Tom Meighan`s personal troubles and difficulties have been well documented, acknowledged, addressed, and forgiven more importantly and significantly by the person who was most affected by them, with the singer openly admitting that he wasn’t sure if he`d ever get on stage again.
Tonight he`s back in Birmingham, a third of the way through a dozen UK dates this month with 1300 expectant fans here awaiting the former Kasabian frontman`s arrival. After an interesting Star Wars themed intro piped through the pa, the singer and his band arrive on stage and head into `Underdog` a song of defiance from Kasabian`s third album `West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum` as this expectant crowd erupts.
The remainder of this eighty plus minutes is a blend of newish and brand-new solo tracks along with some masterpieces from the band that he commanded for around thirteen years. There`s a new solo album `Roadrunner` due in the new year, a follow up to `The Reckoning` from a couple of years ago and it`s to this we head with `Headcase` a fairly blistering rock out before sharing the rhythmic rolling `Don`t Give In` from his previous solo release. The Kasabian number `lll Ray (The King)` has this packed crowd bouncing up and down prior to the introspective `Better Life` written for the singer`s wife Vikki a few weeks ago, calms proceedings down. I`m sure it was the questioning `Where Did All the Love Go?` that was shared, a Kasabian number that hasn`t been played on this tour so far, which was an unexpected but delightful surprise.
We enjoy a preview of the forthcoming album with a number of new songs such as the hypnotic and fairly psychedelic `High On You`, pulsing `White Lines`, the reflective `Would You Mind` and `We Can Do It` which felt to me like a number that could have been conceived with his former band. Slipped in between these numbers is the Kasabian classic `Empire` a song of resistance. The final stretch includes another new offering the scorching `Exorcist` and `Shout it Out` a track made for audience participation with the faithful singing along with the chorus “oooh oooh`s.” There`s also a trio of Kasabian gems with `Shoot The Runner`, uplifting `L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever)` with the love song `Club Foot bringing the show to a close.
We don`t have to wait too long for the band to return for the encore with the intensive `Movin` On` and final Kasabian track, the band`s biggest hit `Fire` which obviously sends this packed audience into a frenzy.
The set was well structured with the singer acknowledging his past but looking forward to a brighter future with some new tracks which made tonight feel as if we were witnessing a stadium show in a smaller intensive setting. I saw Kasabian thirteen years ago in Wolverhampton on the cusp of moving to bigger stadium venues and this dynamic, vibrant, and energetic performance seemed a bit like déjà vu with this artist on the road to redemption or absolution and much more.
