Posted By: Editor
October 2, 2024
On Thursday 26th, I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to interview Tom Meighan on the opening night of his 13 date headline UK tour, starting at The Foundry in Torquay.
Tom was understandably excited, however, he could not have been more accommodating, kind and honest to me which was really pleasant.
Sean: Hi Tom, I am Sean, the Southwest Music Correspondent for What’s On Southwest Magazine and we are in Torquay for the opening night your UK tour. How excited are you to be back on the road with a full band and playing new material, following all the “Raw” shows you have played and toured for the majority of this year?
Tom: I am absolutely buzzing to be back on the road with a full band and new material. I’m doing some great cities, great venues, especially the one tonight, it’s cool as well, it’s a great venue. Just being really close again with the fans, you know, these are intimate shows, aren’t they? It’s where it’s at.
Sean: How do the small, up close and personal shows & venues compare to playing arenas and big crowds?
Tom: In arenas you can lose that rock and roll vibe…that’s the danger of it. Arenas are great…I’ve lived in arenas… I do like the intimate ones and the smaller ones are amazing. The smaller ones are some of the most memorable ones. If you do a 10-day arena tour they all become the same after a while. They’re all very déjà vu – same format, same setup – so you do lose your little, kind of edge to yourself
Sean: Your first debut album ‘The Reckoning’ did really well, I know it came in at number two in the indie charts. There were some amazing songs on there, musically and lyrically. So, congratulations on the success of that album and coming back solo. That must have felt amazing!
Tom: Yeah, it did alright, Sean. I put it out there to see what had happened. I mean, I was up against Ed Sheeran and other artists like that. So, I did really well, Sean! I was proud to stand up against them…I’ve had no backing or no radio…proud to be sitting at number four midweek. Yeah, I felt very great about that.
Sean: Is there any songs on there that stand out to you, that’s helped with your personal growth and boosted you?
Tom: I mean there’s a lot, there’s a lot of apologetic songs and stuff on that album. There’s a lot. There’s a time, a moment.
Sean: Proper heart on sleeve stuff.
Tom: Yeah, there’s apologies and all the regret and remorse. I’ve done all that…The first album was hard to make…really difficult…and it turned out great. I was kind of in the wilderness for a long while, so it came out all right!
Sean: ‘Roadrunner’ is the upcoming album. So, what can we expect from Roadrunner in comparison to the Reckoning? Any surprises?…
Tom: ‘Roadrunner’ it’s more Kasabian than Kasabian.
Sean: When I caught you in Exeter last year, obviously you played some Kasabian classics. Can we expect any of them tonight or do we have to wait and see?
Tom: Yeah of course we’ll stick a few in – the massive songs! I’d be foolish not to play them…the only thing separating me and them is the name!
Sean: That’s why I didn’t want to refer to you as Ex Kasabian. It’s important to remember but at same time you’re Tom Meighan and I respect that!
Tom: Thank you Sean. Bless you mate, thanks for having me.
Sean: Tom, enjoy the tour. Have a great night tonight. I look forward to the release of Roadrunner. You can pre-order it now on the shop at www.tommeighanofficial.com. Set for release at the end of January 2025. Tom, anything you would like to add?
Tom: No, just thank you for your time and watch this space!
Tom was absolutely buzzing to be back on the road with a full band and new material. He had the audience engaged from the get go till the very end, opening with the Kasabian classic ‘Underdog’, then going straight into a few songs from ‘The Reckoning’ and upcoming ‘Roadrunner’ albums. The crowd were engaged from the very start, there was a real sense in the venue that we’ve got a proper music icon here and we’re going to show why the South West shouldn’t be missed. The energy levels from the crowd and band alike were incredible, the place was bouncing from the floor to the balcony. Even throughout the songs from Toms upcoming album, the crowds energy still matched the energy from when he played the Kasabian classics, which you could tell meant a lot to Tom.
