THE Kaiser Chiefs have come a long since arriving on the indie scene in the early Noughties with a bag full of great tunes, witty lyrics, and ferocious energy.

Lead singer Ricky Wilson’s stint as a judge on BBC talent show The Voice catapulted them into the mainstream, while the departure of songwriter Nick Hodgson saw their sound move into a more commercial direction.

Currently touring to promote their new album Duck, the Leeds five-piece certainly know how to put on a show.

It’s hard to imagine any one of the 15,000 people who saw them at the Arena Birmingham would have left feeling anything less than thoroughly entertained by a mix of old-fashioned rock and a bit of cheesy showbiz schtick.

Wilson, newly blond and clad in striking black-and-white, is a born entertainer, holding the crowd in the palm of his hand. Opening with the ridiculously catchy new track People Know How to Love One Another, he banters with the audience in an accent which has morphed into a Yorkshire/California hybrid, enjoys a game of Hook a Duck with the crowd, and belts out the songs.

The new material stood up well in the live setting, particularly the instant classic Record Collection, but it was the oldies that really lifted the roof off the place – Na Na Na Na Na, Never Miss a Beat, Ruby and The Angry Mob, to name a few. Indie’s loss is the mainstream’s gain.

MARC EVANS 4/5