Kasabian, Preston 53 Degrees, 24th March 2009
Back from San Francisco and with world domination in their sights, Kasabian are ready to take their seat at rock and roll’s top table.
Tonight may be a warm up gig for the Leicester five piece’s Teenage Cancer Trust jaunt at the Royal Albert Hall in three days time, but judging by the way they swagger one by one onto stage to unload new track ‘Underdog’ onto a baying sellout crowd, Kasabian look as if they’ve never been away. Frontman Tom Meighan looks especially warmed up as he occupies the stage with an almost Mick Jagger like frenetic energy.
The synth laden stomp of ‘Underdog’ then gives way to the unbridled power of ‘Shoot The Runner’, which causes nothing short of chaos amongst the the audience as Meighan acts as the ringleader to 1,500 followers, every one of them with their eyes firmly fixed on his Clockwork Orange demeanour as he surveys the audience as if surveying the land of a stately manor. Whereas on ‘Empire’ Kasabian cemented themselves as a force to be reckoned with, now they’re looking to take over.
If Meighan is the heartbeat of the band, the tall, brooding figure to his right is the brains. Lead guitarist and songwriter in chief, Sergio Pizzorno cuts an almost ominous presence on stage as the raw energy of his riffs thunder through ‘Reason is Treason’ and ‘Cutt Off’, leaving the crowd gasping for air before we’re treated to the bluesy psychedelia of ‘Fire’, the first single off the new, insanely titled ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’ album.
‘Processed Beats’ returns us to more common ground, with Serge even dropping some of Grandmaster Flash’s ‘The Message’ into the chorus for good measure. Then we reach The Kinks inspired ‘Thick as Thieves’, a rare acoustic moment which Tom tells us is “nice and warming… a bit like Bovril”. Whatever hot drink it may resemble, it’s sure to have the masses in Heaton Park singing along in unison this coming June.
The glam rock tirade of ‘Empire’ soon picks the tempo back up before another ‘West Ryder…’ newcomer takes charge. ‘Fast Fuse’ was released as a limited edition single in September 2007, before Columbia decided to put it back on the shelf. Not because of it’s inferior quality, but because it’s simply too good to shovel out. It’s rock and roll in it’s rawest, most passionate and dare I say, grooviest form as Meighan punches the air whilst chanting “I’m lucifer’s child, wild, acid done/black sunglasses shade the morning sun”. It acts as a cue for a tsunami of crowd surfers to engulf the security guards as the atmospheric slow burner ‘The Doberman’ sees the band out.
Not satisfied with that though, the quintet make their way back onstage and soar through ‘Club Foot’ and ‘Stuntman’, as everyone in attendance eagerly anticipates traditional set closer ‘L.S.F’. However, not one for predictability, Serge instead breaks into a rendition of The Source’s club classic ‘You Got The Love’ before segueing into the sing a long euphoria of ‘L.S.F’.
“Thank you Preston, you’ve been brilliant. It’s good to be back” declares Meighan triumphantly, and judging by the crowd’s continuation of L.S.F into the rainy Preston streets, they’re more than glad to have them back.
4 stars out of 5.
By Joe Baiamonte
Back from San Francisco and with world domination in their sights, Kasabian are ready to take their seat at rock and roll’s top table.
Tonight may be a warm up gig for the Leicester five piece’s Teenage Cancer Trust jaunt at the Royal Albert Hall in three days time, but judging by the way they swagger one by one onto stage to unload new track ‘Underdog’ onto a baying sellout crowd, Kasabian look as if they’ve never been away. Frontman Tom Meighan looks especially warmed up as he occupies the stage with an almost Mick Jagger like frenetic energy.
The synth laden stomp of ‘Underdog’ then gives way to the unbridled power of ‘Shoot The Runner’, which causes nothing short of chaos amongst the the audience as Meighan acts as the ringleader to 1,500 followers, every one of them with their eyes firmly fixed on his Clockwork Orange demeanour as he surveys the audience as if surveying the land of a stately manor. Whereas on ‘Empire’ Kasabian cemented themselves as a force to be reckoned with, now they’re looking to take over.
If Meighan is the heartbeat of the band, the tall, brooding figure to his right is the brains. Lead guitarist and songwriter in chief, Sergio Pizzorno cuts an almost ominous presence on stage as the raw energy of his riffs thunder through ‘Reason is Treason’ and ‘Cutt Off’, leaving the crowd gasping for air before we’re treated to the bluesy psychedelia of ‘Fire’, the first single off the new, insanely titled ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’ album.
‘Processed Beats’ returns us to more common ground, with Serge even dropping some of Grandmaster Flash’s ‘The Message’ into the chorus for good measure. Then we reach The Kinks inspired ‘Thick as Thieves’, a rare acoustic moment which Tom tells us is “nice and warming… a bit like Bovril”. Whatever hot drink it may resemble, it’s sure to have the masses in Heaton Park singing along in unison this coming June.
The glam rock tirade of ‘Empire’ soon picks the tempo back up before another ‘West Ryder…’ newcomer takes charge. ‘Fast Fuse’ was released as a limited edition single in September 2007, before Columbia decided to put it back on the shelf. Not because of it’s inferior quality, but because it’s simply too good to shovel out. It’s rock and roll in it’s rawest, most passionate and dare I say, grooviest form as Meighan punches the air whilst chanting “I’m lucifer’s child, wild, acid done/black sunglasses shade the morning sun”. It acts as a cue for a tsunami of crowd surfers to engulf the security guards as the atmospheric slow burner ‘The Doberman’ sees the band out.
Not satisfied with that though, the quintet make their way back onstage and soar through ‘Club Foot’ and ‘Stuntman’, as everyone in attendance eagerly anticipates traditional set closer ‘L.S.F’. However, not one for predictability, Serge instead breaks into a rendition of The Source’s club classic ‘You Got The Love’ before segueing into the sing a long euphoria of ‘L.S.F’.
“Thank you Preston, you’ve been brilliant. It’s good to be back” declares Meighan triumphantly, and judging by the crowd’s continuation of L.S.F into the rainy Preston streets, they’re more than glad to have them back.
4 stars out of 5.
By Joe Baiamonte
1 comment:
A good read, Baia. I wonder if YouTube will have a video of Processed Beats/The Message :)
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