An online lesson from Kasabian

You've got to hand it to Kasabian.

Just a decade after forming the band in Leicester, Tom, Serge, Ian and Chris returned to their roots and played at least three songs from each of their five albums to 50,000 fans in the city's Victoria Park, just one week before headlining at the daddy of all festivals, Glastonbury.

The night was a tremendous success and a true love-in between the group and its adoring followers, marred slightly by the distinct lack of toilets for the gathered throng (note to organisers: 50,000 into 100 does not go).

The fortnight before though, was a classic case of how the internet will fill an information vacuum, with potentially damaging consequences.

When the tickets for the gig went on sale several months ago, the only thing for certain was that Kasabian were playing Leicester. Leading up to the sell-out event, the band confirmed there would be support acts on the day, but would not say who they were.

Excitement raged through the city and Kasabian's national fan base. Not only would we be paying homage to our local lads, there'd be other major stars involved as well.

Still no word from the band, but the web was awash with rumours. Damon Albarn, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and The Maccabees were regular mentions, with the rumours apparently given credence when Tom Meighan mentioned The Maccabees in a pre-concert interview with the local newspaper on 8th June.

Reaction to the official support announcement on 17th June was, it would be fair to say, mixed. Replacing the rumours with the reality of a bunch of DJs had the fans reaching for their keyboards.

Comments like: "What a lot of old tosh… how bad are the support acts… not a classic day out is it… I'd have preferred Sam Bailey and Showaddywaddy…" far outweighed expressions of delight at the revelation.

The build up to the event was punctured and took some time to recover its momentum as people reassessed their expectations and braced themselves for Beardy Man, Zane Lowe and the trumpet miming of Rudimental.

The internet had launched the event and sold the tickets, then sent high expectations for the event soaring even higher before bringing them crashing down to earth.

Okay, so the planet wasn't destroyed and people didn't riot on the streets as a result. There was some negative comment online, but nobody had bought tickets expecting to see Mr Gallagher so nobody got rid of their tickets as a result. The gig was still a sell-out.

Those who wanted to see the DJs pressing play on their iPods and prancing around on stage got in early. The others simply drank themselves silly in London Road pubs instead, then queued to get in the park so they could queue for the loos.

However, even if Kasabian hadn't firmed up on the support acts, managing expectations and filling the vacuum before the internet filled it for them might have been a good move. They got away with it this time, but it would be nice if the build up to the band's next gig on home soil wasn't as much of a roller coaster of anticipation and disappointment.

Moan over lads. Now go and smash it at Glastonbury!