“So did you miss us at the V Festival?” Tom Meighan asked the sold-out Civic, prompting the city’s biggest collective ‘Yesss’ since Wolves won promotion.

And for anyone who suffered Oasis’ grudging and soulless set at Weston Park, this was the perfect antidote.

From the minute Meighan swaggered on stage – newly-trimmed and looking like a slicked-up Russell Crowe – he banished any doubts that a recent swine flu scare had dimmed his innate likeability and raucous stage presence. “Yes, I’m alive,” he beamed.

Epic opener Underdog set the standard and, having mastered the ‘difficult third album’ syndrome with ease, Kasabian were able to cherry pick a catalogue now unrivalled by any band since The Stone Roses.

Cue big stomping anthems, almost all of which turned into sing-along, clap-along fan-fests with the whole venue joining in, except the security staff, who bottled their big moment, to pantomime boos from everyone else.

The set was faultless, with ‘Where did all the love go’ and ‘Fire’ raising the bar ever higher. Time, sadly, flew past. So much so that when Club Foot kicked in, it still felt like the middle order.

In fact it was the set-closer, giving way to a storming encore of Stuntman, followed by a reprise of their Glastonbury showpiece as Candi Staton’s ‘You got the love’ bled seamlessly into a memorably rousing LSF.

As the band left a sea of smiling faces in their wake, Meighan shouted above the cheers: “We want you to make us the most important band in Britain.”

On this form, they already are.

* Kasbian play the Civic again tonight.

By Keith Harrison.

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