This year, there were even more, and even better bands on the bill. Thankfully, the event also went much more smoothly - less annoying chat on stage from XFM DJs, much shorter gaps between bands, and shorter sets - meaning that we saw Greatest Hits type material, and got less opportunity to become bored with some of the more ropey bands on the bill (but more about The Feeling later).
The first band I saw after getting in were Boy Kill Boy. I'd seen them in May, at around the release of their album, and was underwhelmed by the tameness of it all. Tonight, the sound in the venue was fantastic, and the band seemed to be much better - still very well drilled, but with some added rock and roll spirit again. Their set was quite short, which probably helped to maintain interest, but I enjoyed what I saw.
The Automatic were next on stage, and played all that you would have expected them to play. The majority were there for Monster, and obviously the set flagged a little after that - all the people that only knew that one song seemed to drift off towards the bar once it had been played. Again this set included all of their best songs, and unfortunately the awful cover of Golddigger again. A solid set for the 25 minutes that it lasted, but the upcoming NME tour will not be as easy as this for them.
The following band, The Feeling, were the revelation of the night for me. Having heard their dull music on the radio at great length before, I had no expectation of this being any good at all. But, it was a very mixed story. The band are clearly great musicians, and they rock when they play live. Unfortunately, what they play live are mostly Feeling songs, which are not very good at all - but they squeeze every last drop of quality out on stage. The one non-Feeling song they played was a cover of Video Killed The Radio Star, which was truly excellent. A great live band, which I was not expecting, its just a shame that the songs they write are so boring and average.
The original headliner for this gig, before Kasabian were announced, were to be The Kooks, so lots of the audience were there to see them - which meant lots of females. They played a fantastic set throughout, and reminded me of just how good some of their songs are. Having seen them acoustically a few weeks ago (and electric in a small venue at the start of the year), the electric version this time was a million times better. They sounded polished, but managed to sound raw and exciting at the same time. No new songs this time, but having heard some of those at the acoustic gig, I now can't wait to hear how good they'll sound plugged in.
Before Kasabian came on, we were treated to a brief cameo from Tenacious D, who came and played a couple of songs from their new film, plus the classics Fuck Her Gently and Tribute. This was amusing, but 4 songs were probably the most they could have got away with without boring people!
So then Kasabian arrived, to bring the night to what the NME described as a spectacular climax. Playing a 9-song set drawn mostly from their new album, they brought the house down. I last saw them live over a year ago, they were incredible then, and they seem to be getting even better now. Possibly a surprise, but the fact that they have sold out Earl's Court means that they are now a truly big-league band - their fans, and the level of support they enjoy, means that they are fitting pretenders to the "biggest band in Britain" title that Oasis have held for years.
Closing the set with amazing versions of Club Foot and LSF, the entire crowd left the venue singing LSF's chorus. A massive performance from a band that are becoming massive themselves - they just keep getting bigger and better.
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