Kasabian at De Montfort Hall (30/05/09)

Leicester legends Kasabian began their nationwide tour in style this weekend, playing three dates at De Montfort Hall to an army of die-hard fans. Those lucky enough to get a ticket to the sold out dates were treated to an awe-inspiring set of stadium gig proportions, in a relatively intimate venue.

The night was kicked off by well received openers The Hours and then Leicester’s own Jersey Budd, who upped the ante with an energetic set promoting his new album Wonderlands. Playing favourites such as “Shotgun Times” and “She Came Back”, he was later joined on stage by Julie E. Gordon of the Happy Mondays. He proved himself an enjoyable act in his own right and a firm favourite amongst the Leicester contingent.

But of course nobody can live up to the heroes that are local lads Kasabian. Never before have I witnessed a band that have the ability to whip a crowd up into such a euphoric frenzy. Not only that, but they more than lived up to their reputation of being second-to-none when it comes to a live performance.

Arriving on stage amidst a crazed show of spotlights and lasers and to a fiercely anticipant crowd, the boys opened with the dirty bass of “Vlad the Impaler” before launching into “Shoot the Runner”, a song that’s throbbing bassline lent itself to the intense crowd mania that ensued.

The band’s “We’re awesome and we know it, so you really ‘ought to love and worship us” attitude was apparent from the off, with singer Meighan’s indisputable stage presence fuelled by Gallagher style arrogance. This is a guy who knows how to work a crowd. And boy does he know it. Within a matter of minutes the largely beer-fuelled crowd had been worked into some sort of football-stadium style frenzy, helped of course by the celebratory atmosphere caused by LCFC’s recent promotion to the Championship: frequent chants of “Blue Army” peppered the epic 100-minute-long set.

The throbbing beats of “Reason is Treason” pulsated through the venue and sent shivers up my spine. Cross a stadium-concert with a football match and throw in a hefty dose of the Ibiza club scene, and you can begin to imagine the feel of a Kasabian gig. The psychedelically eerie “Cutt Off” had the audience in a trance like state of oblivion whist new single “Fire” exploded into the sweat-drenched crowd with euphoric force and had everyone on their feet.

Whilst Meighan worked the crowd, the slightly more reserved guitarist Pizzorno, clad in psychedelic attire (complete with headband and ethnic necklace) also gave a stunning performance, proving that Kasabian are by no means a one-man show. Taking the vocals on “Me Plus One” and later on post-encore cover of Candi Staton’s “You Got the Love”, Pizzorno is undeniably a talented man. Combine this musical talent with Meighan’s charisma and the result is an unfaltering formula for a band that’s well on its way to achieving super-star status.

Treating the crowd to old favourites “Sun Rise Flight Rise”, the psychedelic “I.D” and “Empire”, interspersed with well-received material from their up and coming album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, such as “Underdog” and finishing on sombre track “The Doberman” (complete with resident trumpet player), the band’s set was laced with a simple yet atmospheric light show, mixing eerie greens and reds with strobe and search lights and the occasional bathing of the entire hall in an explosive yellow glow.

Not surprisingly an encore demand that sounded more like a football chant commenced and, of course, the band emerged amidst strobe-lighting to play a further 4 songs: old favourite “Club Foot”, the impossibly fast, club-style “Stuntman”, Pizzorno’s cover of Staton’s classic, and finally the icing on the cake: “L.S.F”, which climaxed in a mass singalong orchestrated by the triumphant Meighan.

And so it seems that ten years after their arrival on Leicester’s music scene, the boys from Kasabian are still captivating Leicesterfarians with their unique brand of electronica fused indie rock. If the show was anything to go by, the new album should be out of this world. And here’s hoping that the greatest thing to come out of Leicester since... well, ever... will be back to play to home crowds before long.

By Rosanna Pound-Woods