With Glasgow being the opening night of the nation-wide tour and support being provided by The Macabees this had all the makings of a terrific night.
The Macabees did a fine job in warming up the Hydro crowd with lead singer Orlando Weeks in fine voice. ‘Pelican’ closed the support set and set things up nicely for Kasabian taking the stage following the giant digital countdown.
By the time Serge and Tom swaggered on- stage and opened with an acoustic intro to ‘Bumblebeee’ the Hydro crowd was absolutely buzzing in anticipation of what was about to follow. Following the intro the dynamic duo were then joined by the rest of the band as ‘Bumblebee’ kicked-in to overdrive. One of my own personal favs followed in the form of ‘Shoot The Runner’ with Tom delivering the vocals in venomous style to the delight of the crowd.
As expected latest album 48:13 dominated the set-list with ‘Bow’, ‘Clouds’, ‘Eez-eh’ and ‘Treat’ all featuring in the set. It was clear throughout Kasabian were enjoying the evening as much as the crowd with both the band and crowd feeding off each other as the energy levels and electricity in the Hydro continued to ramp-up to new levels throughout the night.
Highlights were a constant with ‘Thick As Thieves’ sounding fantastic supported with a tasty little out-take of The Doors ‘People Are Strange’. ‘Club Foot’ followed to the delight of all in attendance with those in the standing area literally soaking in the atmosphere as drinks (at least that is what I am telling myself) were hurled into the air in ecstasy. ‘Re-Wired’ from previous album ‘Velociraptor’ followed as Tom engaged the crowd in a massive sing-along with everyone in the house joining Tom in singing “Hit me! Harder! I am getting re-wired”! Once again Kasabian took the opportunity to spice-up one of their songs with ‘Word Up’ from 80s band Cameo getting an integrated run-out via Serge on vocals. Who knows, with the gig being the opening tour night in Glasgow ‘Word Up’ was perhaps a nod to Glasgow band GUN who covered the song in the mid 90s, either way it sounded great and added to an already dynamite set.
Pleasingly ‘Empire’ was also given a run out before the opening set was brought to rousing finale with ‘Fire’. At this stage everyone and I mean EVERYONE (even at the very back of the seats) was bouncing and bobbing away in appreciation with a few dafties in the crowd even getting their tapps-aff!
Following a brief break the band returned for a victorious encore including ‘Stevie’, ‘Vlad The Impaler’ and a fantastic cover of FatBoy Slim’s massive 90s number one smash ‘Praise You’. Finally the night was brought to a pulsating close with ‘L.S.F’ that continued with the crowd chanting well after the band (and even the enigmatic Serge) had left the stage!
There was one particular strange going on during the night when a digital image appeared behind the band declaring “London is full of c**ts” and at the time I wondered if this was purely a joke or some form of comment following the recent referendum up here in Scotland. Needless to say I did not dwell on it too long as the music commanded my attention throughout. To try and sum up the night in words is pretty impossible as it really was that good and you just had to be there. An evening to remember for those lucky enough to be in attendance with Kasabian proving they have lost none of the spark that has endeared them to the nation.
Bazza Mills
@bazzamills
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