Kasabian

Reading Fez

31.3.04

We arrive in the concrete jungle which is Reading and for once we decide to miss the ominously billed 'local' support acts in favour of some grub and beer and turn up at the Fez around half an hour before what time we expect headliners Kasabian to take to the stage. You can imagine our surprise when we enter the faux-Arabian décor of the venue to find the earth-rumbling, nu-noise attack of Kasabian in full flight. It seems that the band are halfway through their set, and took the opening slot at their own insistence, leaving the likes of Reading's officially worst band Caged Baby to entertain the crowd after their departure. Kasabian clearly don't do conventional.

Luckily we can witness the latter half of the band's set, which includes the wonderfully refreshing singles Processed Beats, Reason is Treason and the stonkingly astonishing new release Club Foot. Ok, so they've certainly taken a leaf out of Primal Scream and the Coopers' book, and they've been branded as the new Stone Roses, but Kasabian's title as the potential saviour of British rock music may not be just hyperbolic praise or lazy journalism. After all being derivative never did any harm to Jet or the Datsuns did it?

Clive Drew