Kasabian are pretty perfect

Is there a better modern frontman than Kasabian's Tom Meighan?

Swaggering onto the stage like a young Liam Gallagher, the 27-year-old took the Civic from 0-60 in the opening four bars of Shoot the Runner last night.

With a hi-tech stadium-sized backdrop crammed in, there was a danger that the band's anthemic style would get cramped by the surroundings; after all, these kings of indie cool are set to announce a series of much larger shows later this year.

But no danger on that score as the floor throbbed and the roof came off from the start.

Stripped of a sometimes cluttered production, songs such as Reason is Treason and Stuntman came across even better than in the studio after Processed Beats set the bar very high early on.

From there the pace barely let up. And when it did, the crowd was just glad to take a break.

Not everything was flawless though; the grinding stomp of Empire still evokes too many painful memories of 1970s glam rock – but went down a storm nevertheless – before Club Foot's searing hookline welcomed in the encores.

By the end, the Civic cleared its throat one last time for a singalong of L.S.F, then staggered outside to catch its breath in the summer drizzle after a pretty damn perfect performance from crowd and band alike.

By Keith Harrison.

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