With their horribly neutral name and banal lyrics, Feeder are an easy band to dislike. Their 2001 hit Buck Rogers reveals: "He's got a brand new car/ Looks like a Jaguar." It then pauses before adding the coup de grace: "It's got a CD player."

Buck Rogers goes down a storm tonight. And therein lies the rub. Whatever Feeder's flaws, they remain one of the few British alternative bands with real clout. This is their second arena tour of the year, and the fans seem unsated. Feeder are in an enviable commercial position: their last album, Comfort in Sound, is their best and most successful effort. As a result, despite the five albums that preceded it, Feeder feel like a young band rising to their peak.

It hasn't all been good news: last year saw the suicide of drummer Jon Lee, which left the Welsh three-piece with singer and guitarist Grant Nicholas and bassist Taka Hirose. The tragedy also provided a reminder that to dismiss rock's angst as bluster is to ignore real and serious issues.

The pair, joined by drummer Mark Richardson (formerly of Skunk Anansie) and guitarist Dean Tidey on a simple stage, are too earnest to go into theatrical gestures. Instead, they pogo gamely, thank their fans and give the crowd a straightforward, dense take on their back catalogue. The effect varies: Comfort in Sound loses its soul and its subtlety, but Just the Way I'm Feeling remains majestic. High is a riotous celebration of life's simple pleasures.

A drawn-out, almost progressive Descend aside, this is populist stuff. Feeder know how to do epic, and while their slower numbers can sound a little gauche on the stereo, they often feel gut-burstingly potent live. In the gig's last moments, Hirose waves at the crowd and Richardson lobs a seemingly endless succession of drumsticks towards the back of the auditorium. Ecstatic pockets of people leap up, struggling to catch them. You are what your fans make you, and Feeder seem in the best of health.

· At the NIA, Birmingham, tonight. Box office: 0870 909 4144. Then touring.