Review: Kaiser Chiefs, Folkestone's Leas Cliff Hall, Sunday, February 19

by Chris Price

Kaiser Chiefs came to Folkestone’s Leas Cliff Hall in full-swing of their comeback UK tour but must have left deflated after an unreceptive reaction from a largely clueless crowd.

That is not to say the Leeds band were off form on Sunday, February 19, striding on stage to the sound of Dire Straits’ Money For Nothing and launching into Everyday I Love You Less and Less.

Musically, the night was epic and the tone should have been set when the Kaisers performed Modern Way early in their set.

Yet the crowd could not get their heads around the concept of raising their arms, clapping and singing along to what was, in the mid-2000s, Britain’s biggest group.

There was little response to material from fourth album The Future is Medieval.

“We know you won’t have heard this one but just pretend you like it,” said an exasperated frontman Ricky Wilson.

To the crowd’s credit, they started to get the hang of things when Ruby was played mid-set, swiftly followed by The Angry Mob.

Yet even when it came to chanting the mind-numbingly simple “we are the angry mob” outro, the mood was still subdued, almost as if the fans felt above its playful irony.

As a result, the fivesome on stage became visibly narked with the lack of atmosphere, yet their performance was still far from business-like.

I Predict A Riot was a highlight, then Ricky finally got the crowd moving when he crossed the floor to stand above the sound technician gear on the stairways, imploring each half the crowd to chant “Kaiser” then “Chiefs.”

Returning for their encore, a surprsied Ricky asked, “are you still here?”, before smiling at the irony as he sang Everything is Average Nowadays.

When they performed finale Oh My God, each member looked blankly at each other as the room failed to chant back the two-line chorus to their most famous song.

They were pouring with sweat but 90 per cent of the crowd were dry, still wearing their coats.