20 May 2014 - Grand Hall, Kilmarnock

2pm, I'm embarrassingly the only person here and very bored. Went shopping, bought a jacket and a picnic blanket, still the only person. Their bus is here, if nobody turns up, im going to knock on the door and ask to let me in.

When did they let you in?

Nice one. Where did you stay?

Are we allowed to post photos from gig?

Some of my photos from last night

I thought the same. Maybe I'm old and boring and no fun, but he could have landed awkwardly on someone and broken their spine or even killed them. Henry Rollins likes to tell this story of how some guy jumped up on stage at a gig and jumped back into the crowd, landed on a girl and knocked her eye out.

Kilmarnock must be one of the most positive gig experiences I've ever had. I was a bit worried beforehand because I'd never been to a gig in Scotland and somehow expected it to be very rough and it was the first gig I went to that I didn't know anybody going there at all. So knowing that their Scottish fans have a reputation of being hardcore, I thought they'll be queueing from early morning so I caught the earliest possible train from London. Got there at 12ish, not a single person near the venue. Had lunch, came back, not a single person, no Kasabian poster, no flyer, nothing.  This continued till 5pm, and I just gave up the idea of queueing, went shopping, had coffee, bought myself a jacket, read a book - in short, not your usual stressful sitting on the pavement. At 5 two young men turned up and we had a really nice chat until a few more people joined 6ish. (One of my lovely companions, Steve, had to leave his pregant girlfriend at home who was due on that day so we were all getting anxious with every phone call he'd get - but I gather that the baby was good and decided to let him enjoy the gig). They were mostly quite young fans, it was the first Kasabian gig for most of them, and I can't start explaining how lovely and sweet they were to me, realising that I came from London for Kasabian. I'm so humbled and impressed by their reception.

It was the same setlist as in Galway, and while I'd would really like one or two slower songs in between, it flows quite perfectly. First 4 songs after each other are just perfect - Bumblebee, STR, Underdog and Fast Fuse. I have never seen a crowd to chant so loudly. Everybody was singing and jumping around wildly but it wasn't rough at all. There was an occasional pushing but I'm shocked that it was such a lively gig and I walked away without a single bruise. The band were loving the reaction, predictably, and Tom was laughing a lot at all the 'pasty boys' because all the guys were undressing and throwing their tops and t-shirt to the stage for some reason. Is it the male equivalent of throwing bras at rockstars? They could totally set up a second-hand clothes shop the pile was so high at the end of the gig.

Gary wasn't at his usual spot but squeezed somewhere in the corner behind Chris - I didn't even see him first and thought I'm imagining the trumpet sounds during STR. He played so beautifully for the chopped-up Doberman aka the Take Aim intro and somehow it was a very heartbreaking version, I've recorded that bit and will upload to youtube later. I'm almost embarrassed to admit this but omg Empire. If you know me, you'd know it's been my least favourite song, and I've been moaning about it since the day it was released. But this new magical intro and Tim's presence just changed it for me. I can't wait to hear it again live. Really really enjoyed Running Battle, it's breathtaking to see their interpretation of the older songs.
I was a bit worried about SBS because they didn't play it at the last Irish gig but of course it was there and with the first note the crowd was chanting 'Can you feel it coming' so loudly that I was thinking we can't probably hear the band now. But we did, and the encore was amazing as always. A little Breaking Bad reference during Vlad which made Ben very happy - 'get loose get loose get Heisenberg'. Serge sat on the speaker by Tom during Praise You and just stared at him, it was sooo beautiful.

I was catching up with all my new friends after the gig by the venue when suddenly Tim, Gary and Ian came to get on the bus, but seeing the fans, approached us - we were all behind a sort of barrier. Had a lovely chat with all 3 of them and told them all how good all the new songs are and how much people love Stevie which surprised them a bit because Ian was saying people look a bit unsure during Stevie. I said it's maybe because they don't know the lyrics yet and are not joining the singalong but the song has had a fantastic reception. Gary was so pleased to have his Doberman and LSF ending back, I told them I hope LSF stays there because everybody loves it there. Looks like it will stay because Ian said they just gave it a bit of a break last tour. Tom and Serge were out by the time too, taking pics with all the naked sweaty boys of Kilmarnock - and I was instructed by Ian to tell Serge what I told them about Stevie and LSF, which I did. He looked pleased hearing about Stevie - I really hope they realise how much people love it. I also gather that the Leicester and Glasto setlist will be longer and new songs will be introduced too. It was so nice to have a relaxed conversation about setlists and songs and how much I need The Doberman in full Then they had to go and I just said thanks to Tom over the barrier who was still being cuddled by lots of people and for some reason was saying 'I'm like Santa Klaus' - Tom, being Tom, was genuinely puzzled and asked 'what for'. I spelled out that for the gig, and his singing and he reached for my hand over the barrier and kissed it which was so sweet.

So this is my story, sorry if it's too long. I took millions of pics because I have a new camera  - they are all here