Kasabian: “Everyone thought we’d just go away”

It’s Friday night at Reading and despite the fact Tom Meighan was in hospital a few days earlier, the result of a virus caught in transit, he’s stoked at the prospect of once again headlining the festival.

“I’m a survivor,” he grins. “I’m just excited. It’s gonna be monster when we walk on that stage.” There’s the promise that tonight, like every Kasabian show will see the crowd get “the fucking night of their lives, guarantee ya,” and the reason the band are still sat at the top is “’Cos we’re good y’know what I mean? There’s no other reason why. We’ve been there and worn the t-shirt. It’s great to be up there with Eminem and Muse. They’re fucking fantastic so we’re proud. We’re always proud.”

The band have always had pride but it’s taken a while for people to take them seriously. When they topped the bill back in 2012, people sneered. When they headlined Glastonbury in 2014, it was more of the same. The world might have been against them then but now, it’s a different story. Underdogs? “No! Fucking hell, that tag’s gone. We are what we are now. Everyone thought we’d just go away just because we came out years ago guns blazing. We were mouthy little shites weren’t we? Now, we’re a people’s band. And more than that, it crosses generations.”

Kasabian have been a band for twenty years now. And the thing that keeps it exciting is unity. That raging message of togetherness that the scream from the biggest of platforms, is also shared in the quiet compound beforehand.

“We’re a family and we’re close. I mean we’ve been through a hell of a lot. We’ve got that unity. If we’ve got that and we enjoy what we’re doing and keep writing good music then we’ll be together forever. We’ll turn out to be like The Who or the fucking Stones. I hate using the word established but Kasabian, it’s a name now. The name’s fucking there. Like Oasis or the Stone Roses or Muse or Arctic Monkeys. On that scale, there’s very few left.”

Following on from ‘For Crying Out Loud’, tonight Kasabian step it up once more. The new album, “opened up a lot of things, on a personal level. That album is personal. It’s a very human album. It’s about personal things and that’s why I love it the most,” while their set, well, “we’re just relentless, y’know? Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.” They’re sat on a collection of greatest hits and “that’s what makes me laugh. Where do you put that song or this song?” There’s no chance of them doing a Foo Fighters though.

“Fuck that. I don’t play for three hours. I play for 1 hour 45, max. I ain’t getting into that 3-hour stadium shit. It’s up to them if they want to do that, I love the Foo Fighters, but fuck that. No, that’s not for me, my friend.”

As for new music, “that’s a question. I can’t even think about tomorrow,” but there’s an underlying grin. Kasabian aren’t getting of the throne anytime soon.