Kasabian
And so tonight it’s the eagerly awaited return to Norwich for Leicester’s finest of sons, Kasabian. The last time that they were in the fine city, things were certainly quite different in the bands line-up.
Tom Meighan has long since acrimoniously departed and Serge Pizzorno has stepped up to fill the void as lead singer and whereas the latter was previously at the formers side, he is now well and truly in control up front with Rob Harvey the main man from The Music now in the band to fill the role and very admirably so too, that Serge has left behind
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So how was it?
Having seen them support Liam Gallagher back in May at Knebworth, I knew that we would be in for a very special evening this close up tonight and they didn’t disappoint at all.
They start proceedings with the unmistakable Club Foot and it’s an absolute ‘good natured’ riot in the LCR as soon as it fully kicks into gear, it’s madness, an electric atmosphere with the crowd going quite berserk, with beer flying, it’s like an indoor music festival. At that point this old man heads up the steps for a beer of my own and on my own, you see the knees just won’t take it these days!
III Ray (The King) and then Underdog swiftly follow, as does You’re In Love With a Psycho to ensure that there is not a drop in tempo or momentum.
The new material Chemicals and Alygatyr sound quite fantastic, they retain the old Kasabian edginess, its hyper energetic, and as frantic as anything that they have produced when they’ve previously been at their very best, it’s certainly proving that there is plenty more life in the band yet following Meighan’s sad exit, it’s that good and could’ve been taken from any of their previous and finest of albums.
Shoot The Runner, finds the super talented Harvey now taking the limelight and stealing the show, his unique vocals sound quite amazing and as sharp as ever. He is indeed a very fine addition the band as he more than helps to keep the Kasabian rock machine running at its business-as-usual fast pace.
Very clearly Pizzorno is loving the new role playing up front, judging by his constant jumping around and relentless energy, the crowd are loving his showmanship and they frequently break out into chants of ‘Sergio, Sergio, Sergio’. Everyone including said Sergio is lapping it all up and its well-deserved, Tom Meighan sure did leave behind some very big boots to fill and on this form Kasabian Mk2 is going to plan (although he is missed).
For the encore, we don’t have to wait too long for them to return to the stage as the energy levels in the NRLCR are still as wild and frantic as the second that they walked off stage, some five minutes ago and yes you guessed it, the band are still as up for it as much as we all are when they return with Bless This Acid House, L.S.F Lost Souls Forever and Fire.
Serge encourages us all to go home and sing the melody to Fire in our streets, cars, roads and cul-de-sac’s and I am sure that many residents in Norwich from 11pm onwards probably wondered what the heck was going on as many people I am sure did just that on the way home post gig?
It has been many a year since I have seen the NRLCR quite as lively as it was tonight and apart from the initial disappointment upon entering the venue and finding out that the wonderful, The Lathums were not supporting after all this evening, it’s been an absolute blast, a quite brilliant high octane evening and nobody leaving the venue this evening would disagree with that I am sure, apart from the young lady that has her head stuck in the hedge, violently throwing up as we headed into the night! Hopefully it was well worth it for her too?
As the song Stevie say’s, “Live to fight another day, live to fight again. And on that note Kasabian are certainly living up to the billing.
