Kaiser Chiefs can't wait to get back on road with date at Birmingham Utilita Arena

They start their string of dates on November 2 and will be arriving at Birmingham's Utilita Arena on November 18 – and will bring with them another two very accomplished bands in their own right..

Formed in Leeds in 2000, Kaiser Chiefs are one of the leading bands of their generation. Fronted by the magnetic Ricky Wilson with Simon Rix on bass, Andrew ‘Whitey’ White on guitar, Nick ‘Peanut’ Baines on keyboards and drummer Vijay Mistry, the band were Mercury Prize nominated for their debut album ‘Employment’ and went on to win three BRIT awards, an Ivor Novello award for Album of the Year, and have sold more than eight million albums worldwide.

Kaiser Chiefs have solidly made their mark as heroes within the British music scene, with absolutely no sign of them slowing down. The band have released seven studio albums to date including chart-toppers, ‘Yours Truly, Angry Mob’ and ‘Education, Education, Education & War,’ plus their much-praised 2019 and Top 3 album ‘Duck’. Watch this space for new music to come. Kaiser Chiefs have also enjoyed multiple Top 10 singles including the infamous No.1 hit ‘Ruby’ plus anthems such as ‘Oh My God’, ‘I Predict A Riot’, ‘Everyday I Love You Less and Less’ and ‘Never Miss A Beat’.

Glaswegian trio The Fratellis will also perform, following a rollercoaster year in 2021 which saw them unleash a new album alongside a barrage of singles and collaborations, before rounding the year off by winning the prestigious King Tut’s Songwriting Award at the Scottish Music Awards. They’ll perform songs from their new album, ‘Half Drunk Under a Full Moon’ as well as fan-favourites and indie anthems such as ‘Chelsea Dagger’.

Kaiser Chiefs’ Yorkshire neighbours The Sherlocks will open each night, completing a star-studded line-up. The Sheffield quartet have swiftly grown to become one of the UK’s most exciting live bands. Selling out tours across the nation, they have also achieved chart success with two UK Top 10 albums.

Featuring three of the most successful British guitar bands, these autumn 2022 UK arena shows are not to be missed. Each band are masters of their craft, their set-lists packed with hits and an unrivalled energy – nothing less than a ‘reyt good time’.

The Kaiser Chiefs can't wait to hit the road.

Ricky Wilson has become a bit of a celebrity in his own right, having performed a stint on The Voice as a judge. But he says nothing bears being on stage performing.

He says: "So, we’re going on tour in November – next month. I’m pretty excited about it. We haven’t done it in a long time have we, Vijay?"

Vijay adds: "Not for a long time, no."

Ricki says: "Do you think we’re still up for it? Cause, you know, sometimes you think 'can we still do it?' I can remember once, we played at a little place in Manchester – before Education, Education, Education & War came out – and we hadn’t done a show in a while and I can remember being in the bathroom, looking in the mirror and thinking to myself ‘Is it gonna happen? Is it still in there? Is it still, like, in my ability to do this?’ And then you walk out on stage and it all comes back to you."

Vijay has to train to get in shape: "I have to do some training, I have to do some prep. Well you start off small, so you gotta do finger exercises – I like to pick up a remote controller, and then turn the channels on the telly… that gets the fingers moving! Then eight or nine months later, you can do one song… And then you just keep building!"

As well as the finger exercises, there'll also be judicious fashion choices when they arrive in Birmingham.

Ricky: "It all depends what Vijay is wearing – he is my fashion inspiration."

Vijay: "You’re MY fashion inspiration!"

It's like the chicken and the egg...

Ricky: "I think we’re getting baggier."

Vijay: "We are getting baggier! Eventually we’ll end up like 1970s Elton with two pianos facing each other."

Ricky: "It’ll be like Billy Joel and Elton John …Duelling Pianos… Duelling Outfits? I really liked school uniform because you didn’t have to worry about it. It makes me know that I’m now going to work."

Vijay: "I think it’s good yeah cause if you’re thinking about what you’re wearing every day that’s like, that’s crazy. It’s quite good because I guess it almost, in a strange way, it’s sort of like 'that was that tour'. I once made the mistake of wearing exceptionally baggy trousers. And after the first beat, the beater for the kick drum got stuck up the trouser leg! So I had to play the first song side footed! I have vowed never to wear shorts on stage – I just don’t like the way they look!"

Ricky: "When you get to that stage where there’s more material in your gloves than there are on your body, you know you’re a professional drummer… The thing is, we are a band, and we’re supposed to act like we don’t really care. But then you go and see someone like Kylie, who has like 15 outfit changes, and to be honest – I’m a little bit jealous! Literally outfit-wise, you have one shot for us! However, the moment that Vijay wears shorts and short fingerless gloves, and I have an outfit change, is when it’s gone too far."

While Ricky and Vijay battle it out in the fashion stakes, they leave it to Simon to do the setlist.

Ricky says: "Simon always does the setlist. I usually do the set design. But I don’t have to do that every day – that’s the difference between me and Simon.

"It’s funny cause we have a setlist, and then he’ll make the smallest change which will be greeted by the biggest upset from various band members," he laughs. "At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter – but we make it really matter on the day. And if I’m not happy with the change then I’ll deliberately make it an awful show! No I won’t, I’ve never done that!"