The day of the Summer Solstice when Kasabian came to town



 

There's some lovely parks in Leicester - grand, ornate parks laid out  by the Victorians, so that the masses could get out into the fresh air on their day of rest and relax.

 

Victoria Park  just outside the city centre isn't one of the grand ones, but there's over sixty acres and it's a lovely space to walk, to play tennis, to play football or just relax in any season. I love it in Autumn...



 

 

It's a very open space, where in winter, the icy winds can tear you in two... but during the balmy days of last week , two kilometres of huge, three metre high barriers were erected, enclosing about forty acres of the park...



They were there for this....



Kasabian, the Leicester band with the big attitude, four number one albums and a very loyal following  were back in the city for a party. A very big party - of fifty thousand people who streamed into the park in the blistering heat on a scented tide of sunscream, bodyspray and beer to get their places near the front

 

Support acts were Beardyman, Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe and Australian band Jagwa Ma, who only got together in 2011 in Sydney. Their sound for me just suits the sunshine...especially on "Come Save me" which is a sort of Beach boys on crack tribute...

 

 

 



 

 

As the late afternoon became evening, the temperature cooled but the audience warmed up as Rudimental took to the stage

 

 





 



Then as the sky changed, the spot monkeys climbed up to do their  jobs





And at long last Kasabian took to the stage ..and there was a  genuine sense of anticipation as the

 bright pink backdrop, mimicing the album artwork of 48.13 , electronically counted down to the performance. I was in the middle of the crowd...headphones on , live on BBC 's The Beat with Dean Jackson, describing the mood, the day, and audience reaction.

 

 

 

Tom Meighan, Kasabian's lead singer is not known for his modesty or reticence....and he swaggered around the stage singing his heart out, genuinely seeming so proud of what the band had achieved in getting this event put on in their home city.

 

Serge Pizzorno had previously promised us all that this homecoming show will be "the greatest thing we have ever done"....so was he right? Well yes, it was the best live show I've seen the band perform, and I've seen them about six or seven times.Technically so good, the vocals were as clear as you like, the girls on strings played their hearts out, Serge danced more than I've seen him do before...and the band enjoyed themselves. From the very first song "Bumblebee" , they romped through a large proportion of their back catalogue...treating the audience who were dancing along and singing to their hearts content.

 

 

 

 

Halfway through though, I had another live insert to do...and Dean Jackson asked if Tom Meighan was talking much in between tracks .....all I could say on live radio , was that he was saying a few words . I couldn't have repeated most of them...the f word is Tom's favourite adjective, noun and verb...

But after that , there was time to enjoy the last few tracks at the side of park...

 

 

and have a laugh with BBC Radio 's Ed Stagg....who'd I bumped into earlier....





 

After that, I watched fifty thousand people walk off into the night, singing, shouting, as I sat in my little satellite truck waiting to be allowed out of the production control area and off the park...and marked the end of the summer solstice in a queue.


Today's track just has to be one from Kasabian, doesn't it? So here's "Re Wired" ...and their video makes me chuckle....