Kaiser Chiefs -Annihilator - Gojira - Sanctity

A capacity crowd packed the giant cowshed that is the Exeter Westpoint Arena, on Wednesday night to bear witness to the arrival of Leeds finest, all conquering musical entertainment package, Kaiser Chiefs.

With two bands in supporting roles on the night it was The Little Ones, from L.A, that got the night off to a flying start. Playing a lively, punchy, brand of infectious Indie rock they got a very good reception for the crowd and thoroughly deserved it, you could well be hearing lots more of them in the future. The arrival of prodigious New Yorkers, We are Scientists, already a firmly established touring band in their own right, raised the excitement level several notches higher, and as they ploughed through a fantastically tight set of crisp, catchy, memorable songs, they cannot have failed to have added to their already numerable fans, only the very poor lighting let them down and spoilt a great set.

Finally it was time for the Kaiser Chiefs to prove their quality, the huge black curtain dropped, and the crowd went bezerk as singer Ricky Wilson jumped onto the stage-front monitors and preceded to produce the kind of high-octane performance that he and the band are renowned for. With most of the crowd knowing all of the words to most of the songs, the party atmosphere was easily sustained throughout the gig. Modern Way, started the crowd singing and they didn’t stop, Ruby, Oh My God, and the biggest shout-a-long of the night unsurprisingly was reserved for the sublimely performed, I Predict a Riot. The sound quality tonight was excellent for a large venue, and the lightshow was first class, in fact it was probably better not being too close to the stage, to see them at their best, and with two video screens in front of the stage those at the back got to see what was happening in the distance. Ricky came into crowd mid set and sang from the centre of the arena, to the obvious delight of those close to him. This was one gig that was never going to last long enough and all too quickly it was at an end, Kaiser Chiefs came to Exeter and left an impression that will last for very long time, do they deserve their outstanding live reputation – too right they do!

Greg Taylor