Thursday 21/06/07 Kasabian @ Newport Centre, Wales

There is a dual purpose behind Kasabian’s show at Newport Centre. Most have billed it as a dress rehearsal for Glastonbury, but fundamentally it's an opportunity for the band to raise awareness, and money, for Teenage Cancer Trust. Earlier in the year, the band lent its musical weight to the charity by headlining one of several shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall - partly organised by The Who frontman Roger Daltrey.

Daltrey was clearly impressed by Kasabian’s live turn and decided the Leicestershire quartet should make a detour to Glastonbury to spread the charity’s message further. The band duly accepted the request and the show sold out in a matter of minutes - unsurprising really, considering Kasabian’s herculean leap from excitable psychedelic-rockers to arena-filling indie heroes.

The band opens with the glam-rock stomp of ‘Shoot The Runner’ - its opening riffs have the crowd bouncing incessantly until frontman Tom Meighan leers onto the stage with his elastic limbs and showy dark sunglasses.

The band are on incredible form - after touring their latest album Empire for the best part of a year, they know all the subtle tricks in getting the set list just right. The swirling ‘Sun Rise Light Flies’ interchanges between chugging guitars and eastern strings - on paper it sounds like an inaudible mess, but it works euphorically well.

The swagger of early single ‘Cut Off’ has Meighan thrusting his microphone into the crowd, with a response that rattles the foundations of the tiny sports hall-cum -rock venue. Meighan is dripping with a mixture sweat and adrenalin - which allows guitarist Serge Pizzorno a fleeting visit to the microphone.

Pizzorno’s stripped down version of ‘Me Plus One’ is a glorious intermission before the crowd get back into a raucous mood during ‘Empire.’ The brilliantly idiosyncratic tune wavers between swooping strings, barmy guitar hooks and Meighan’s vitriolic verse.

The encore cranks the volume even more skyward as ‘Club Foot’ creates exhilarated pandemonium with a thumping bassline and frenetic pyrotechnics. The band close with their elaborate anthem ‘L.S.F.’ The scaling tune seems to go on for a lifetime, and its football terrace chorus carries on long after the band hav left the stage.

 After two albums, Kasabian have shaken off the ridiculous Stone Roses tag they were given at the start of their musical tenure, and, have created their own engaging identity. A great gig for an even greater cause.