Indie band, Cast, put differenes aside to take Shepherd’s Bush Empire by storm

REFRESHED from his solo warm-up gig at Kilburn’s condemned Luminaire singer-songwriter John Power reunited with former Cast band members to play their first gig in seven years at the Shepherds Bush Empire.

A packed house exploded as the indie band took to the stage as half-full cups of beer flew across the muppets-style auditorium and onto the stage in some strange show of respect.

The moshing began during the in a small section of the 30-something crowd and spread with every track as they were taken back to their blissful student years in a nostalgic mist.

Despite their extended split the boys gelled and espoused the same innocent passion of 15-years-ago as they traversed the hits from their double platinum selling album All Change.

The fabulous Empire only added to the intimacy of this reunion with the three-tiered balconies erupting at the first note of classics Alright, Finetime and the rest.

As former Las bass player Power swapped his electric guitar for an acoustic he slipped into the hand-swaying anthem Walkaway which seemed to touch John as much as the crowd applauding each other at the end.

Stepping it up again the moshing followed more ferociously than before with bemused crowd surfers being passed to security at the front of house and carted off for an early shower.