Sunday night found us in Brighton watching FEET perform at Dust, a small grassroots venue in the Brighton lanes. FEET, an English quintet formed in Coventry in 2016, released their sophomore album ‘Make It Up’ this summer and are amidst a UK headline tour of it. Having been described as “quintessentially English” and “wonky britpop”, the band offers a refreshingly fun take on your classic indie band, with lyrics that poke fun at the music industry and songs centred around comically everyday topics (“English Weather” and “Dog Walking“).The gig was a blast – great music, great atmosphere and great crowd. FEET as a band don’t take themselves too seriously and you can tell they are having fun. The band has clear chemistry with each other characteristic of a group of best friends, and a quick stalk of their Instagram shows the shenanigans they get up to together.
The night evoked a feeling of nostalgia, with the stage set up with retro box TVs showing static (including the bouncing ‘dvd’ which never hit the corner), and the band’s sound, hairstyles and outfits providing a nod to the past. Having seen the band previously last year, we noticed that although they were playing a venue with similar capacity, the crowd was filled with a greater level of enthusiasm and dedication to the band. We were surrounded by fans wearing FEET merch, one fan showing off her “FEET” socks whilst another gave out “FEET” stickers. As soon as the music commenced, the whole crowd was singing along with big grins that lasted the entire show.
L’objectif opened the gig, breaking through the slight awkwardness of an opener in a sparsely filled small venue by telling everyone to take a step forward and fill the space between the stage and the crowd. Despite their French name, L’objectif is an indie band from Leeds, mixing alternative rock with indie pop rhythms and synths. They played a mix of released and unreleased songs of which we particularly enjoyed “Goth Kids” and are looking forward to its release. They ended their set with their most well known song “The Dance You Sell“, telling the audience to sing along – which they did, the whole crowd joining in with the simple chorus that frontman Saul Kane taught those that didn’t yet know it.
The venue was packed by the time FEET entered the stage. The set started with “Good Richard’s Crash Landing“, the opener to their debut album, and then moved onto fan favourites from their newest album, such as ‘Changing My Mind Again‘, ‘Why Would I Lie’, and ‘The Real Thing‘. The setlist consisted of a mix of standouts from their debut album and early EPs and newer releases, all of which the crowd seemed to know and eagerly sing along to. The band made use of the small stage, with all members moving around where possible. Vocalist and frontman George Haverson enthusiastically shook his tambourine for the upbeat songs, frequently leaning into the crowd with tambourine in hand as eager fans reached out. Guitarists Harry Southerton and Callum Parker and bassist Oli Shasha moved around the stage and interacted with each other, whilst drummer Ben Firth held up a steady beat at the back of the stage.
Throughout the set there were songs which invited fan interaction. The band sang ‘Goodbye (So Long, Farewell)‘, the closing song to their new album, whilst waving and the crowd waving back like kids at a school assembly. “After that you’ll need some peace and quiet” Haverson joked as a way to introduce their next song – Peace and Quiet. For this, he entered the crowd and sang the upbeat and boisterous song in the middle of a circle of smiling fans. During the penultimate song, Sit Down, Haverson invited the crowd to “sit”, with the whole audience crouching down and then jumping up as the chorus reached its peak. The whole crowd was grinning, with fans turning to their friends and giggling, representative of the atmosphere of the band itself. Another highlight of the show was when the band played the deep cut “Vegetarian Christmas“, with the frontman announcing “we don’t normally take requests but this is a special occasion as it’s almost Christmas” to which the audience took the bait and chanted “Vegetarian Christmas!”. Overall, the night was light-hearted and full of energy, with the quirky band leaving us wondering if FEET are bringing britpop back whilst adding their own fresh take.