PHOTOS: TAMEA AGLE | Breaking in America is a VERY big deal for British bands. I think it’s the imperialist spirit coming from a country that at one time conquered nearly 50% of the world which has given UK bands the work ethic to cram into and play tiny clubs in U.S., despite possibly being quite used to sold out arena crowds and private planes at home. Kasabian’s first album came out ten years ago and ten years of crushing live shows and excellent albums have earned them the coveted feather in the hat of being a Glastonbury headliner. So, what’s left to do after that? Whatever the F*&^k they want!
Not to knock my current hometown of Los Angeles but it has been notorious for relatively un-energetic live music crowds—but this crowd was full of fans, Americans, and some rowdy British ex-pats.
Kasabian did not mess around or think about scaling down their arena sized set for the Wiltern Theatre. They kicked off an all out aural assault launching into “Bumblebee” from the recently released 48:13. Outside of their natural habitat (of playing huge shows in Europe and Australia) they did have to work a little bit harder to earn the energy of the audience—and here’s the thing with artists this seasoned—they know and have perfected the art of working a crowd. Vocalist Tom Meighan and guitarist Sergio Pizzorno effortlessly traded off to get the crowd going.
Kasabian has always had a foot in the electronic world, but with this record they’ve taken a deeper plunge into the realm of where rock meets electronic. But did they need to? I am not going to harp on how electronically driven music has taken over just about everything, but this crowd was here to rock—and rock they did with the exception of a lights turned down, all electronic interlude (also present on the album).
This interlude felt a bit like a set for a very late dance tent (the ones filled with the stragglers either trying to come down and others who don’t want to party to end) and the crowd didn’t seem to be into it. This was that point in the show that’s great for the bar staff—the sleepy song and/or ballad where the crowd takes a break to head to the bar.
This aside, one thing I have come to supremely appreciate is the art of the set list, and this show was a perfect blend of old and new with their biggest songs and stadium crushing rockers like “Shoot the Runner,” “Club Foot,” “Empire and Fire,” before returning with an encore that included a rousing version of Fat Boy Slim’s “Praise You” into “Lost Souls Forever” leaving the crowd abuzz.
I’m hoping that, like the Arctic Monkeys, this run of touring that Kasabian has embarked upon helps them to conquer—and colonize—the American music consuming public.
