Featured image and gallery: Thomas Holloway
Despite the chill of the November air, Co-op Live arena promises to transport us back to the sunny festival season with huge performances from UK garage legends The Streets and indie quartet Kasabian on the bill. Full to bursting with its 23,000 capacity, the audience is split between excited young ravers and 30-something gig veterans, all preparing to have their fill at the final show of an exhilarating tour.
While many original Streets fans were teenagers in 04’ – Skinner seems to have amassed a new army of fans. Three songs in, he leaps into a mosh pit of man-bag clad fans – during a rendition of viral tune ‘Who’s Got The Bag’.
Pints are thrown, an inflatable yellow banana bounces about, and Skinner settles into an evening of humorous entertainment. Despite no longer being the youthful 26-year-old in the height of The Streets popularity, the crowd seems to still appreciate his cheeky-chappy persona. He promises them the performance will “only be getting harder” as the show goes on.
Despite the roaring bassline present most of the set, Skinner flexes his performance muscles and easily flips the mood with melancholic fan favourite – ‘Dry Your Eyes’. However, he quickly returns to upbeat, by finishing the set with the bassy ‘Take Me As I Am’, during which (inspired by Gladiator 2) Skinner mounts an eager fan, charging through the crowd as a self-proclaimed ‘Roman Gladiator’. The Streets balance beautiful chaos and showmanship and the crowd are well and truly warmed up.
‘Are you ready for a happening’ reads the old style TV screen, referencing Kasabian’s latest album, Happenings. Kasabian’s guitar, drums and keyboard reach a crescendo, the curtain falls and suddenly we are off.
It’s no surprise the band were a special guest for Liam Gallagher in 2022 – as their frontman, Sergio Pizzorno, saunters out he grabs his crotch, clad in a huge blue and white jacket. He’s emanating a younger Gallagher, in his inarguable swagger and shaggy haircut.
The rest of the band don their primary-coloured instruments and multi coloured flashing lights highlight the uproarious crowd. The arena almost seems to grow larger with vitality. Barrelling quickly into crowd pleaser ‘You’re in Love With a Psycho’, it seems almost every single person knows the words. The crowd sheds their inhibitions and howls the lyrics back.
As Pizzorno ploughs through his setlist, the concert has a significant shift in atmosphere after ‘Comeback Kid’. The lights dim as the opening Bars of ‘STARGAZR’ play on the synth, the arena transforms from indie rock to frenzied electronica. The venue explores a new outfit. ‘Treat’ plays, bookended by ‘Intergalactic’ and ‘Insomnia’ – as young and old sing the beat to the remixed club classic.
Pizzorno claims that for “the next three songs every fucker is going to lose their minds” – he’s not wrong. He works his way to the back of the stage on a raised platform, waving around his lights like a crazed Jedi and delighting the audience. By the time the band leaves the stage, the crowd are whipped into a frenzy, filling the arena with their chants as Kasabian re-enter for the final time. The band attacks their encore and finish on their most popular song ‘Fire’ – to an exhausted yet enrapt crowd. Any remaining energy is expelled by the audience in a sonic wave and the most enthusiastic accompaniment heard all night.
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