Kaiser Chiefs: The Easy Eighth Tour 21/04/2024

Rating: ★★★★

Flippers Roller Boogie Palace Rating: ★★★★★

Where I stayed: Royal London Hotel By Saba (Close to the venue. Basic but had everything I needed)

SETLIST:

Feeling Alright
Never Miss A Beat
Everything Is Average Nowadays
The Factory Gates
Beautiful Girl
How 2 Dance
Modern Way
Burning In Flames
The Job Centre Shuffle
Target Market
Reasons To Stay Alive
Everyday I Love You Less And Less
Ruby
I Predict A Riot
Hole In My Soul
The Angry Mob
Coming Home (Encore)
Oh My God (Encore)

I have become a gigantic Kaiser Chiefs fan over the past couple of years, after taking it upon myself to revisit all of the bands I liked in the past, to deep-dive their music and broaden my knowledge. I saw them back in 2022 on a whim, after I noticed they were performing in Glasgow the night after Franz Ferdinand. I remember being most excited to hear ‘Modern Way’, as that was my favourite song of theirs at the time of its release. I ended up being seriously impressed by all of the songs on the setlist that night and now find it extremely difficult to pick a clear winner. That concert was also the night before I went on my solo trip to California, so the lyrics to ‘Oh My God’, the song they always seem to close with, really resonated with me (“I’ve never been this far away from home”). Even though, technically, I have. But it still made me feel a connection! I have now listened to all of their albums and have picked up their newest release, ‘Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album’, last month. I bought a signed copy, with the personalised message, “I’m gonna teach you How2Dance”, which are lyrics from the first single to be released from it which was titled, you guessed it, ‘How 2 Dance’. I squashed the song title together like that to cheat the thirty character limit, in case you were wondering. Their musical style has changed significantly over the years and, although I do prefer their older sound, I love hearing them experiment with different genres. I would say ‘Reasons To Stay Alive’ is the closest we get to old-school KC from the new album and it is already a favourite of mine, being stuck in my head since I heard it live on Sunday. I got my ticket on Halloween, through a system where you submit your payment details and a ticket is automatically purchased for you when they go on sale, though none were one hundred percent guaranteed. Still, I appreciated this process even though I had never seen anything like it before, as I am pretty sure I was working that morning and did not need that extra stress.

I joined the queue at around 5:30pm, which was an hour and a half before the doors were due to open. I had the AAA Pass (or ‘888 Pass’, it cleverly turned into, to relate to the name of the tour) on my phone, so I was able to get inside the venue ten minutes before the general admission fans, at 6:50pm. It is a good idea but caused some confusion on the night, since there was only one queue and not everyone was aware of the special passes or what they were for. They were heavily advertised online and were free to access but not everyone uses social media as regularly as I do and, as a consequence, were instructed to stand aside, even if they had been waiting just as long. The staff let us almost-VIP fans in promptly, before a quick and easy bag search and pat-down. I headed straight for a gap at the barrier, which meant bypassing the merch stall and interesting interior decor. It took a lot of effort to stop myself from getting distracted and photographing everything in sight for this blog, since the venue is one of the quirkiest I have been to. KC had different opening acts throughout this tour and announced Daytime TV last week, who came on at 8pm sharp. The band is made up of Will Irvine (vocals and guitar), Gareth Thompson (drums), Chris Clark (bass) and John Caddick (guitar), who were introduced one by one to ensure they made a lasting impression. WI makes a fantastic frontman, as he has a gorgeous voice and displays a lot of confidence. They are a talented group and their songs are all punchy, fresh and genre-fluid. I enjoyed their distinctive electronic/synth sound, which is not something I usually go for but can be really effective when done well. They chatted a lot to the crowd, encouraging us to come and befriend them at the merch table when their half-hour set was over and sharing information about all of their songs, which they are obviously extremely passionate about. They were ecstatic to be opening for KC, who they stated are very nice people behind the scenes, and said they would join us in the crowd later on. They have a new EP coming out on May 3rd, which they didn’t hesitate to promote. I will check it out when the time comes and have already followed them on Spotify, to make sure I don’t miss it. They saved their newest song for last, ‘Lost In Tokyo’, which they were happy to announce has been gaining a lot of attention from being played on BBC Radio 1. I don’t listen to the radio much, so I hadn’t come across them before. I think they could become massive stars in the next couple of years and will continue to keep an eye on them. My favourite of the night might have been ‘Block Out The Noise’, which stuck with me the most.

Kaiser Chiefs danced on stage to ‘It’s Raining Men’ by The Weather Girls at 9pm, which was an interesting artistic decision, before getting the crowd amped-up with the upbeat ‘Feeling Alright’, which is even easier to dance to than ‘How 2 Dance’. It is the perfect opening song to get people in the mood. I had an incredible time and the night seemed to pass way too quickly but I noticed right away that lead-singer Ricky Wilson was not quite himself and his performance was inconsistent and even shaky at times. This didn’t seem to matter to anyone around me, who sang their hearts out with as much intensity as you would expect from long-time KC fanatics. The general consensus online is that RW has been feeling under the weather for the last few nights of the tour and his voice has been impacted by the illness and strain from touring. This was the last date of The Easy Eighth Tour and the band were determined to entertain us and finish it all off with a bang. RW did an exceptional job, powering through each of the songs with as much energy as he could muster. The band were all in top form and the music is absolutely phenomenal to listen to live. You really have to experience it for yourself, to understand. RW assured us they would never let us down, even though his voice was failing him a bit. I was stunned by his insane vocals during ‘Oh My God’, right at the end, when he belted out the notes after stating he doesn’t care if he has no voice left the next day. As corny as it sounds, it was as if time slowed right down in that moment, so I could truly soak everything in. I also immensely enjoyed ‘Reasons To Stay Alive’, which gathered a lot of hype after the new album was released because it is so rocky, as well as ‘Ruby’ and ‘I Predict A Riot’, which are classics. I have to say, I was a little disappointed by ‘Burning In Flames’, which may be my favourite off the new album, as it sounded very stripped back compared to the original version and much of the distinctive strings sound which made me like it so much was lost. I am glad they included it in the setlist, anyway. For ‘Modern Way’, RW asked us all to raise our hands and it was funny when Whitey (Andrew White) did too, though he needed to play guitar. It was apparently fine for Peanut (Nick Baines – keyboard) to raise his, though! RW sang in the crowd for one of their slower songs, ‘Target Market’, which was a nice touch and something I wasn’t expecting. It was hilarious when RW threw a tambourine into the crowd during ‘Ruby’ but a man failed to catch it because he was dancing too wildly. I think he got a replacement later. I got a guitar pick from Simon Rix (bassist), which he somehow flicked under the barrier, so it landed on the narrow ledge where my arm was resting. I was glad, as I have never successfully caught anything in my life.

I hope RW is feeling better now and is managing to rest his vocal chords. It is unfortunate to fall sick during a week-long tour and that must be devastating after all the build-up. I haven’t seen a single negative reaction to the night and some people even said it is the best gig they have ever been to. You could see that everyone was having a total blast, including the band members. I think every KC gig must feel like a big party. I didn’t visit the merch stall in the end, as it was completely surrounded by people after the last song and I was anxious to get back to the hotel before it got really late. I already have a few KC t-shirts but wouldn’t have minded getting my hands on their beautiful skateboard. It would have been awkward to sneak it through the airport security, though. It was promised to whoever was lucky enough to find the secret item from the merch stall which had been signed by the band, which was a clever way to increase sales. The skateboard is white with the ‘8’ image from the new album on the top. I know this because it was in a TikTok video. It is really pretty and I offer congratulations to the person who got it! I noticed one of their t-shirts has a donkey on it and instantly fell in love with the design, wondering if it was created in honour of their Blackpool show. I might get it in the future, if it appears on their website. I left feeling eager to see the band again but there are still no Scottish dates in the foreseeable future. They have a few outdoor shows sprinkled throughout the summer but I will hold off for a while, to see if they announce anything further north. I had an amazing time away from home and exploring London for a couple of days. I always enjoy my time in England and I look forward to going back there a few more times this year. I chose to see KC at Flippers because London is much easier to get to from the Highlands of Scotland than most other cities in England. I considered seeing them in Blackpool and finally tackling The Big One at The Pleasure Beach after chickening out when I was eleven years old but that will have to wait as Flippers’ funky name ultimately won me over. This was also the first time I have seen staff selling alcohol down front, which I think should become standard practice. The atmosphere was electric, all of the fans were friendly and welcoming and the vibe of the venue was absolutely perfect for the dancier KC songs. It is one of my favourite venues so far and I don’t regret my choice.

GALLERY