Kasabian

photos to follow...

I suppose if you’re going to steal 80% of your stage-act from Ian Brown, then it’s only reasonable that you dedicate at least one song to the man when playing his home town. Of course it could be argued that the Ian Brown crucifixion pose owes a rather impressive and lofty namecheck itself.

The influences permeate the music as much as the style of performance and were Kasabian to go down the road of name-checking every artist whose influence can be seen clearly in their work, then we could be in for a long night. The music is hugely derivative, but with songs of the quality of those on their first album, this is instantly forgivable.

This is clearly a band on the way up and the faith and backing of the record company can perhaps be measured by the sheer extravagance of the lighting rigs. The stage is expertly lit from pretty much every imaginable angle and the backdrop is a series of impressive rigs from top to toe – all used to full effect.

Initially this adds to the impact of the occasion, but as the night wears on the brilliance of the lighting starts to overshadow the performance somewhat.

Sadly Stewart’s work commitments prevent us from attending the rather tempting aftershow party being DJed by Mani.