The Feelies at Rough Trade, Brooklyn

Glenn Mercer

In 1976, just as the original punk era began percolating in small clubs, guitarist Glenn Mercer, bassist Bill Million, drummer Dave Weckerman and vocalist Richard Reilly played as the Outkids in and around Haledon, New Jersey. Losing Reilly and adding members over time, Million moved to rhythm guitar and Weckerman to percussion, and the Outkids evolved into the Feelies. The band's new name was taken from a fictional entertainment device described in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. The Feelies gained critical applause and influenced R.E.M. and other bands but four Feelies albums sold poorly and the group disbanded in 1992 when Million lost interest in music, left the group and moved to Florida with his family. The classic mid-1980s lineup of guitarist/vocalists Mercer and Million, percussionist Weckerman, bassist Brenda Sauter, and drummer Stanley Demeski reunited in 2008 at the request of Sonic Youth and released new albums in 2011 and 2017. The Feelies' sixth and most recent album, In Between, was released on February 24, 2017.

The Feelies now reunite annually for a several local performances, which this year included three nights at Rough Trade in Brooklyn, New York. Each night at this venue, the band performed two sets and multiple encores, performing much of the band's recorded catalog and numerous cover songs. The Feelies' music is inspired by the Velvet Underground, so Sunday's set in particular paid tribute with three Velvet Underground covers. Dry vocals and cascading guitar melodies dominated the forefront, highlighted by sporadic twin-guitar attacks, often sounding very much like the band's contemporaries, Television. (The Feelies this night also covered Television's "See No Evil.") In its early versions, this music sounded like experimental garage band music, but with the leverage of years of refinement the music now sounded like it was way ahead  its time.

Visit the Feelies at www.thefeeliesweb.com.

Setlist:

1. Sunday Morning (The Velvet Underground cover)
2. Find a Way
3. Later On
4. Time Will Tell
5. Turn Back Time
6. Make It Clear
7. Been Replaced
8. Invitation
9. Let's Go
10. Change Your Mind
11. Nobody Knows
12. The High Road
13. On the Roof

Set 2

1. Waiting
2. Decide
3. Gone, Gone, Gone
4. Higher Ground
5. The Final Word
6. Away
7. Two Rooms
8. Loveless Love
9. Forces at Work
10. Doin' It Again
11. Sooner or Later
12. Too Far Gone
13. Raised Eyebrows
14. Crazy Rhythms

Encore 1:

1. Slipping (Into Something)
2. Sedan Delivery (Neil Young & Crazy Horse cover)

Encore 2:

1. She Said She Said (The Beatles cover)
2. See No Evil (Television cover)

Encore 3:

1. Rock and Roll (The Velvet Underground cover)
2. We're Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together (The Velvet Underground cover)

Encore 4:

1. Get Off of My Cloud (The Rolling Stones cover)
2. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey (The Beatles cover)