Feid • May 15, 2024 • Delta Center
Reviewed and Photographed by Kevin Rolfe
Feid is a Colombian singer-songwriter and producer. He’s achieved success worldwide and has worked with artists such as Bad Bunny and Karol G. The Latin Grammy nominee brought his FERXXOCALIPSIS Tour to the Delta Center on February 15. I must admit that I had only heard of Feid, but was not well versed in his music. That being said, I was told that I was in for an entertaining evening. I was looking forward to seeing what the Urbana Latin music star was all about and what this tour looked like. Turns out I was in for quite the evening.
The very first thing I noticed as I walked up to the Delta Center was that I was going to stand out. No, not because I was one of only a handful of “gringos” attending the concert, but because I was one of what seemed like even less amount of people not wearing green. Everywhere I looked fans lined the doors dressed in green. Green hats, green shirts, green skirts, green pants, green shoes, green suits, you name it, people found a way to be decked out in green. It was an impressive sight. It was safe to assume that the color was somehow connected with Feid. I found out that Feid likes the color green because it symbolizes hope, and represents the green Mountains of Meledín, of Antioquía where he’s from.
From a concert photography standpoint, this was a unique experience. Typically when I shoot a concert I’m able to shoot from one of two areas. A band will either approve photographers to shoot from either the pit, which is in front of the stage, or “front of house”, which is towards the back of the floor by the soundboard. For Feid, we were informed that we would be shooting from the top of Section 7. I was intrigued. I wondered what the staging looked like for us to be shooting from such a unique spot. We wondered if it would be more difficult to shoot from there.
When I was taken to the area it was very clear why we would be shooting from there. The stage was not only the entire length of the arena floor but was also multiple levels high. Feid for sure got a full work out in simply by going up and down those stairs all night. It was an impressive setup to behold and I 100% understood why we were shooting from this unique location.
The light-up wristbands that were handed to fans as they entered the arena lit up the arena just before everything went dark. The show was finally starting. With all of the large staging, the band setup was minimal. One guitarist, one hype man/ DJ?/ jack of all trades guy controlling the music. I’m not sure of his official title but he seemed to manage the music throughout the evening. And then one female backup singer. As the crowd reached its highest decibel, Feid appeared at the top center of the scaffold-like stage.
The thing I love most about Latin music concerts is the fans. The get so into it. From song one to the end of the night, people were dancing and singing. Now, I’m sure you might say, “Kevin, isn’t that pretty much what happens at all the concerts you go to?” You would not be wrong about this, but it’s so different. Much different. There is so much passion, expression, and joy in the experience. I understand about 5% of the words that are being sung. But I feel like I’m getting it through the way the audience reacts to this music. I think that might be similar to what it’s like when people who don’t speak English fall in love with American artists.
Feid made great use of the space, constantly moving up and down and all over the place. There wasn’t a bad seat in the arena. Feid was able to cover every corner. He did a great job evenly dispersing his time. As he moved from one spot on the stage to another fans would throw stuffed animals, flags from their native countries, and t-shirts onto the stage. I even saw one fan throw their phone onto the stage. Not quite sure what they were hoping would happen with that. Hopefully, they got their phone back at some point.
It was impressive that with all the huge effects and technically state-of-the-art screens, Feid was able to make the show an intimate experience at times. At one point, Feid, his guitarist, and backup singer sat on one platform at the end of the stage to give an acoustic performance. The platform raised about 20 feet in the air. It was a cool moment for Fied to show is performance agility, while allowing the audience a moment to collect themselves before they went crazy again. There was another moment on another platform at the other end of the stage where Feid performed within a string of lights that surrounded him providing visual images as he sang. There was a lot of innovation in this tour. I can see some of these designs being implemented on other tours once other artists see them.
Despite constantly running around the stage and up and down stairs all night, Feid never seemed to get tired. He sounded great throughout the show. With no opener, Feid got the crowd going on his own. He performed for over two hours! I can’t imagine anyone wanting more from him, but by the way the audience reacted to his departure, it seems he could have performed for another hour. It was a really entertaining night seeing one of the biggest artists of today.