The Kaiser Chiefs’ live show was one that just got better as the night went on. Introduced by a stellar performance from Razorlight, a band who I think are worth seeing in their own right, Kaiser Chiefs proved their worth right off the bat as a live experience.

Their opening was unlike any I’d seen before, more akin to a theatre experience than a gig

I’ve personally seen a few gigs at Arena Birmingham before, namely Panic! At The Disco and Gorillaz, both of whom were fantastic, so Kaiser Chiefs had a lot to live up to purely in terms of venue association. But their opening was unlike any I’d seen before, more akin to a theatre experience than a gig. Instead of walking on stage before opening ‘People Know How To Love One Another,’ their single from the touring album Duck, a pair of drawn curtains across the stage that I had previously thought to be just a backdrop was pulled apart, revealing the band already playing the song’s intro from the roof of a mock-up diner resembling the one from Duck’s album artwork.

The first track bled straight into ‘Golden Oldies,’ just like their continuation on the album, as the band left their roof-top stage to the area that Razorlight had played, set up for them with a second set of instruments. The similarity of the songs makes them feel like a part one and part two of the same track, so the decision to play then consecutively was a successful one.

The band switched between stages, creating a dynamism that kept us on our toes

Throughout the gig, the band switched between stages, creating a dynamism that kept us on our toes (although watching them repeatedly climb and descend the ladder on the side of the diner made me a little uneasy at times). It was a fluidity reflected in their music, as they performed a set list comprising of a significant number of tracks from Duck as well as a selection of their older music; I, for one, was grateful for the appearance of ‘Ruby,’ ‘I Predict a Riot,’ ‘Everyday I Love You Less and Less,’ ‘Never Miss a Beat’ and ‘Oh My God’ – their, rightly so, top five most streamed tracks on Spotify.

It was a pot luck as to which old track we would be lucky enough to hear

Mid-way through the concert, frontman and lead vocalist Ricky Wilson took to the smaller stage in the centre of the Arena, placing himself amongst the audience (they really did move around a lot), where he brought an audience member briefly onto the stage with him to play a game of ‘Hook a Duck,’ amusedly pronounced with an affectionate mock-northern accent as ‘Hook a Dook’ mimicking Hull, the place where he claimed to have discovered the game. The audience member was asked to hook a duck from a pool (inkeeping with the album title), all of which had a track from the band’s back catalogue written on its underside, allowing for a fun personalised element for each show on the tour; it was a pot luck as to which old track we would be lucky enough to hear. At the Arena, it was ‘Thank You Very Much,’ which hadn’t been played live since 2017.

The audience itself, however, was a strange body to be part of at this particular gig. Whilst Kaiser Chiefs were on stage giving it their all, every note perfect, every song executed with precision, the audience reacted bizarrely; maybe I was in a weird section of it, but the mosh pit in front of me was genuinely aggressive with people rudely shoving, in particular, one older woman who clearly did not want to be part of the pit during ‘The Angry Mob’. There was little to no audience response for my personal favourite Duck track, ‘Don’t Just Stand There, Do Something,’ similarly to ‘Northern Holiday’; but the energy exuded during ‘Never Miss A Beat’ was one of the purest senses of togetherness in a crowd that I’ve ever felt at a gig, and the synchronised arm waving during ‘Target Market’ was a united ocean of one movement. More than anything, it was a bizarrely inconsistent crowd, with a consistently impeccable soundtrack.However, Wilson’s ability to pull the audience together with a split-in-half call and response of ‘Kaiser’ and ‘Chiefs’ was another great way to bring everyone back in.

It was a bizarrely inconsistent crowd, with a consistently impeccable soundtrack

The sheer amount of streamers and rainbow paper projected into the audience was another fun touch to the gig, particularly when standing in the affected confetti-zone. I spent a large portion of the evening with ribbons of colour over my shoulders, and found myself accidentally sharing one with a woman stood behind me, which lead to a nice social merge. I left the gig grinning wildly, and exhausted from jumping so much to their final song, ‘Oh My God,’ eager to tell everyone I knew about Kaiser Chiefs’ performance. If you’re at all into their music, whether a fan of their debut album Heavy or only just getting into them since the release of Duck, get yourself to one of their tour dates; you’re sure to hear a couple of your favourites.

Duck is available now via Kaiser Chiefs
Tickets to the remainder of their current tour are available here