Kaiser Chiefs, The Asylum Venue, Birmingham - review and pictures

The angry mob ditched the thousands of onlookers, the pyrotechnics and more for their intimate performance at Birmingham's Asylum Venue - usually the home of alternative club night Uprawr.

This comes in preparation for their worldwide headline arena tour that features a stop off at Birmingham's Barclaycard Arena on February 25.

So intimate was this show that tickets weren't available to purchase, no, they had to be earned via a competition hosted by Absolute Radio.

The lucky winners gathered inside the tiny, industrial venue in eager anticipation for the chart-topping rockers - that anticipation heightened by the presence of large roaming cameras and Absolute Radio host Christian O'Connell.

He greeted the fans as they roared, finally unable to contain their excitement, before laying out the ground rules that no photography or filming would be allowed at this show - just enjoy the night without distractions.

O'Connell had barely left the stage before Kaiser Chiefs greeted the crowd like old friends they were overwhelmed to see.

The band treated fans not only to a show in an intimate venue - but to a set comprised entirely of their biggest hits for the maximum party atmosphere.

"We are the Kaiser Chiefs, how are you doing tonight Birmingham?" bellowed enigmatic front man Ricky Wilson before he bounced from wall to wall like a furious Tasmanian devil to the opening chords of hit new single We Stay Together.

So well known are his antics, that as me and my father entered the warehouse venue many people could be heard saying "I wonder when he'll climb that?" pointing at different, dangerous fixtures.

It turns out, it took two songs.

Through Everything is Average Nowadays and Everyday I Love You Less and Less he launched his microphone around the overhead beams, creating a jungle vine to support his weight and lean over the crowd to immerse himself right in the action.

Wilson hung from the steel beams, leaped from the drum kit and made his way across the narrow shelves to the bar itself to get himself a drink straight from the stunned bar staff and get the crowd to join in.

He performed Never Miss a Beat entirely from the bar, utilising it as his own even smaller stage before diving into the crowd like a human swimming pool.

Ricky Wilson is a showman through and through - he grasped the crowd in the palm of his hand instantly and generated an electric atmosphere like a musical pylon.

This showmanship didn't deter away from their musical ability however - if anything this combined with the intimate venue gave their music a more raw and unpredictable feel.

Addressing the protest against Donald Trump in Birmingham the same day - the angry I Predict a Riot took on a more urgent, visceral tone with fists raised in the air against authority from the audience and band alike.

Slowing things down and allowing everyone to catch their breath for a second, melodic Ruby had the crowd linking arms and raising the roof to it's iconic chorus as Wilson could hardly contain his happiness with an appreciative smile plastered across his face.

"We're going to play this one now, in the hopes that Absolute Radio will play it more!" Wilson announced through the camera before diving into hidden gem Hole in my Soul. Wilson doesn't just control the audience in the room, he now has the undying attention of all those tuning in live online and on the radio.

Ending on smash hit Oh My God, the crowd took over and screamed the lyrics from the bottom of their hearts and really let their excitement and overwhelming emotion run wild - they even took Wilson for a run for his money.

The Asylum Venue let out a sigh of relief from it's very foundations as The Kaiser Chiefs left the stage and it's solidity was no longer tested.

A truly once in a lifetime experience, Kaiser Chiefs demonstrated how their live show can adapt to any environment, to any crowd, and still be one of the most memorable any audience member will ever encounter.

By Becci Stanley