As the crowd at the first of Kasabian’s three-night residency share a collective and much-needed intake of breath, all eyes fall on guitarist Serge Pizzorno. “It’s a bit of a full-on set,” he admits.
Not usually prone to understatement – he recently claimed Kasabian’s new album, For Crying Out Loud, is “about saving guitar music from the abyss,” – Pizzorno is playing coy. The show is a hurtling, hedonistic joyride steered by a band fuelled by passion and at the peak of their powers. But it’s been a rocky road. Since forming in 1997, they’ve been derided as lowest common denominator, derivative lad rock, despite a Mercury prize nomination for 2009’s West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. However, after four No 1 albums, Kasabian have become one of Britain’s biggest bands.
Having answered doubters with a victorious headline slot at Glastonbury in 2014, they bring stadium-filling spirit, impressive lighting and, in singer Tom Meighan’s case, a determination to “blow the fucking roof”.
Accompanied by a string quartet, keyboardist and extra guitarist, their groove-laden, beat-smothered indie sounds bolder than ever, and from the first note of their opener, Comeback Kid, the audience are on their feet. They remain there as one adrenalised anthem follows another, from Bumblebeee and Re-Wired to Shoot the Runner and Empire, until Pizzorno encourages everyone to sink to their knees, then throw themselves in the air, during the incendiary Fire.
This unequivocal devotion is reflected back between Pizzorno and Meighan. The latter spends much of his time trying to get his bandmate’s attention, singing to Pizzorno, jutting out a hip as he struts passed the guitarist and fist-bumping after songs. When Pizzorno lays on the floor following the bruising Vlad the Impaler, Meighan climbs on top of him.
Pizzorno, meanwhile, is intent on keeping the crowd at boiling point. As Eez-Eh segues into a cover of Daft Punk’s Around the World, the guitarist teases the mosh pit with the suggestion that he might jump in. When the complex rhythms of Treat splinter into Haçienda-worthy dance music, Pizzorno almost makes good on his promise, stepping off stage, but only making it a few inches into the crush. “Thanks for not killing me out there,” he grins.
With Kasabian selecting from their six-album back catalogue the most devastating big hitters, including Club Foot and LSF, there’s little room for light and shade. Pizzorno’s solo spot with La Fee Verte – an acoustic, psychedelic ditty reminiscent of the Spencer Davis Group – is a notable exception, while the sunny levity of material from For Crying Out Loud, including God Bless This Acid House and controversial latest single, You’re in Love With a Psycho, is a relief from the intense, often menacing, singalong swagger. At the heart of the bravado, though, lies the defiant belief in having a good time, and Kasabian deliver exactly that, with gusto. As Pizzorno sums it up: “Best Tuesday night I’ve ever had.”
- At the 02 Forum Kentish Town, London on 19 and 20 July. Box office: 020-3362 4110
