – holding their last show in Birmingham in December 1989. However, that all changed on Saturday night (August 15) when three of the band members came together for the first time in decades.
At the annual Scottish festival for indie music, Glas-Goes Pop, the band’s original drummer Gary Ainge, bassist Marco Thomas and guitarist Philip King came together and performed live under the band name ‘Feel’.
They had announced the plans last month, taking to Instagram and confirming that they would be instrumental versions of Felt songs under the new name, which is “the present tense of Felt”.
“Feel is a new group made up of original Felt members Gary Ainge (who played drums on all ten albums), Marco Thomas on bass and Philip King on rhythm guitar,” they wrote at the time. “Along with Martin Davies on keys and Andy Wellings on lead guitar, they will be honouring the beauty of Felt’s music – by playing instrumental Felt songs – and Felt songs instrumentally.”
Their caption continued: “As it says so accurately on the Felt album sleeves – the songs were ‘coloured in by the band’ – and that’s what they intend to do. As well as showcasing the melodic ingenuity of Maurice Deebank and Martin Duffy, they will also be performing instrumental interpretations of some of the songs of Lawrence.”
At the gig, the band also brought out Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch and rising artist Rhadika as surprise guests, and they joined the jangle pop group for a rendition of their 1984 track ‘Primitive Painters’ .
Find footage from the gig below.
After the gig, Rhadika spoke about what the moment signified. “Felt reunited for the first time in [37] years and I somehow got to be a part of it,” the post read.
“Last night was a night that I will never forget… I got to sing with original members of Felt. Performing ‘Primitive Painters’ was truly everything and more, a song that has held my soul for many years.
“I was holding back tears of joy as well as reflection. Growing up my dad adored Felt and always played me their songs, they are a big reason why I subconsciously started creating dream pop music.
“As Stuart Murdoch said on stage, we were both embodying our heroes yesterday, some moments feel too special to put into words. Thank you for letting me be a part of something I’ve loved for so long.”
