What If
Gigs have been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. From seeing Stereophonics aged 10 to my most recent gig seeing Red Rum Club. I’ve got to see my favourite bands and artists perform to crowds of all sizes, from tiny rooms to football stadiums. I’ve seen live music at every rung of the ladder.
However there’s one gig, that I had booked that along with 49,999 others I never got to attend.
A celebration of brilliant music, in one of the hottest summers we’ve had in years. The gig would have seen a band come home. A then indie upstart play his first huge support slot. A band of Irish rockstars take to the stage to prove their worth prior to a debut album and another hometown bunch of heroes bring the party.
Kasabians only UK Show where they would play to 50,000 adoring fans. Sam Fender then was riding high on the success of a debut album. Inhaler had a couple of singles out but were yet to release a debut album, and Easy Life, were releasing indie dance bangers.
Now Kasabian are a member down. Sam is arguably the biggest name on this list! Inhaler are two albums deep and have headlined arenas and huge gigs on their own accord. Easy Life are no longer operating as Easy Life due to a court case last year.
It was a moment in time, that can’t be repeated. Kasabian are trying, after removing Tom Meighan from the band. Solstice II is happening this summer, with a new look line up.
There is still tickets for this gig, the demand is not what it once was. The original 2020 gig sold out in around 15 minutes, and its 2014 predecessor did the same. Kasabian don’t quite have the same pull they once did. A change in line up and sound seems to have divided there fan base.
Kaiser Chiefs are a great band but, it doesn’t have the same feel as the 2020 line up. All three of the supports had something to prove. They were young and fresh faced. All of which had been influenced by the headliners in some way.
Fans attending the gig this July will be in for a good show, however it will be missing a little spark that the band once had.
It’s the one concert I missed that year that I always look back on and think what if that had happened.
Me and my friend had never seen Kasabian before, and to see them in that setting with those supports would have been special. Yet a global pandemic, and later a court case would mean that, we never got to see it.
We did see Kasabian in 2021. With Serge taking centre stage, it was a good gig. However I think for us both they’ll always be that thought of. What if?
What if we’d seen Solstice II