Kasabian made history last night as they became the first band to headline the new Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park venue.
The band did Leicester proud as they pulled out all the hits for the tens of thousands of fans in the crowd at Hard Rock Calling Festival.
While The Rolling Stones were doing their thing 140 miles away at Glastonbury, Tom Meighan, Serge Pizzorno and co made sure they too put on a performance that would not be forgotten in a hurry.
Their set included favourites such as Shoot The Runner, Club Foot, Empire, Underdog and LSF – which saw guitarist Serge bowing down to the crowd as they chanted back.
After an encore of Switchblade Smiles, Vlad The Impaler and Fire, Serge then leapt down from the stage to see fans at the front as singer Tom burst into an a capella cover of The Beatles' She Loves You.
It was an epic set that paved the way for second headliner Bruce Springsteen – who is due to perform one of his mammoth four-hour shows on the main stage tonight.
The view from the crowd:
Please note there is some swearing in this clip:
Dozens of fans from Leicester – including former Leicester City player Muzzy Izzet – were in the crowd to show their support.
The footballer said: "It's the best I've seen them."
Becky Taylor, 20, who lives in Thurmaston, agreed. "I've seen them about six times and I think it was the best," she said. "Seeing them in Leicester is always big but last night was just unbelievable. The crowd was really getting involved and Tom and Serge's stage presence is just unbelievable. They're just the coolest people.
"I'd not really heard of the festival before but it was brilliant, I'd definitely think about going again."
Arnesby-based company D&J Catering Ltd is managing catering across the site, and manager Andy Burdett also watched the set.
"I am a big Kasabian fan, I've been to see them several times including at De Montfort Hall," he said. "Last night was a cracking show and they played a brilliant set, with lots of stuff from all their albums.
"As headliners for Hard Rock they are ideal. They had a lot of competition with Glastonbury and other things but they managed to get a really good crowd in and they took the roof off.
"She Loves You at the end was a nice touch and the crowd left the arena singing it, which shows what a good time everyone had.
"There was a very large Leicester contingent there. There was a big Leicester City flag at the front."
Chris Benfield, 45, who lives in Birstall, watched the show with his wife and friends. "I saw Kasabian when they were first starting and playing at Sumo and yesterday was awesome," he said. "They're never rubbish live but it really was just brilliant last night. The whole day was good – Miles Kane and Paul Weller were on before and really built up for them. Kasabian's set was like an hour and three quarters of greatest hits.
"I think the venue was great too and the festival was really well done."
Hard Rock Calling moved to the Olympic Park, which was built for the London 2012 games, after starting at Hyde Park in 2006. Previous headliners include Neil Young, The Who, Aerosmith, The Killers and Paul McCartney.• Did you see Kasabian at the festival? Leave your comments below.
