Kaiser Chiefs Never Miss A Beat With Live Streaming Concert

Over the years I have seen Leeds finest, Kaiser Chiefs in concert countless times from the early days at Leeds Town Hall to their home-coming gig at Elland Road.

Only in January, in what now seems a lifetime ago, they never missed a beat at their gig in the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool. Naturally it was a sell out and the night was one of celebration for fans and band alike.

As lead singer Ricky Wilson is quick to point out at the start of the live concert, streamed over the internet via the Melody VR App from London’s o2 Brixton Academy, "we took it all for granted earlier this year, we thought we could play all summer.” Alas Covid saw an end to all that and all live performances were postponed.

It’s a strange experience seeing a band who are so normally interactive with their audience playing to an empty theatre. As the songs end there is a deathly silence which should be replaced by clapping, the roar of the audience and the communal experience that forms part of a live concert.

As Ricky speaks between the songs you can hear his voice echo around an empty venue, sterile and cold - this is what live gigs are not about.

The show is basically the same as the Duck tour that the band were able to tour at the start of this year.

The band are on full throttle, most likely due to not playing live for months. Ricky tries to keep up the momentum by encouraging the fans to “clap at home or get up from your settee.” His requests are met with total silence instead of the rapturously famous rapport that should be heard.

Visually it works as the Kaisers always put some effort into their stage sets, the hits flow like honey from Parachute across to Coming Home, Never Miss A Beat, Ruby and I Predict A Riot.

Over 90 minutes the worries of the last 8 months are forgotten as the band remind you just what we have been missing.

As Ricky said at the start of the night “We won’t let you down” - they certainly didn’t - only the pandemic did.

For now live streaming fills the gap and I can see how it can work in the future for sold out gigs, but really you cannot beat the experience that is a live gig for both fans and the band - and for all of us, that moment cannot come soon enough.