I got to see the Kaiser Chiefs on 5th February and write a short review for Metro Radio. Check it out below!

The Kaiser Chiefs graced the Metro Radio stage last night, fresh off the back of their tour with the Foo Fighters in South America last year. Ricky Wilson, one of the judges from The Voice and lead singer, had previously likened the band to the Foo Fighters saying they “get on stage and get the audience involved and run around and it’s about energy and signing along so I think we complement each other pretty well.” Well there was definitely plenty of energy tonight!

Before they were to get on stage though, Public Service Broadcasting were given the job of warming up the crowd. The London based duo has a music style that can only be described as eccentrically quirky with an educational spin. By using samples of old archival footage and audio broadcasts they made a new sound by mixing them into guitars, banjos, pianos, drums and an assortment of other instruments. They certainly gave the crowd an ‘out-there’ musical experience which set them apart from the sound of the Kaiser Chiefs, but at no point did it look like they weren’t entertaining those that had come early.

Eventually it was time for Kaiser Chiefs to take to the stage and greet what looked like roughly 4000 fans filling the arena with cheers. After entering through a stage of mist, they kicked off with ‘The Factory Gates’, which was the opener from their number one album Education, Education, Education & War last year.

As Ricky moved onto Everything Is Average Nowadays it was great to see him dive into the front row of the crowd, with fans around him grabbing any bit of him they could. Back on stage he moved around like he was on fire, taking in the energy from the audience who were pretty much in a party-like mood, jumping in tandem with him.

While the band moved through the set list, you could see the crowd were having a great night as they reacted to Ricky’s every taunt and jibe, and he absorbed all the reactions. This eventually led to him climbing onto a speaker as if to elevate himself onto his own self made podium.

The Kaiser Chiefs gave an aura of sheer confidence as they moved about the stage entertaining the fans that were at the show. At one point Rick threw a tambourine into the air not caring where it was landing (incredibly just missing his guitarist), showing he was having a great time and then running onto his own personal island set amongst the crowd. 

As he was on the island the fans were given a unique perspective from Ricky’s microphone which had a GoPro micro camera mounted to it, the screens were  filled with his comically enlarged head as well as the adoring fans behind bouncing along, and feeling even more excited as he pointed the microphone at them to sing along.

Eventually they wrapped up with classics such as Ruby and I Predict A Riot, which took the crowd to another level as they chimed in on the amazingly catchy lyrics that instantly elevated them to euphoria. The surprise intermission of furious Dave Grohl criticising their performance was a great addition pretty much summarising the band that had fun and didn’t take themselves too seriously. The encore wasn’t too shabby either with timeless piece Oh My God, sealing what was a positively atmospheric performance full of adrenalin.