Tom Meighan – Riverside Newcastle – 17.12.24
Invited | Review by Samantha Pearson
Photo Credit: Adam Kennedy Photography
Riverside Newcastle played host to one of their final ever gigs tonight, welcoming Tom Meighan, the controversial ex-frontman of the well established noughties rock band Kasabian. Meighan was cut from the band after picking up a domestic assault conviction against his girlfriend back in 2020, and lead guitarist Serg took over the ropes in fronting the band and continuing without him. A very tough time from being in the spotlight in a well established band to being dropped and having absolutely nothing.
Since then, Meighan and said girlfriend married in 2021, and the charges dropped. Tom has started to build up his fan base from the bottom including introducing some new band members which he now classes as his new family, who’s stuck by him and have never ‘sh*t on him’, maybe a slight dig as his ex band members who left him at one of his lowest points?
We arrived at Riverside tonight, although the night was sold out, it was a small intimate venue which is probably completely different to what Meighan is used to, performing only by his given name and without the well known ‘Kasabian’ title, it’s still great to see the fan base building and wanting to show support. Annabel Allum opened for Meighan, showcasing her ferocious grungy guitar accompanied by her excellent song writing, we were treated to an excellent opener, shortly afterwards handing out free badges from the Merch stand.
Meighan welcomes us with a classic Star Wars intro, before joining the stage with his band, instantly breaking into ‘Underdog’, instantly ramping up the crowd in his oversized fur coat and pink glasses, an icon in his own right. The electric atmosphere doesn’t dull for the whole night and it’s plain to see he hasn’t shied away from his legendary frontman status. Even when performing his solo stuff including new track ‘Headcase’, it’s as though the music has been around forever. Tom continues to conduct the crowd through more Kasabian songs including ‘Empire’ and ‘Where Did All The Love Go?’, and the crowd fed into his hands with synchronised claps, chants & rowdiness.
The night continuously flowed into one big party and it’s easy to see that Meighan is one of the best frontmen in the UK, for the final song ‘Fire’, the crowd erupted into chaos and I absolutely expected nothing less. It makes you think what could have been if none of this had happened previously and the band still existed in its entirety, after seeing both separate, I feel like Tom is the backbone of Kasabian and they may be missing the little bit of magic to bring them together as a whole. However knowing Meighan is still continuing and playing to fans who come and support him, gives you the impression he thinks… ‘Kasabian, who?’ And absolutely rightly so.
In a word. Epic.