Entertainment

Kasabian announce hometown show in Leicester

Kasabian announce hometown show in Leicester

Kasabian have announced they are putting on a headline show in their hometown of Leicester.

The band played their first major gig in the city’s Victoria Park in June 2014, just days before going on to headline Glastonbury.

After entertainment company Live Nation submitted an application for a premises licence earlier this year, Kasabian are now set to return to the site in Leicester once again.

This will be their first gig there following the departure of Tom Meighan. The former frontman left in 2020 after assaulting his then girlfriend, who he later married.

Songwriter Serge Pizzorno, who founded the band with Meighan and bass player Chris Edwards, has since taken over the frontman role.

The band are known for going all out to put on gigs in their hometown and have previously played shows in a disused aeroplane at an aerodrome and at Leicester City’s King Power stadium, which does not usually host music gigs – two quickly organised shows after the club won the Premier League in 2016.

After first putting on a “Summer Solstice” gig in Victoria Park in 2014 they planned a second for 2020, but had to call it off after the COVID pandemic hit.

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The band – also featuring drummer Ian Matthews and guitarist Tim Carter – said in a statement: “We are truly honoured to be playing Victoria Park in our beloved hometown, with all our people for Summer Solstice Two.

“We cannot wait to get out there and play the biggest party of the summer with you all. See you in the mosh pit.”

The Leicester gig comes following the release of their chart-topping sixth album The Alchemist’s Euphoria in 2022. Their seventh, Happenings, will be released in 2024.

After forming in Leicester in the 1990s, Kasabian released their eponymous debut album in 2004, charting at number four. Since then, all their albums have topped the charts in the UK and their third, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, was nominated for the Mercury Prize.

A pre-sale for tickets to the Leicester gig begins at 9.30am on Thursday 7 December, while the general sale opens at 9.30am on Friday 8 December.