Arctic Monkeys lead Q award lists, Oasis also star

LONDON (Reuters Life!) Sheffield band the Arctic Monkeys lead this year's Q Awards with four nominations, while Oasis, who currently announced their split, are up for two prizes.
Among other artists with multiple nominations for the music publication's annual awards were U2, Florence & The Machine, The Prodigy, Kasabian and Dizzee Rascal. The prizes are handed out on October 26.
Arctic Monkeys, who have just released their third album, appear on the shortlist for best track ("Crying Lightning"), best live act, best album ("Humbug") and best act in the world.
Manchester's Oasis have been nominated for best live act and best act in the world, despite songwriter and guitarist Noel Gallagher announcing last month that he had quit the band due to a bust up with his brother and frontman Liam.
"The nominations are compiled from votes cast in their thousands by Q's readers, listeners, viewers and online users, so they reflect the choice of the nation's music fans," said Q Magazine editor-in-chief Paul Rees.
Following are the nominations:
Best New Act:
White Lies; Friendly Fires; Empire Of The Sun; Passion Pit; The Dead Weather

the Civic, Kasabian swagger

“So did you miss us at the V Festival?” Tom Meighan asked the sold out Civic, prompting the city’s longest composite ‘Yesss’ since Wolves won promotion.
And for anyone who suffered Oasis’ grudging and soulless set at Weston Park, this was the perfect antidote.
From the minute Meighan blustered on stage newly trimmed and looking like a slicked up Russell Crowe he grouped any doubts that a current swine flu scare had dimmed his innate likeability and raucous stage presence. “Yes, I’m alive,” he beamed.
Epic opener Underdog set the standard and, having acquired the ‘difficult third album’ syndrome with ease, Kasabian were able to cherry pick a catalogue now incomparable by any band since The Stone Roses.

Cue big stomping anthems, almost all of which turned into sing along, clap along fan fests with the whole venue joining in, except the security staff, who bottled their big moment, to pantomime boos from everyone else.
The set was faultless, with ‘Where did all the love go’ and ‘Fire’ raising the bar ever higher. Time, unhappily , flew past. So much so that when Club Foot kicked in, it still felt like the center order.
In fact it was the set closer, giving way to a storming repeat of Stuntman, followed by a reprise of their Glastonbury showpiece as Candi Staton’s ‘You got the love’ bled seamlessly into a memorably rousing LSF.
As the band left a sea of smiling faces in their wake, Meighan shouted above the cheers: “We need you to make us the most important band in Britain.”

Kasabian declared Australia tour this August

Kasabian, the enormous heretics of British rock and one of the UK’s most up-to-date bands have fired their way back into 2009 with their 3rd studio album The West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum debuting at #1 in the UK album charts and #11 in the ARIA album charts this week. This is their second #1 album in the UK and their first album to crack the Top 15 Australian charts.

The band who are presently on tour in the UK and who will also be performing select dates with Oasis as well as marking on the Summer festival circuit in Europe. Tom Meighan and Serge Pizzorno from the band will be coming to Australia as part of a promotional tour in mid August.