Kaiser Chiefs: All Together UK Tour 11/11/2022

Where: OVO Hydro – Glasgow, Scotland (UK)

Venue rating:9/10 (for the same reasons as last night – I was asked to move into another lane so fell behind a lot)

Who I went with: Myself

Where I stayed: Hampton Court Guesthouse (I was getting used to this arrangement – camping out here during the day and attending a different concert every night)

How I travelled there: Walked from the hotel and back (it was unseasonably warm but I spent most of the day in the hotel as I knew I’d be standing a lot at night)

Beverage of choice: Cava again, then Pepsi Max (cherry – sorry Paul for continuing to support one of your least favourite drinks and giving it a reason to continue existing)

SETLIST:

Born To Be A Dancer
Never Miss A Beat
Heat Dies Down
Na Na Na Na Naa
Modern Way
How 2 Dance
Coming Home (Acoustic)
Love’s Not A Competition (But I’m Winning)
Northern Holiday
The Factory Gates
Everyday I Love You Less And Less
Ruby
Hole In My Soul
Misery Company
I Predict A Riot
The Angry Mob
People Know How To Love One Another (Encore)
Oh My God (Encore)

I had an amazing time seeing Kaiser Chiefs. I was already in Glasgow, so had loads of time on my hands and didn’t have to worry about such things as my buses breaking down multiple times in one week (which happened to me by the way, in case that was too subtle). I only own two KC albums (‘Employment’ and ‘Yours Truly, Angry Mob’ – probably their most popular/successful ones) but that’s about to change as Paul has generously bought me the remainder of their albums for Christmas. I think they have about five more, so I have a lot of catching up to do. Musical Christmas presents are the best kind of presents, as far I’m concerned. I’m excited to familiarise myself with the rest of their material because I adored all the songs on the setlist I didn’t already know well, such as ‘Northern Holiday’ and ‘The Factory Gates’. There’s brand new music on the way too, which will be great if these songs are anything like ‘How 2 Dance’, which got the crowd riled up even though it’s a new release. I still need to get on iTunes and add it to my collection but I will make sure to do so.

I accidentally left my KC lanyard/ticket at home when I left for Glasgow, which was panic-inducing. It’s very out of character for me to be so careless and unorganised when going away but I had a lot on my mind in my defence, with travelling solo to the USA the day after this (which turned out to be incredibly stressful and possibly took years off my life). Seeing Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs on consecutive nights at The Hydro brilliantly led up to the big event, celebrating the beginning of an unforgettable holiday. It was good once I got there. When KC ended their set with one of their biggest hits ‘Oh My God’, I resonated with the lyrics about never being so far from home (on my own, anyway). Luckily, my mum answered my SOS call and raced to my rescue with the precious lanyard, so I was still able to attend the show! It’s a well constructed lanyard and looks expensive, which makes it a pretty souvenir. I’ve proudly hung it up on my bedroom wall beside my Elton John and George Thorogood ones from past concerts.

I was a bit late in arriving again tonight. It gets boring going to so many concerts and arriving several hours early without adequate entertainment (endlessly scrolling down Facebook and Twitter doesn’t quite cut it). I only have so much patience. There were a lot of people lined up already, unlike the night before for FF at roughly the same time of night. That surprised me a lot, as I thought FF would be much more popular in Glasgow. I’ve always slightly preferred KC but thought I was in the minority with that opinion. I joined a queue in the middle but was soon shifted to a different one. I was the only person in my line to actually take heed of the staff member and vacate the queue, thinking it was better to be safe than sorry when our lane was closed and we were all denied entry. The security guards ended up just letting them all in anyway, which was frustrating as I was now near the back of the continuously growing crowd. Hearing masses of people chanting ‘Chelsea Dagger’ by The Fratellis (one of the opening acts) raised my spirits again though, as I was really looking forward to hearing that iconic song. It’s become something of an anthem over time. I wondered if any of these people were primarily here for them, seeing as they are a beloved band from Glasgow.

I managed to secure a spot at the barrier, despite starting off from so far back in the queue. It seemed as though ninety percent of people were already ahead of me by the time I got through the doors (I got a purple skull and bones wristband this time) but I bypassed many of them who were loitering around the merch and food stalls. I was far off to the left but it didn’t matter much as I had a completely unobstructed view and got some of my best concert shots up to this point. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, I don’t feel comfortable standing in the centre as that’s where most of the madness happens, I’ve noticed. Tonight was no exception. So many people were causing fights and getting kicked out of the venue, mostly from that central area. Ricky Wilson even took notice after an especially big disturbance and reminded us to all take care of each other between songs. The crowd were one of the craziest I’ve seen yet on this concert journey of mine, jumping on each other’s shoulders practically naked and creating makeshift “balloons” (you don’t need to use much imagination to figure out what of). RW seemed slightly amused when he caught sight of the antics, saying Glasgow is universally known as the best place in the world to perform. He could say this about everywhere but I know a lot of musicians do genuinely like to perform here because the crowds respond so well and loudly to them.

The Sherlocks took to the stage first, after the best “in between acts” music of any concert I’ve attended yet (lots of my favourite songs were played over the speakers). I’d only listened to TS briefly on Spotify months back when I booked this, so hearing them live was a great re-introduction to their music. I think they worked really well as a starter act for KC (not a wildly different genre, which always confuses and unsettles me) and The Fratellis complemented them well, too. I’ll definitely listen to them again and get to know them better, as none of their songs have stuck in my mind yet. They had a lot of fans in the arena who knew the words to their songs and they were well received. They seem to be growing in popularity, as I’ve seen a lot of people discover them online and then go on to enthuse about their music and dramatically ask where it has been all their lives. The Fratellis came on next (to circus music) accompanied by a trio of dancers/back-up singers. This could have easily looked misogynistic, having girls dance/cheer/swoon around the band but TF made it work and the girls were a lot of fun and excellent at pumping up the crowd and getting us to applaud. Admittedly, I only knew ‘Chelsea Dagger’ from this eleven song set (except for ‘Yes Sir, I Can Boogie’, which is a cover) and they did a great job building up to it, knowing it’s what most people were waiting anxiously to hear. Their other songs were fantastic too but I need to go back and listen to them again to refresh my memory. I can see why ‘Chelsea Dagger’ is the stand-out track from their songs but the rest they performed are worth listening to. Jon Fratelli has a great voice and a lot of personality.

Kaiser Chiefs finally came onstage after an atmospheric video montage introducing the band and getting us all worked up to see them. I think ‘Born to Be a Dancer’ makes a perfect opening number (how it builds to a huge climax) and it was fun to see RW emerge from the top of the stage, in front of the giant moon on the screen. I didn’t look up any videos beforehand, so everything presented to us was a complete surprise to me. I think the stage was well set up and I especially loved the ‘No Ball Games’ sign and how RW’s shirt said the same thing. The graffiti reflected several of the band’s songs, which was another nice touch. The “garage doors” opened now and again to add new things to the stage, such as the drum kit etc. They were fantastic all night and gave such a high-energy performance. The crowd lapped it up and joyfully belted the words to each of the songs. ‘Heat Dies Down’ (the third song on the set list) was stuck in my head for days after this, long into my America trip. It’s not a song I’d listened to or appreciated much beforehand but it totally stuck with me after hearing it live. Paul told me KC had a rough night in London a few nights prior (something I was completely unaware of) but they were on fire tonight, making up for that blip. When introducing ‘How 2 Dance’, RW mentioned he’s struggled with dealing with anxiety etc. in the past but has found dancing to be one of the best medicines for it. The crowd seemed to agree with him as not a single person I caught sight of could keep still.

RW engaged with the crowd quite a bit throughout the night. Another fun thing he did was replicate how Freddie Mercury interacted famously with crowds, singing difficult notes seemingly effortlessly and encouraging them to repeat his impressive vocals. He held the last note for an extraordinarily long time and Glasgow cheered and did surprisingly well at responding back to him with their best singing voices. I like to sing but I’m still far too insecure to join in on things like this. I thought this nod to FM/Queen was an interesting addition and wondered how many people would understand the reference. A lot of my favourite singers seem to idolise Queen and it’s no wonder why as they are such a legendary band. RW was also very funny throughout the night and one example of this which sticks out to me was when made a joke about the unimpressive bench used for ‘Love’s Not a Competition (But I’m Winning)’, stating no expenses were spared. I posted four of my photos on Twitter (because of the limitation, otherwise I would have uploaded more) and the Kaiser Chiefs’ official Twitter page “liked” them, which was amazing. I love when bands have active Twitter accounts. I always wonder who is in charge of these pages. Is it the lead singer or the band manager? Probably neither.

I enjoyed each and every song and my favourite of the night was ‘Modern Way’ because I used to listen to that on repeat during my teen years. I actually forgot that was a KC song until more recently, when I resurrected my early CDs of theirs. I always remembered the song fondly, though I couldn’t necessarily recall who it was by. The band has gone up a lot in my estimations and like I said, I can’t wait to dig into their other stuff and discover new songs to add to my list of favourites. I wouldn’t hesitate to see KC if they tour again, though I have to watch my money after my recent holiday. I’ve seen online they’ve already announced they’re doing some UK festivals in 2023 and they would be amazing to attend but I’ll need to wait until I’m not totally poor before purchasing tickets!

GALLERY: