The energy pulsing round the vast expanse of the Hydro arena is exactly how you would imagine. Huge screens read ‘Glasgow are you ready?’ and of course they were!
Kasabian rocked on stage in their usual fashion looking effortlessly cool, even with thousands of faces screaming ‘here we, here we, here we f*cking go’ back at them. Frontman Serge Pizzorno obviously feeling the cold, bounces onto the stage with a full length black puffer coat, what else would you expect from the man himself? The crowd are buzzing, the lights are blazing and it’s time for a show only Kasabian can bring to the good people of Glasgow. This is it, bring it on.
Kicking off with the aptly named new tune Rocket Fuel from their recent studio album The Alchemist’s Experiment. It‘s a true delight to hear new music after a long 5 year wait, the first new material since former frontman Tom Meighan ‘stepped down’ from the band. The perfect tone setter for what madness was to come, fan favourites Clubfoot and Underdog follow sending the crowd into a total frenzy with Serge clearly loving every minute of it.
Throughout the night the energy from both the band and crowd never lets up, it’s a total pinch me moment with the band playing Daft Punk’s One More Time as an outro to the immense You’re in Love with a Physco. The crowd hanging onto every word and continue to shake the Hydro to its very foundations, getting continuously louder and louder as each song kicked off. Serge is attentive to the crowd and professes his love for Glasgow, encouraging the crowd to sing along and get the mosh pits going. A real treat is the stripped back Cutt Off which sees the band huddled together at a bus stop slowing down the crowd. They even tease the legendary Stone Roses Waterfall as an outro which is incredible to hear. Ending this segment of the gig with hits like Empire and the always fun Vlad the Impaler.
Even during a quick stop off stage, the energy in the Hydro is electric, a sea of smiles and pint cups in the air screaming for the band to make a return. The perfect singalong God Bless this Acid House precede what are arguably Kasabian’s two greatest crowd pleasers. Serge professes that everything has led up to this moment, of course it is the anthem groove of L.S.F. The crowd are ready for this one, screaming every word in anticipation of the chorus, 12,000 voices in unison singing back at the stage, that the band are left in no doubt they were loved.
The only way to end is Fire, allowing everyone to release every last ounce of pent-up energy building throughout the gig. As expected, it’s a rainstorm of beer as pints go flying and a wave of elation surges round the arena, the OVO Hydro was rocking!
The perfect end to a perfect gig, let’s just hope that they are back in Glasgow soon because it has been too long.
Words and pictures: Mark Gillies @inyerface__