You simply can’t write off Kasabian

A FEW years ago, just prior to their Hogmanay headlining stint at Concert In The Gardens, many were questioning whether Kasabian were up to the job. As it turned out,

they absolutely nailed it, proving themselves the consummate party band.

“Anyone who has ever written us off looks a bit silly now,” says Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno.

And he’s right. Since the release of the Leicester band’s self-titled first album in 2004, they have gone from strength to strength, selling millions of albums, winning plenty of awards, and headlining numerous massive gigs, including that triumphant show in the Capital, for which they earned a five-star review in the Evening News.

Kasabian return north on Sunday for a visit to the SECC, where they’ll play massive anthems like Shoot The Runner and Empire alongside tracks from their latest album, Velociraptor.

“Velociraptors used to hunt in packs of four,” says Pizzorno. “They stuck together, they were the rock ‘n’ roll band of the dinosaurs.

“There is something about the power of four, if you stick together, it’s unity,” adds the band’s guitarist and songwriter.”

Where previous album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum sounded like some swirling 1960s carnival, the new album is more restrained and has more in common with Kasabian’s menacing debut.

“We did it the wrong way around, really,” says Pizzorno. “We should’ve made the pop record before the concept record, but that’s the Kasabian way. We do things in odd orders.

“For me, I see it as part of a history and legacy,” continues the 6ft 3 rock star. “You don’t have to recreate the same thing again and again.

“Maybe by the ninth album we’ll have that, but now we need to try new things and keep it exciting. And when you’ve made a record where you’re dressed as a priest on the cover, you have to strip things back a bit.

“So what’s a contrast to West Ryder? A direct, melodic, epic record,” he adds. “That’s the thinking behind it, anyway.”

Pizzorno admits to enjoying the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle in the past - but instead of partying every night he now prefers to keep a clear head and concentrate on the band.

“With the first two albums, it was the most exciting time,” he says. “We didn’t know what was going on, we were just young and crazy.

“It was after the second album [Empire], when we were starting West Ryder, that we thought about it seriously.

“What we were doing was amazing, it worked and we sold records. But I didn’t want to mess it all up, I wanted

to get to work and do something that makes people go, ‘Wow’.

“As for the drugs thing,” he adds, “well that got taken out of context. I mean, I always write from home and I’ve just had a baby. I’m not going to be doing that around a little boy. There’s more at stake than music.”

Kasabian, SECC, Glasgow, Sunday, 7pm, £30, 0141 248 3000

Bus to the gig departs from Waterloo Place, 5.30pm, £15, for details contact Happybus on 07986-750986