Kasabian and Arctic Monkeys lead the field with six nominations each; Kasabian are up for prizes as Best British Band, Best Live Band, Best Album and Best Album Artwork (for 2009’s "West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum"), Best Video ( “Fire” ) and the Giving It Back Fan Award.
The brand new Giving It Back Fan Award rewards artists who go the extra mile for fans: nominees include Danger Mouse - for leaking ‘Dark Night Of The Soul’; Lily Allen - for her Twitter ticket treasure hunt; Arctic Monkeys - for their Oxfam golden tickets; and, Vampire Weekend - for giving away ‘Horchata’ from the album ‘Contra’.
Kasabian and Noel Fielding, from the British comedy troupe, The Mighty Boosh, are nominated for their “Vlad The Impaler” collaboration (Fielding stars as Vlad), which was offered as a free download from the band’s site for a short period of time upon its release. Kasabian are scheduled to play tonight with special guest Fielding, so it’s more than a safe bet which song they’ll be performing.
Kasabian – Vlad The Impaler
(caution: contains some violent imagery – view at your discretion)
Awards shows are fairly standard animals: if you see a band play, they’re most likely to walk away with a prize, especially if it’s awarded right after their performance - pretty predictable stuff, really, so, that could bode well for the guys in Kasabian tonight, at least in the Giving It Back category.
Think about the concept: concerned about the tune-out factor, the producers aren’t going to spend 4 minutes of valuable national (or international) airtime with an artist that isn’t a ‘winner’ at the event; it does happen sometimes, but very, very rarely…and it makes good sense to put the performance and award next to each other, as the show flows well for those in attendance and viewers at home.
With the increased visibility, artists often score large after their appearance on the award show circuit, especially if they’ve stood out from the crowd: in Kasabian’s case, published items suggest Amazon.co.uk reported a 1,625 per cent increase in sales of the band’s latest album in the hours following the Brit Awards - a sure sign of the impact and immediacy of downloads in relation to media profile.
Kasabian – Fire
2010 Brit Awards - Feb 16/10
