Whether you’re a Foxes fan, Kasabian fan or just a music fan, the King Power Stadium in Leicester was the place to be last night, as Kasabian played the first of two huge gigs at the city’s football ground. It was a joyous celebration of all things Leicester as the band, and what felt like the entirety of Leicester, were out in force once again.
Here are the biggest moments from Kasabian’s first homecoming show at the King Power Stadium.
1. Arriving on stage to ‘Nessun Dorma’
Before striding onto the stage, Andrea Bocelli’s version of ‘Nessun Dorma’ was blasted out of the speakers for everyone to howl along to. A couple of weeks prior, Bocelli performed the song before Leicester lifted the trophy in their final home game of the season.
Crowd belting out Nessun Dorma as #Kasabian take the stage. None shall sleep at King Power tonight! pic.twitter.com/3RQv25bZRo
— Leicester City Mayor (@CityMayorLeic) May 28, 2016
2. Kicking off with ‘Underdog’
What else can you open with when your side wins the Premier League at odds of 5000-1? “This one is for the underdogs”, Tom declared during the show’s opening number dedicating the track to the triumphant Leicester City FC.
I think kasabian opening their set at the king power with underdog was the greatest moment of my life
— Luke (@_lukecurran) May 28, 2016
3. Digging up ‘Doberman’ and ‘Stuntman’
As well as performing a plethora of well-known anthems, there was also time for a couple of deep cuts to make it back into the setlist. ‘Doberman’ from 2006’s ‘Empire’ got a brief outing as an acoustic ballad and towards the end of the set, ‘Stuntman’ was lapped up by the King Power faithful.
Read More: Kasabian On Their Homecoming Shows At The King Power: ‘This Is A Time Capsule Gig’
4. Serge gave a touching shout-out to Leicester
Before serenading the crowd with a cover of Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’, Serge addressed the crowd about Leicester’s crazy year. “You don’t understand… actually you do understand, because you’re from this beautiful fucking city”.
5. New track ‘Put Your Life On It’
In a pre-gig interview Serge and Tom hinted that they might try a few ‘new bits’ out, but they certainly didn’t let on that they were going to play a brand new track. ‘Put Your Life On It’ was dedicated by Tom to those that “should have been here” to witness Leicester City’s title heroics and it was certainly a fitting tribute. Backed by the DMU Gospel Choir and fans lighting up the stadium with their phones, the song was both mournful and celebratory, “put your life on it/put your life on my love”.
6. Tom declaring Leicester the new ‘Empire’
He might have been stating the obvious, but the title win established Leicester as one of the big boys in English football and after completing a powerful rendition of ‘Empire’, Tom bellowed: “Leicester, we are the new empire”, to a rapturous response.
7. ‘L.S.F’ was special in more than one way
As is customary, the band performed a snippet of Fatboy Slim’s ‘Praise You’ before the track morphed into set closer ‘L.S.F’. Following relegation to the lower leagues, Leicester City are now on top of the world with their title win, and the lyrics ‘we’ve come a long long way together/through the hard times and the good’, served as fitting analogy for the football club over the previous decade.
8. Noel Fielding returning as ‘Vlad The Impaler’
We’ve seen The Mighty Boosh man come prancing on as ‘Vlad The Impaler’ before, but this time it was a little bit different. Instead of a dark, flowing cape, ‘Vlad’ opted for a vintage Leicester City kit, complete with shorts and socks, but there was no sword this time – instead a corner post with Leicester City’s flag on the top.
When Vlad the Impaler greets his children #KasabianKP @noelfielding11 pic.twitter.com/xUdTNmgLYI
— Elisha Sykes (@19Elisha91) May 28, 2016
#Kasabian: Vlad The Impaler /@noelfielding11 – King Power, Leicester 28/05/16 (via Instagram kasabianofficial) pic.twitter.com/B6aoO4RMwx
— Kasabian Brasil (@kasabianbr) May 28, 2016
9. ‘Fire’ was fitting finale
The 2009 anthem was chosen by Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri for his team to walk out to all season, and the band got to play it for real in the King Power last night. Carnage ensued and the lads got the crowd chanting, “We’ve won the league/we’ve won the league/we’re Leicester City/we’ve won the fucking league” following the song’s finale. Tom left the stage with a mic drop, but the party continued long into the night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9E7HeghYdE
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid12850839001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAABumiUU~,CmZu1qzq0Nydx8DqfQUoDJv2_kpwyWWq&bctid=4903744645001