Kasabian will tell you that they are the rightful heirs to the Stones and Oasis. Fans say their high-energy shows are the best in the world. So with home festivals to headline, what’s left to prove?
Tom Meighan bounces from room to room backstage at the Ancienne Belgique like a hyperactive Cocker Spaniel who can hear his favourite toy being rattled but can’t locate it. Eventually the Kasabian frontman loses interest in the hunt and flops down in a plastic chair, his eyes wide and a huge playful grin running riot over his stubbled face. He is affability personified; a charming and engaging host full of warm greetings and positivity.
Intermittently he’ll cock his ear as if receiving signals from the great beyond and then suddenly leap up, whooping and punching the air, to pace the room as a train of thought sprints away with his mind and mouth in pursuit. It’s tiring to watch, but the singer has energy to burn as he waxes lyrical about his band in paradoxes that reflect his own.
“We still have it as large as we always have, regardless of whether it’s a stadium or a small club,” he says, rearranging the litter on the changing room counter. “It’s like two titans fighting up there when we get going, like He-Man versus Skeletor... it’s the musical Masters of the Universe. It’s a battle; it’s dark and nasty but also beautiful, warm and full of life. Just like us, really.”
Kasabian have been fighting with darkness and light since forming in 1999. It took four years of playing dingy working men’s clubs and tiny venues before the band were ready to give their riotous music to the world.
“Of course we wanted to make it big,” Tom says, getting serious for moment. “But it had to be right. We wanted to shake people up and keep them shook up for a long time. We weren’t going to be able to do that if we’d rushed out a load of shite and then sank without trace. We wanted it so bad. We still do. We’re still the same as we were when we were driving our own van, playing a gig every night, trying to get noticed. We’re the same people.”
For the full story pick up the August Red Bulletin Magazine.
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