This weekend I travelled from East London to Alexandra Palace, to see one of my all time favourite bands perform – the one and only Kasabian. This was my fourth live Kasabian gig. But this time was different; this time I was on the guest list (very exciting!) courtesy of being friends with someone who works at the venue. I count my lucky stars!
My guest list spot was for two and so I invited my friend Sam, also a big fan of the band. The guest list lets you access the intimate backstage bar, a completely different bar to those near the stage, a free cloakroom, free tickets and skipping queues.
Arriving at the venue the immediate feeling of importance began. I skipped past everyone queuing with their regular tickets, entered through the guest list doors, a super quick and easy process, which is something I’m not particularly used to being an avid gig-goer. I could easily get used to this.
Entering the venue, I was handed an envelope with my full name on. Inside were two tickets, two wristbands and a map to navigate the lovely but maze-like Ally Pally.
I headed straight to the backstage bar where I could sit down, relax and have a few drinks – blissfully with no queuing – until the gig started. In our bar roughly 30 others joined us ready and pumped for the night ahead.
As always, Kasabian brought the energy. As I’ve seen this band multiple times, I know that seeing them live is not for the weak. From start to finish the atmosphere was electric, the whole venue was bouncing and I was the closest I’ve ever been to the stage.
From playing their classics “Club Foot”, “Underdog” and “Fire” to their most recently released songs from the Alchemist’s Euphoria album, absolutely no one in the audience stood still. You could tell some audience members only knew their early 2000s hits, but were energised by the newer songs nonetheless. The thumping feeling of the bass beamed across the whole venue. I was right next to the speakers so I could feel it in my chest. The stage lights changed for each song and matched the vibes perfectly, ranging from bright pinks, to deep reds and dark blues.
Front man Sergio Pizzorno is a master of keeping people on their toes and does it looking as cool as ever, entering the stage wearing a huge leopard-print faux fur coat that only he could pull off. Pizzorno has such radiating energy and knows exactly how to get any audience going. He even started a mosh pit by order: “Its a Saturday. What is everyone doing tomorrow? F**k all! Lets get the whole place moshing” and “I want to see people on shoulders!”
Even though Sergio wasn’t always the band’s frontman, you would think he had been doing this his whole life; he was made for it. The crowd certainly showed their love with the continuous chanting of “Sergio! Sergio!” during the short intervals between songs.
Once the performance finished, I genuinely felt as if I had just ran a full marathon without stopping but I would do it all again in a heartbeat.
Back at the backstage bar, there was a DJ already set up with tunes playing. Everyone had a bit of a dance and it was just a great experience to be able to talk to new people, have a few drinks and enjoy a gig in a different sort of way. Even the bass guitarist from the band, Chris Edwards, came down and joined us all.
This experience has very much made me want to be on the guest list for every other gig I go to.
All photo’s and footage taken by Clarisse Cornish
