Kasabian will play at this year's BAFTA's ceremony in London after being snubbed by the music industry's annual showcase, the Brit Awards. The Leicester rockers failed to receive a nomination for next month's awards ceremony, much to the bemusement of their diehard following.

KasabianSerge Pizzorno says Kasabian's BRITs snubbing is a conspiracy against rock

Sharp-eyed BAFTA producers were quickly on the case and invited Kasabian to open the show for their black-tie movie fest.

Katherine Allen of Bafta producers Whizz Kid Entertainment, said: "Kasabian are the biggest rock band of the year and they headlined Glasto. What better way to kick off the Baftas with a bang? We wanted something totally different this year."

More: From Gravity to Barkhad Abdi - where the BAFTA's 2014 got it wrong

Serge Pizzorno, Kasabian's guitarist, told The Independent: "It's a huge honour to open the Baftas because we're all such great film fans. It'll be a strange old show playing in front of a load of penguins but it's going to be great."

"We're going to start the night off with a huge explosion. We're going to play everything twice as loud. Half the people there won't have a clue what is going on."

More: check out our live review of Kasabian in Leicester

On the BRITs snubbing, Pizzorno said: "It's a conspiracy. They're trying to shut rock and roll out of it [the Brits]. What sort of message does that send to working class rock and roll bands which the industry is in dire need of?"

"Kasabian couldn't have done any more last year. It's bulls***t really. It's way more exciting playing the Baftas than the Brits."

Both the BAFTAs and BRITS recorded 4.6 million viewers east last year, on the BBC and ITV respectively. This year's movie event will once again be hosted by Stephen Fry from the Royal Opera House, while Ant and Dec host the music bash at the O2 Arena.