S Poddar
In a one-off show at Leeds’s Temple Newsam Park, the Kaiser Chiefs will mark a special anniversary, celebrating the ground-breaking debut album Employment. Hitting the stage will be indie rock legends Razorlight, plus Yorkshire bands The Cribs and Leeds own The Coral, to play their landmark albums, while We Are Scientists are also confirmed. The event promises to be something of a nostalgic journey back into the 2000s, paying homage to bands and albums that helped fill out the British indie scene.
The Employment album, which has gifted us with an eternity’s worth of great anthems like “I Predict A Riot” and “Oh My God,” remains the best-selling record ever to come out of a Leeds-based act. The album went multi-platinum and gained the same amount of love from the fans as it did from the musicians – including Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, who once called it “really, really good and super legit.”
Rounded out the anniversaries will be Razorlight, who will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album Up All Night. Leeds’ own punk-influenced trio The Cribs, meanwhile, will be drawing from their own experiences to take to the stage fresh off their recent celebration of 20 years since the release of their sophomore album The New Fellas. Also on the bill are The Coral and We Are Scientists, who will be marking the anniversary of their major-label debut With Love and Squalor.
Like that’s not enough, the opening acts for the performances are to be the new wonders of the music universe in HotWax and Ellur from West Yorkshire, mixing old with new to excitement and zest for fans as they bring the house down with this monumental event.
Tickets on general sale on 11th October at 9 am but available for pre-sale at this present moment.
On hearing that they would be gracing the stage again soon, Kaiser Chiefs expressed how excited they are to be back at Temple Newsam Park for their biggest hometown gig ever. “We are really excited to announce our biggest Leeds gig ever,” the statement says. “It’s been 20 years since Employment, and 23 years since we last played at Temple Newsam, so we are really looking forward to being back.”
They joked about their last time through, recalling when they happened to go on stage after Guns N’ Roses had performed the previous night. “It’s been a long wait to finally actually headline the park,” they pointed out.
As much as Kaiser Chiefs have always known to be forward-looking musically, they really acknowledged this was a landmark moment. “We’re a band that historically always looked forward, but after 20 years of people telling us how important Employment is to them and how it soundtracked their lives, we felt we had to organize a celebration.”
They continued, “We’ve rustled in a few of our old mates from the touring days to come and join in the party, and of course, everyone is invited. Come celebrate the 2000s, the time when Employment took over, and Leeds briefly took over the world. See you all in May.”.
For the headlining Kaiser Chiefs- who played one of the biggest shows this band has ever played, not because of the size but the importance. The Kaiser Chiefs burst onto the scene with a brash, anthemic sound in mid-2000s and their debut album Employment helped identify the British indie rock movement- placing them as one of the UK’s favorite bands. The album sold over 2 million copies worldwide and was seven times platinum. At present, Employment has been retained by the group in their live performances. In an interview with NME in 2019, Ricky Wilson, the frontman, had expressed reluctance for a full tour of Employment.
“In a world where everyone’s going out on tour to celebrate the seventh anniversary of their first record. I don’t want to do it,” he said. That kind of echo a view at the time was reinforced by another original band member – bassist Simon Rix, who reckons they weren’t sure if it was the right time then but now with 20 years elapsed, the band clearly feels ready to embrace the album’s legacy with full-scale celebration. It promises to be one full day of musical camaraderie, amidst nostalgia that has made the fans across the UK converge once again, sharing their early days of British indie rock. Whether you are an ardent fan who would have followed them since Employment in 2005 or a recent convert, the Kaiser Chiefs show promises to be quite the event for 2025.
Get out the old band T’s, warm up those vocal cords for a sing-along and get ready to celebrate 20 years of Employment in the biggest hometown show yet.
