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.

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.”