Dubbed as Summer Solstice II, Serge and his bandmates will grace the stage at Leicester’s Victoria Park, captivating an audience of 38,000 music enthusiasts. This marks their return to the public space in their hometown after a decade since their last headline performance. The announcement has sent fans into a frenzy, with social media buzzing with excitement.

SUMMER SOLSTICE II. Victoria Park, Leicester on July 6th 2024! For pre-sale tickets pre-order our new Album “Happenings” dropping next summer https://t.co/iuINNTXMmx pic.twitter.com/BjiYx9sOPy

— KasabianHQ (@KasabianHQ) December 4, 2023

Following the tremendous success of their previous album, The Alchemist’s Euphoria, which reached Number One last summer, there are no indications that Kasabian will be slowing down anytime soon.

An electric show is not the only thing that fans can expect from the Kasabian lads. They have also announced that the Kaiser Chiefs will be joining them as a support act, with more acts to be announced later. Although their last headline performance at Victoria Park was ten years ago, the rockers performed a secret set at the venue in 2016 to celebrate Leicester City winning the Premier League.

Serge, speaking about the show, expressed the significance of creating lasting memories and experiences. He emphasized the impact of witnessing such an event in one’s hometown, with the sound, noise, and music etching unforgettable memories in one’s mind. Serge believes that these memories are what people carry with them when reflecting on their lives. He emphasised the importance of attending the gig, stating that it is an experience that cannot be missed. He said, “Seeing something like this in your hometown, you know – the sound, the noise, the music – those memories, that’s what you take with you when you look back on your life and it’s like, you’ve gotta be there, you can’t miss it, you can’t let this happen and not be at that gig, you know? It’s creating those moments and doing it where you’re from and inspiring the next wave, hopefully, of young kids in Leicester seeing it happen and then them starting a band, that’s kind of what it’s all about.”

Listen here to Algorithms – Kasabian

Chris, on the other hand, highlighted the significance of this show being a decade after their first one. He expressed that it has always been their desire to do it again and to give back to the city. As there is no large arena in Leicester, this show serves as their arena, where big shows happen. Chris considers it a privilege to be able to perform in their hometown once more. He said,“It’s 10 years after the first one, it’s something we’ve always wanted to do again, and it’s something that we can give back to the city. There’s no big arena in Leicester, so this is our arena. This is where the big shows happen. And so to be able to do it again is just a privilege.”

The fan pre-sale will begin at 9.30am on December 7, followed by the general sale on Friday, December 8 at 9.30. You can find tickets here.

This is not the first time that the easyGroup have apparently sued over their trade mark word ‘easy’. Back in 2018 Stelios Haji-Ioannou allegedly sued the company Netflix for using Easy in a new TV series title, at the time Haji-Ioannou had this to say, “This is a case of typically arrogant behaviour by a very large American tech company who never bothered to check what legal rights other companies have outside the US.”

Easy Life, through a social media statement, expressed their disbelief that the alleged lawsuit has been filed solely due to the likeness between their name and the company’s. They said “Okay…never imaged having to do this.” They went on to say, “easy jet are suing us for being called easy life, they’re forcing us to change our name or take up a costly legal battle which we could never afford.” They further added, “for those of you that bought gig tickets and ended up on a budget flight to tenerife, i apologise.”

Easy Life recently posted on their social media, stating that they had reached a rite of passage. It said, “we were joined by the BBC at @officialrandl . Reading And Leeds A Rite Of Passage available to stream now on Iplayer.”

Having made a huge imprint on the music scene at the Reading and Leeds festival, Easy Life are keen to maintain the brand name they have worked so hard to build. The group further commented on their Instagram post, “we’ve worked hard to establish our brand and I’m certain in no way have we ever effected their business.”

easyGroup, recently updated on the intended legal dispute with Easy Life. They stated Mr Matravers and his fellow band members were brand thieves and used the name easyLife without permission, and that they were confident they would stop Mr Matravers.

Fans of Easy Life, took to social media in support and expressed their disconcert. One fan’s comment said “This is (yet more) smoking-gun evidence of a big corporation bullying those that can’t feasibly afford to fight back. They’re actually, whole-heartedly lying. If you WERE brand thieves, then this would have happened in 2015-17. Not conveniently a year after they try– to start an easyLife branch. And the fact they have a whole page on their site proudly displaying everyone they’ve done this too?”

This is (yet more) smoking-gun evidence of a big corporation bullying those that can’t feasibly afford to fight back. They’re actually, whole-heartedly lying. If you WERE brand thieves, then this would have happened in 2015-17. Not conveniently a year after they try-

— Non-Newtonian Snake (@GuzBugs) October 3, 2023

As a result of the cancelation, guitarist Serge Pizzorno said: “We are absolutely gutted to not be able to play our beloved hometown this summer. We hope to see you all very soon.”

Fans have been advised to be on the lookout for an email from their ticketing agent. They’ve been further advised to only speak to them if they’ve not been contacted within seven days. To give you a scope of the demand for this headline show in Leicester, tickets sold out in just 44 minutes.

As a result, all 50,000 tickets were purchased. The Twitter account for Kasabian confirmed in less than 45 minutes that the tickets had all gone. The ‘Solstice II’ gig was set to be the band’s only show in the UK for 2020, as announced in an earlier mxdwn article.

For the full Twitter post, check out the link below.

We are very sad to announce that Kasabian’s Leicester Victoria Park Show on June 20th has been cancelled as a result of the current COVID -19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/4kCrryyKJY

— KasabianHQ (@KasabianHQ) April 17, 2020

Last August, Serge Pizzorno discussed the progress of their seventh album, as well as his own solo work. He said: “If something feels good, then you should follow the art,” he said. “Great zones don’t come from comfort zones. This feels great now, and it’s great that I’ve got the time to do it.”

He added: “Kasabian is a huge machine that we’ve created. There’s a routine and you’re safe in that place, but you need something else to happen. Sometimes there needs to be a storm in the harbour.” 

The Leicester rock band’s last album, ‘For Crying Out Loud’, was released in 2017 to a four-star review in NME by Jordan Bassett. “Kasabian’s fun and easy-to-love sixth album is packed with big tunes and simple pleasures.”

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat. 

The festival will take place at the O2 Academy and the Attenborough Arts Centre in Leicester on  the 29^th and 30^th of April next year but it might feel more like Edinburgh than the East Midlands, with both headliners hailing from north of the border. Twin Atlantic released their fourth album, ‘GLA’, back in September and finished the first leg of their UK Tour in October with a second leg that will take in Dublin, Belfast and Glasgow still to come in December. Frightened Rabbit have had an equally busy 2016, releasing ‘Painting of a Panic Attack’ as their fifth studio album in April of this year. They are currently mid-way through a UK Tour which will finish in Newcstle on the 12^th December so if you can’t wait until next year to see the band, or just love them so much you want to see them twice, then the remaining dates of their tour are shown below. In September, the band’s drummer Grant Hutchison announced he would be taking a break from the band as a result of a ‘minor wobble’, according to The Southern Reporter. The band commented on twitter that they are ‘delighted to be headlining’ the festival.

7/12 – Roundhouse – London

9/12 – Trinity – Bristol

10/12 – Rescue Rooms – Nottingham

12/12 – Riverside – Newcastle

However, it’s not just these two headline acts which will entice music fans to head down to Leicester for the festival. Glaswegian rockers Honeyblood will join the Scottish contingent to play a set with the line-up completed by Yorkshiremen Pulled Apart By Horses, JAWS, British Sea Power, Muncie Girls, Tigercub, Puppy and Idles. Mxdwn.co.uk reported last month on the return of Pulled Apart By Horses with their new track, ‘The Big What If’, which will be followed by an album and a UK Tour scheduled for next Spring (March and April). Meanwhile, Bristolian indie outfit Idles easily take the crown for the best reaction to the news from among the bands; they took to Twitter following the announcement and wrote, ‘We’ve been accepted into the loving arms of Leicester for @HandmadeTotally. The lineup is littered with shit hotters. Don’t care, be there X.’ Well it’s a ringing endorsement for the rest of the bill and, frankly, if their online persona is anything like their stage persona, Idles sound like a fantastic live act. The band’s debut album, ‘Brutalism’ will be released on 10^th March with their extensive UK Tour to begin on the 6^th. JAWS, meanwhile, released their sophomore album, ‘Simplicity’ last month and will play a trio of other UK dates in 2017.

Festival co-organiser John Help noted his excitement while also looking ahead to future line-up news from the festival, saying, via Dork, ‘It feels so good to finally get this announcement out into the world. Handmade has grown every year since we started it in 2013, but this feels like our biggest step to date as we move into the main room of O2 Academy Leicester, as well as the many other spaces around the Academy and Attenborough Arts Centre. We could not be more excited about the line-up, and this is just a flavour of what you can expect across the two days.’

Weekend tickets for the event are available now and are priced at £44 inc. booking fee for adults; £33 for students and £22 for Under 18s.

Twin Atlantic

Frightened Rabbit

British Sea Power

Pulled Apart By Horses

Honeyblood

JAWS

Tigercub

Muncie Girls

Puppy

Idles

With the gig being deemed a significant success, “Kasabian: Summer Solstice”, shot at the magnificent Victoria Park last month, will be available for fans to view at selected Vue cinemas before being followed by a live Q&A with the band.

Kicking off at 7.30pm on Wednesday evening, the film will be shown at Vue cinemas in Birmingham, Bristol Cribbs Causeway, Cardiff, Edinburgh Omni Centre, Islington, Leeds Kirkstall Road, Leicester, London Islington, Manchester Lowry, Plymouth and Sheffield.

It seems to be a great year for the Leicester band, having already headlined Glastonbury festival last month and with plans to hit the road in November and into December for a run of gigs, including five shows at O2 Academy Brixton in London.