Day-Glo letters displaying the words ‘Bates’ on an Orange guitar amp and ‘Out’ on the bass amplifier, shine through the dark room of Manchester Academy as Indie anthems from The Smiths, Stone Roses and the like are played to a crowd made of various different stereotypes. Leather clad Goths rub shoulders with at least six-foot tall, Mohawk-haircut men, who would look more at home at a BNP convention. These inebriated ‘lads’ stumble into middle aged partners, who are next to teenage couples locked in a firm embrace, the boy with a ‘Justin Bieber style’ haircut and the girl wearing stripy tights and looking like a shy ‘emo’ . The teenage couple shoots a fleeting glance, when they aren’t otherwise occupied with each other’s tongue, at a twenty-something lady with a full face of makeup and party-dress who would be more suited to a nightclub in Essex than a gig in Manchester.
The anthems stop, the lights go down followed by a roar from the crowd and the intro to Money for Nothing by Dire Straits begins. Kaiser Chiefs take to the stage lead by frontman Ricky and they go straight into Never Miss a Beat full of gusto. The gig consists of all classic songs, Every day I Love You Less and Less, Ruby, Modern Way all go down a treat, there seems to be every hand in the air when asked to raise them and every lyric is sung back at the band on request. Ricky darts about the stage during every song, bashing everything in sight be it cowbells, tambourines, drums or even his own chest with a microphone. Guitarist, Whitey, stands dressed head to toe, full on mod, nodding knowingly as his hands curl out the recognisable riffs, Peanut, the keyboard player, has his moment of dedicating a song and they all look as though this is still the most important thing in the world to them.
There is even the football banter as a Leeds United scarf gets thrown on the stage and Ricky affectionately mops the sweat from his soaked his head then drapes it over the keyboard, to raucous chants of ‘Leeds scum’ and boo’s from the Mancunian crowd. The band laughs it off and point to the Day-Glo letters, a reference to their displeasure of Leeds United chairman, Ken Bates.
We are treated to two new songs which sound slightly heavier than previous Kaiser records and without anyone in the crowd knowing the words they are still met with the same passion as the songs they know and love. But none go down quite the same as I Predict a Riot. I thought that this might have been their final song but upon seeing the insanity of the crowd during it, I’m quite glad it wasn’t otherwise I think an actual riot may have taken place. Semi-full pints of beer were chucked, every hand was in the air, palms aimed at the band and everyone, myself included, shouting the words at the top of their lungs.
The evening ends with a microphone thrown over the rigging, dangling centimetres out of the grasp of the crowd with Ricky whacking it about with the mic stand. Whether Kaiser Chiefs have had their day or not is question best left unanswered, but on the back of this performance they still pack out venues and put on quite the spectacle.
