In Attendance: Me, Uncle Bazza, Matt "I've Now Been To Every Venue In London" Taylor, Nev "I'm Actually The Older Brother" Taylor and Ash "Don't Call Me A Metrosexual" Khan.
Setlist: Stay Away From The Brown Acid Part 2/Shoot The Runner/Reason Is Treason/Sun Rise Light Flies/Cutt Off/Me Plus One/By My Side/Empire/ID/Seek and Destroy/British Legion/Processed Beats/The Last Trip/The Doberman Encore: Apnoea/Club Foot/Stuntman/LSF
Kasabian at Somerset House as part of the Vodafone Live Music Summer Series = five Kasabian concerts which I have attended (well, six including Live Earth). Eyes rolled and sniggers weren't exactly stifled when I rather dramatically announced in the pub during the pre-concert drinks that this would be the last Kasabian gig I would ever attend. I may as well have declared that I had found the cure for cancer and the solution to world peace because who was I trying to kid? After the lads' blinding performance on Friday, you can bet your milk money that I will be attending every Kasabian gig I possibly can until that restraining order kicks in.
I had decided very early on that, for this concert, I would take a leaf out of the Cubans and thoroughly enjoy it without any encumbrances i.e. any attempts to record video clips and pictures which will inevitably come out shaky and blurry. My trusty Canon Ixus therefore had the night off.
Kasabian only come on at 10 p.m. because apparently, they wanted it to be dark when they emerged onstage. Fair enough. They were introduced by Danny Dyer who was greeted with chants of "Danny! Danny! Danny!". He is so cool that all he had to say was "Kasabian!" and the crowd went mad. He could have pissed on the crowd and they still would have loved him. Lesson learnt: Danny Dyer is the fuckin' man!
Serge, Chris and Ian kicked off with the instrumental "Stay Away From The Brown Acid Part 2" before the luscious Tom Meighan appeared onstage for the rapturous "Shoot The Runner". Tom, looking very much like Austin Powers in his thick-rimmed specs (which was discarded halfway through the gig) and a 60s inspired patterned shirt, ensured he emphasised the "bitch!" part with gusto.
The fans lapped it up as Tom screamed "Hello Somerset House London!" and the guys ripped their way through their repertoire of crowd pleasing songs from their two albums. "Cutt Off" (a personal fave of mine and also my ring tone) was preceded with Tom telling the crowd that it was a song they wrote when they were stoners (yeah, like I'm going to believe they've stopped smokin' da reefer). At Tom's command to "Sing it!", the crowd bellowed the "ah ah ah ah ah" chorus in full force, arms spread out like Moses parting the Red Sea (short clip here). It was beautiful, siiighhh...
The stadium anthemy "Empire" was one of the highlights and throughout the concert, the crowd not only showed their appreciation by singing along to every word but even chucking beer at the guys, which they didn't seem to mind (it's all booze innit?).
At one point during "I.D.", I swear to God, Tom pointed and blew a kiss at me which was witnessed by Uncle B, Matt & Nev. Don't deny it guys.
Serge, as always, did his solo stuff. I give him great credit for being a brilliant song-writer but I always notice a lull in the crowd when he does his slot but I don't think he's going to give up the singing just yet. In all fairness, "British Legion" was quite good and better than what I'd previously experienced.
The last song before the encore was "The Doberman" which Tom dedicated to Kasabian's biggest groupie, Mr Noel Gallagher (unconfirmed whether NG was in attendance).
Whilst waiting for the encore, the crowd started singing the "la la la la la la" bit to "LSF" and, I don't know how Kasabian felt but if it was me and my band, I'd be feeling mighty damn proud.
I decided to go crazy for the encore and proceeded to jump, mosh, dance (moves included The Running Man and the Beyonce booty-shake for comedy effect) and essentially go absolutely mental, at one point nearly collapsing when I ran out of breath and realised that this was the most exercise I had ever done in, well, ever (My calves were killing me for the next few days. Lesson learnt: Converse do not have any support or shock absorbing qualities). Nevertheless I soldiered on, a potential heart attack wasn't about to stop me from enjoying myself.
The finale was of course the now permanent "LSF" and out of all the Kasabian gigs I have been to, this was by far the best one I have ever experienced. I found this video on YouTube so check it out (I have no idea who the couple is but they're funny) and, if you have never been to a Kasabian gig before, you really need to sit down and ask yourself why not? By the way, in case you were looking for us in the video, we were right at the front to the right-hand side of the stage if you're facing it. We should be easy to spot, we're the ones jumping...
The look on the guys' faces, especially Tom's, at the end of the gig was priceless - a mixture of sheer delight, happiness, amazement and gratefulness that they had made it this far. Tom thanked the crowd profusely.
As the crowd spilled onto the Strand, high as kites, everyone, including us, continuously sang the "la la la" bit from LSF, knowing that that feeling of elation stemmed from experiencing something truly amazing and special. Kasabian is a fantastic live band who leave you wanting more and at the end of the day, I genuinely believe that the core of their success is down to the fact that they have bloody good songs.
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