91Èȱ¬

RT: This gig at Hull Arena is part of a really long tour. Do you approach the next gig with the same sense of excitement you did at the start?

KC: It's fine when the audience turns up but the soundchecks are totally boring now. When we started in Munich on the 29th October we were taking an hour to soundcheck. Now in Hull on the 4th December it takes ten minutes.

RT: You've got a sell out crowd tonight. How important is that to you?

KC: This is one of the smaller venues so it feels more like a proper gig, like the gigs we used to do so that makes it more exciting.

RT: It's only a few years since you were playing at the Welly Club in Hull supporting the Ordinary Boys. Do you remember that gig? Everyone was saying "the support were amazing!"

KC: Yeah, supporting the Ordinary Boys....! I had a really strong memory of that gig as I got into Hull tonight.

RT: This summer you played a small secret gig at Leeds Festival. How did that come about?

KC: I remember exactly when it was decided. We were walking down Carnaby Street in London and Whitey (guitarist) said "We should do somethingÌý cool" and literally in the time it took to walk down Carnaby St our manager had spoken to the Leeds Festival bookers about doing somethng a bit different and that set the ball rolling. We didn't want anyone to know about it until our drum kit appeared on stage with the name Kaiser Chiefs on it so we were billed as a made up band Hooks for Hands.

RT: You did keep it quiet. Not even the stage crew at the Carling Stage were aware of the gig until you rolled up in your tour bus. I think it got leaked to The Sun that morning but most festival goers wouldn't have been reading The Sun as they crawled out of their tents!

KC: Yeah, it was a hard secret to keep but we did it.

RT: How did you feel walking out on stage, a home Leeds crowd of only a couple of thousand people - a real contrast to your Main Stage appearances of the past few years.

KC: (Peanut)Ìý It was one of the highlights of the summer. (Nick) It was one of the highlights of my life. Honestly. It was the best gig ever for me. We did seven songs, all our singles and we never get to do that normally. Hearing all our hits together like that made me very very proud. Seeing all those people running towards the tent to try and get in...it was a great moment.

RT: So this tour, what songs are going down well.

KC: I love it when we play Everyday I Love You Less And Less. The crowd pretty much get through the whole of the first verse.....

RT: Does Ricky just let them get on with it?

KC: Yeah. But I control it really (Nick) because when I come back in it moves the song forward.Ìý The Power! (Peanut) It's a great feeling.

RT: You're from Leeds. Did you see yourselves as part of a "scene" when you started out?

KC:Ìý (Nick)We were never part of that grassroots scene ourselves. I think we had alot more ambition. (Peanut) You suddenly realise when you're in a local band that not every band has the same drive as you. (Nick) We wanted to not necessarily be a Leeds band. We wanted to be the best in the country. We used to get slagged off on the local music websites. We didn't get much support really.

RT: Next year you're back in Leeds at Elland Rd. Looking forward to that? Football stadium gigs were quite a big thing in the 70s - the Who played regularly at Charlton Athletic and it became a big yearly event...

KC: Did they? Yeah, we're looking forward to it. It's the biggest venue in Leeds so we had to wait til we were big enough. Should be great.