Kings of Leon, O2 Arena 16/6/09

The anticipation I had for this gig was immense. After counting down the days for the last 6 months, I finally got to see why the world is in uproar over these four men.

Before this show, I wasn’t a massive fan of bigger venues as I prefer to see bands in a more intimate setting. However, this time there was something about being within a larger crowd that made the occasion that more special; similar to watching a headline act at a festival. The excitement didn’t fully kick in until I found myself standing front row, surrounded by thousands of equally as excited people. Glasvegas opened the show and actually blew me away. For a band that isn’t too familiar with playing arenas, they didn’t have any problems at all doing it justice with their powerful live sound. After playing a few tracks from their debut and a teasing the crowd with the introduction of Kings of Leon’s ‘On Call’, they definitely showed that they deserved the support slot. Also, kudos to the front man for the ray-bans and torso-revealing shirt duo, worthy of best dressed but closely lost out to Caleb’s tight skinny jeans...

Firstly, I don’t think I have ever witnessed a band fit so many songs into 2 hours. The 23-song set began with ‘Closer’, appropriate as it is in my opinion one of the best from the new record. After rocking the arena with the powerful ‘Crawl’ and ‘Be Somebody’, they began delving into their back catalogue, playing hits such as ‘Taper Jean Girl’ and ‘Molly’s Chambers’. They did a good job of balancing the set with songs from each of their albums, the only song I was surprised they didn’t play was ‘Revelry’ and I would’ve loved to have heard ‘Joe’s Head’ and ‘Arizona’ as they are personal favourites. But regardless, it was obvious they chose a set that would please old fans who love their debut southern rock and roll sound, the newer fans that perhaps prefer the mellowness of the new album and the true fans who love it all. I didn’t think it was possible but they made their songs sound even better live. The up-tempo parts of ‘Trani’ were incredible, definitely one of the best played songs of the night along with ‘Charmer’ and ‘My Party’. The crowd favourites were predictably ‘On Call’, ‘Milk’ and ‘Sex On Fire’, all of which had 20,000 people helping Caleb out with the vocals. I was over the moon that they chose to play ‘Cold Desert’ as I was desperate to hear live one of the most poignant songs I have ever heard. The set was technically closed with ‘Use Somebody’ and as my favourite song of the new album, it was definitely a highlight of the night (that and Matthew waving at us afterwards!). They then came back on stage to complete an encore consisting of ‘Knocked Up’, ‘Black Thumbnail’, ‘Slow Night, Slow Long’ and lastly ‘Manhattan’. An unpredictable choice for the finale as it’s normally the fast pace force of ‘Slow Night, So Long rocking our ear drums at the end, but the beautiful soft tone of ‘Manhattan’ delivered a perfect ending to a perfectly delivered set.

The band are known for not speaking much during their performances, but this time once Caleb started talking, he couldn’t stop. He seemed sincerely overwhelmed by the crowd who were nothing but commending throughout. I have read many times that they are often baffled by the people they see before them in the crowd because they are not ‘their’ kind of people so it was moving to hear Caleb say “you’re not here just to be here, you’re here because you’re us, you’re with us”. For a man of little words, he sure makes a good speech.