The Sheffield Scenester

After not coming to Sheffield for 4 years the new age indie band Kasabian made their comeback to the steel city once again. They played Sheffield in the summer of this year....but only played the small O2 venue and played a small set-list which included debut songs off their new album “Velociraptor!”.

I had not actually listened to Kasabian that much and had only really heard a few songs, hits such as “Fire” and a few songs off their newest album, but I bought a ticket to the show and what a show it was. The band got Merseyside lad Miles Kane to support them, who after having less than a year perusing a solo career, had already had an album and 3 singles shooting up to No.1 in the charts. Kane was with his band, which consisted of rhythm guitarist Eugene McGuinness, bassist Phill Anderson, keyboards Ben Parsons and drummer Jay Sharrock. Now I had listened to a lot of Miles Kane’s stuff and I love it all, he played his album as his set-list and got the crowd warmed up, there was even a mosh pit for him which certainly shows that he has a lot of followers all keen to hear and see him. Half way through Kane’s set lead guitarist and backing vocalist Sergio Pizzorno came on stage from behind Kane and started dancing around and the crowd went wild, to see both heroes stood on stage was great.

The arena was starting to get pretty crowded now and the standing pit below was full to the brim, you couldn’t fit a single person in. The atmosphere was great and the arena had a certain buzz about it....which it always does when you know the main act is about to come on...and as you wait with baited breath to make sure you don’t miss that crucial moment. As all the house lights dimmed the whole stage lit up and a small animation on the screen at the back was played. The whole stage then lit up one more time and the band walked onto the stage clapping and encouraging the crowd below them to scream and shout. The band instantly got into their place as they kicked the night off with ‘Days Are Forgotten’ from their newest album “Velociraptor!” one of their slower songs...they could have played a more of an upbeat song to start off the night. This was followed by the more up tempo “Shoot the runner”, “Velociraptor” and a load of beers flying around the arena pit. Throwing beers is not permitted in any venue...but it is always a good sign to the band that the crowd like what they see and hear!

The night progressed and the crowd just seemed to get more and more energy charged by the time the band played “Man Of Simple Pleasures” the whole pit was moving around and couldn’t stop.....even if they wanted to! This was followed by the acoustic song “Thick as Thieves” from the album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum; in this song they included a snippet of “People Are Strange” made famous by The Doors. The acoustic song was a good chance for the band to take a small break before blowing the roof off again with “Take Aim”, “Club Foot” and “Re-wired” with plenty more beers being thrown here and there....I also noticed a lot of people were getting pulled over the front barriers by security because of their habit of crowd surfing!

I was wondering when the band was going to play what I think is their most known song and most famous for that matter... “Fire”. I was hoping they’d play it close to the beginning or at least in the middle because after about an hour I was getting a little bored as the set list wasn’t really that pleasing. To a real Kasabian fan they probably describe it as a greatest hits set list....but for me not knowing a lot of their material it didn’t really suit me.... Until the encore which including songs “Vlad The Impaler” and yes at long last “Fire” to which came a magical moment for any band. Lead singer Tom Meighan asked everyone to get out their phones and cameras and light up the arena, which they did, the entire arena was lit up like a Christmas tree and you could see the bands faces light up as well as the 15,000 fans faces too. As soon as the band started playing “Fire” the phones were away as the entire crowd went wild for one final song. The overall gig had been a good night and for anyone who is interested in indie rock I recommend going to see these guys as they can put on a good show and its good value for your money... the ticket cost me £33.50.

Words by Myles Wright
Photos by Tracey Welch