Kasabian - Brixton Academy, London - Thursday 16th July 2009

Five days after seeing Kasabian blow away a packed Wembley Stadium in support of Oasis, it was time to see them play a headline show of their own, in a much smaller venue. In London, this was one of what seems like increasingly rare opportunities to see them in venues as small as Brixton Academy, as they are stepping up to arenas now. So, a chance not to be missed. On what was an absolutely baking hot summer day, the humidity levels had crept up to an almost unbearable level, even before getting into the venue.

Once inside, it was hotter and even more humid - definitely the hottest gig of the year for me, and rivalling the hottest gig I've been to. One of those where you go to the bar intending to get a beer, then decide that a Coke might be more useful, and you actually end up getting a Coke and a pint of water. I know, lightweight. Not for the first time at a Kasabian show, I was offered pills on several occasions, by scally twats in tracksuit bottoms - maybe showing that the band are the natural successors to the Stone Roses as well as Oasis!

So the set itself - it was pretty similar (although obviously longer) than the set they played in support of Oasis, starting off with an incredible version of Underdog, the bass of which ripped through your stomach. Shoot The Runner and Processed Beats provided the old stuff in the early part of the set, but much of it was of course about showcasing the songs from the new album.

The best of those songs, judging by the 2 sets I've seen this week, is undoubtedly Fire. A real crowd singalong favourite, and a song that works excellently both in the recorded and live versions, it is one of those that has people singing the riff long after the gig is over. Like LSF in that respect, but different, more complex, and possibly better. All in all, an excellent set from an excellent band, who are getting huge before our eyes.

Oasis, Kasabian, Reverend & The Makers - Wembley Stadium, London - Saturday 11th July 2009

Occasionally, Oasis decide to do a series of absolutely massive gigs, and 2009 was decided to be the time for the latest set. With Kasabian and The Enemy supporting on every date (in theory), and 500,000 tickets selling out in a few hours, they really do still know how to do these things on a ridiculous scale, and to shift an awful lot of concert tickets. In the UK, there are still few that can match them.

Obviously, one thing about Oasis gigs, especially big ones, is that they can tend to be full of complete tossers in the audience. A Saturday at Wembley Stadium was always likely to live up to your worst expectations on this particular score. That, coupled with a light but determined drizzle, could have made this something of an annoying day. So, it was all the more fantastic to get into the Golden Circle at the front of the standing area - offering protection from the worst of the rain, and from the most idiotic of the crowd, piss throwing and all.

Reverend & The Makers were the first band of the day, a band who I'd seen once before, on home turf a few years ago. I wasn't very impressed with them then, have been largely unimpressed with their recorded output since, and was not terribly enamoured with them tonight either. They do have a couple of decent songs, Heavyweight Champion of the World being the obvious standout - and their live show definitely seems to add something to the songs as they would be on CD. That said, what they do still doesn't really grab me - I can see how they would be entertaining at a festival, but can't ever really see them attracting huge crowds to their own gigs - their songs just don't seem good enough for that.

Next up were The Enemy. Oh, hold on, The Enemy pulled out of a gig, AGAIN. They are starting to look like the Pete Doherty of the modern era, pulling out of shows all over the place - this being the second on the Oasis support tour alone. Now fair enough, people occasionally get ill and can't play gigs - although when you look as pasty as The Enemy, eating some fruit and veg might be advisable to avoid getting ill quite so often. But when you hear that they played a great set at Somerset House the previous night, then hit the aftershow party, and were fine to support Oasis on the Sunday at Wembley - that just sounds like a hangover, which is not really being very respectful to anybody. Not to the fans that paid good money to see The Enemy play, and not to Oasis who gave them a great opportunity to increase their fanbase. Quite what they were playing at, crying off probably the biggest gig they've ever played, I'm not sure. Poor show, and if I were Oasis, I might not invite them back in a hurry. Such a shame, because when they do show up, they are really good!

Still, every cloud has a silver lining, and in this case, the silver lining was that Kasabian got to play a longer set to fill the time. So, we headed into the Golden Circle, and before too long, the opening riffs of the amazing Underdog started booming from the speakers. This kept going for a good couple of minutes, building the excitement nicely before the band came on stage and launched into the song proper. A fantastic opening song it is too, and of course it was immediately followed by the likes of Shoot The Runner to build the crowd up more.

As the set went on, you were reminded of just how many decent singles Kasabian have made across their 3 albums. Their latest album of course provided most of the album tracks to fill out the set, but these were all pretty decent, the highlight being a raucous version of Fast Fuse. But it was the singles you had almost forgotten about, that provided the most excitement when they appeared - songs like Empire, latest single Fire (which sounds absolutely incredible live), not to mention Club Foot and LSF. All in all, this was a fantastic set, probably one of the best support sets it is possible to see, and it would have eclipsed most headliners.

Oasis, however, are not like most headliners. When they are on form as they were tonight, they are one of the best live bands it is possible to see. I guess it helps that I liked them from the start, and that I was at University during the 2 years when they were the biggest band in the world, but still nobody can do it quite like them. Songs like Roll With It and Live Forever made welcome returns to their setlist this time, and My Big Mouth was being played live for the first tour in a while. It was a largely brilliant setlist, there were always songs that could have been added, but what they played sounded great.

Noel Gallagher thought it was a good night also, writing later:

"Saturday was altogether a different kettle of fish. What a night. One of THOSE nights. What an atmosphere! It pissed down but that only added to it. Easily one of the best nights ever. There was some moments, let me tell you. If you were in that crowd, and if I wore a hat I'd doff it in your general direction. I wouldn't go as far as Mr Bruno saying, "You're the best fans in the world". As Arsene Wenger once said, "Everybody thinks they have the most beautiful wife", or even more ludicrously (is that a word? ..it is now!!), "You're the best human beings in the world!"?? Nonsense! My kids are the best human beings in the world. Fact. BUT the version of "Don't Look Back In Anger" was very special indeed."

This was a fantastic show from a great live band, made all the better for me by that magic Golden Circle wristband. This made the show like being in a 2,000 capacity venue to see Oasis, which is a rare treat. The fact that there was a stadium of 80,000 people behind you, just made the stage show and sound even bigger for the benefit of those at the front. The performance of the band, and my experience on the day, mean that I'll remember this one for a long time. One of the better stadium gig experiences you could wish for, that's for sure.

Setlist: Rock 'N' Roll Star / Lyla / The Shock Of The Lightning / Cigarettes And Alcohol / Roll With It / To Be Where There's Life / Waiting For The Rapture / The Masterplan / Songbird / Slide Away / Morning Glory / My Big Mouth / The Importance of Being Idle / Half The World Away / I'm Outta Time / Wonderwall / Supersonic / Live Forever. Don't Look Back In Anger / Falling Down / Champagne Supernova / I Am The Walrus.

Trip to Haute Vienne, France - 1st to 8th July 2009

A week's holiday, and I went to stay with my Aunt in France. She lives in a tiny village in Haute Vienne, a rural département in the region of Limousin, slap bang in the middle of France. So, a week of doing very little, in the middle of nowhere was on the cards. We arrived in France on a shuttle at about half past midnight, and planned to drive through the night whilst the roads were quiet. One lesson from doing this is that France is big! Even if you average 80mph, which is quite possible on the excellent motorways, it takes ages to get anywhere - a good 2 1/2 hours to Paris, a couple more hours to Orleans, and a few more to where we were going. There is no real way to do it much quicker, you just have to bite the bullet and accept that it will take an age. Starting the trek at midnight was probably not the best idea ever - by the time we arrived at 8am, we were beyond tired, and wishing we had started the journey those few hours earlier.

When we eventually reached our destination, it was the classic small, remote French village. The photo here is of a petrol station that had obviously closed down a while ago, but was still there (albeit a bit tatty) - with pumps pricing their petrol in Francs. The village had a couple of bakers, a cake shop, a few bars, and a couple of general shops - so all you could need for a few days relaxation away from much going on. The village was very close to Lac Vassiviere, and also had its own small lake as part of a big village green - really beautiful, and a nice place to spend a lazy week.

One thing about places like this in France and Spain is the number of other English people there. Some nice ones have worked hard all their lives, and are retiring to enjoy the weather. Others seem to have screwed up their lives in the UK, and burnt all of their bridges with other people - so are running away to start afresh. Because of this, there are quite a few English people around who don't exactly do the country proud - who are busy repeating all of the mistakes that made them leave the UK in the first place. Something that is strange to see, and that makes you feel somewhat sorry for the locals who have to put up with some of them.