The summer is just about over, which means the end of those cool nights laying down in the lawn and watching your favorite band jam outdoors...and time to head indoors to uncomfortable arena shows with jacked up ticket prices and overpriced food and alcohol. Unfortunately, for me, I had to move indoors a little bit early this year to catch a much anticipated Kings of Leon show at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT.
What had originally been a group of 3 or 4 people going quickly turned into a group of 10-12 in the months leading up to the concert. So, needless to say, we couldn't all sit together and a whole coordination process followed to make sure we all got rides down and had time to grab a drink and eat before the show. That's part of the atmosphere of being at Mohegan Sun though...lots of great food.
During dinner it was decided that no one had any great ambition to see the opening act, The Features (also from Nashville and signed to KoL label). So after sandwich's, beverages, and v-neck t-shirt jokes at Geno Auriemma's bar we decided to head into the arena at around 8pm to catch the show. We split up into groups and found our seats. It actually worked out well because we all had different views of the stage, which accounted for different stories.
When we entered the opening act was already done, and the stage was already set up for Kings of Leon. They had a pretty nice stage set-up (our side view was obstructed, but I saw some other pics and videos)...two giant wide-screens on top of the stage, surrounded by columns of speakers, but behind them was draped just a plain ole' curtain. The curtain seemed a little simple compared to the rest of the setup, but whatever, I wasn't that concerned with the setup from a side view.
The band came on at about 8:40pm and started with the song "Crawl" off of their latest album, Only by the Night. It was a great way to start the concert...it was heavy, energetic, and it was a song that both old and new fans knew. You could hear people belting the lyrics, "You've gotta learn to crawllllll...before you walk awayyyyyyy...before you walk awayyyyyy..." Great way to start the show.
They followed it up with another hit single, "Charmer", before regressing (much to my applause) to the earlier days by breaking out their first single, "Molly's Chambers", before getting people on their feet with the always-catchy tune, "Soft". Then it was time for some slower stuff as Caleb traded in his back-up electic, for an acoustic to accommodate "Fans".
It seemed like not a whole lot of the crowd knew of those three songs so the band reminded the fans "Hello...we're Kings of Leon"...which was lame. Everybody in this crowd paid $60 bucks a piece to come see you guys...they better know who the heck you are if they shelled out that kind of green. Anyway...to get the new fans back into the show the band switched back to their latest album...Jared's bass-line could be felt through the seats as the band cruised through "Revelry" and people were getting close on the floor when they followed with "I Want You".
They left the crowd wanting more as they switched melodies between, "The Bucket", "My Party", "Be Somebody" and "Four Kicks" before giving the crowd what they wanted...their smash hit "Sex on Fire". You could hear the fans singing along over Matt's riffs as they rolled through what was probably the best song of the night. Well at least that's what I thought until they finished the song and began one of my favorites, "Notion", right after. Caleb's vocals were flawless on one of their most testing tunes...I was very impressed.
From there they finished their set with "Manhattan", "Cold Desert", "On Call" and then left the stage after finishing with "Slow Night, So Long". The first set seemed short, and as a fan of their older stuff, I was waiting to hear an encore jam-packed with some of their early singles like "King of the Rodeo" and/or, "Red Morning Light". The crowd did the normal applause and cheering routine until the band took the stage for an encore.
The house lights come down, the electronic sounds begin to fade up through the sound system on top of the cheers, and Caleb Followill's haunting vocals come in as the blue lights pierce the darkness and "Closer" begins.
The encore continued as they switched back to their jammier roots with the 7-minute anthem, "Knocked Up", before appeasing the bandwagon fans with their pop-garbage latest single, "Use Somebody" (sorry...not a fan). Luckily, they finished off the show on a great note with the powerful, "Black Thumbnail". The crowd gave the band a well deserved applause as they threw out the picks and sticks and walked off stage.
What had originally been a group of 3 or 4 people going quickly turned into a group of 10-12 in the months leading up to the concert. So, needless to say, we couldn't all sit together and a whole coordination process followed to make sure we all got rides down and had time to grab a drink and eat before the show. That's part of the atmosphere of being at Mohegan Sun though...lots of great food.
During dinner it was decided that no one had any great ambition to see the opening act, The Features (also from Nashville and signed to KoL label). So after sandwich's, beverages, and v-neck t-shirt jokes at Geno Auriemma's bar we decided to head into the arena at around 8pm to catch the show. We split up into groups and found our seats. It actually worked out well because we all had different views of the stage, which accounted for different stories.
When we entered the opening act was already done, and the stage was already set up for Kings of Leon. They had a pretty nice stage set-up (our side view was obstructed, but I saw some other pics and videos)...two giant wide-screens on top of the stage, surrounded by columns of speakers, but behind them was draped just a plain ole' curtain. The curtain seemed a little simple compared to the rest of the setup, but whatever, I wasn't that concerned with the setup from a side view.
The band came on at about 8:40pm and started with the song "Crawl" off of their latest album, Only by the Night. It was a great way to start the concert...it was heavy, energetic, and it was a song that both old and new fans knew. You could hear people belting the lyrics, "You've gotta learn to crawllllll...before you walk awayyyyyyy...before you walk awayyyyyy..." Great way to start the show.
They followed it up with another hit single, "Charmer", before regressing (much to my applause) to the earlier days by breaking out their first single, "Molly's Chambers", before getting people on their feet with the always-catchy tune, "Soft". Then it was time for some slower stuff as Caleb traded in his back-up electic, for an acoustic to accommodate "Fans".
It seemed like not a whole lot of the crowd knew of those three songs so the band reminded the fans "Hello...we're Kings of Leon"...which was lame. Everybody in this crowd paid $60 bucks a piece to come see you guys...they better know who the heck you are if they shelled out that kind of green. Anyway...to get the new fans back into the show the band switched back to their latest album...Jared's bass-line could be felt through the seats as the band cruised through "Revelry" and people were getting close on the floor when they followed with "I Want You".
They left the crowd wanting more as they switched melodies between, "The Bucket", "My Party", "Be Somebody" and "Four Kicks" before giving the crowd what they wanted...their smash hit "Sex on Fire". You could hear the fans singing along over Matt's riffs as they rolled through what was probably the best song of the night. Well at least that's what I thought until they finished the song and began one of my favorites, "Notion", right after. Caleb's vocals were flawless on one of their most testing tunes...I was very impressed.
From there they finished their set with "Manhattan", "Cold Desert", "On Call" and then left the stage after finishing with "Slow Night, So Long". The first set seemed short, and as a fan of their older stuff, I was waiting to hear an encore jam-packed with some of their early singles like "King of the Rodeo" and/or, "Red Morning Light". The crowd did the normal applause and cheering routine until the band took the stage for an encore.
The house lights come down, the electronic sounds begin to fade up through the sound system on top of the cheers, and Caleb Followill's haunting vocals come in as the blue lights pierce the darkness and "Closer" begins.
The encore continued as they switched back to their jammier roots with the 7-minute anthem, "Knocked Up", before appeasing the bandwagon fans with their pop-garbage latest single, "Use Somebody" (sorry...not a fan). Luckily, they finished off the show on a great note with the powerful, "Black Thumbnail". The crowd gave the band a well deserved applause as they threw out the picks and sticks and walked off stage.
So there's the concert...hope you enjoyed it...here are my post-show thoughts:
- The band has not gotten over their "new to America" status. The fans are over it, but the media and the band are not. The fans that were there surprisingly knew a lot of their older tunes, but the band still introduced themselves...twice.
- It sounds like they've been over-doing this tour a little bit (which has been going on since the beginning of summer 2008). Caleb brought a lot of energy in his vocals, but not in his on-stage antics. There was little to no crowd interaction, no putting the mic down and letting the crowd sing, or misdirection in song selection.
- As far as the instrumentation goes...although Matt and Jared played their guitars flawlessly...it was Nathan's drumming that stood out to me the most...he was energetic, his cymbals were right on all night long, his fills were perfect, and he never missed a beat. However, as a band together, there was not a whole lot of energy present.
- I had a lot of fun...the set list was great, the people I was with were great, and all-in-all...it was a show I'll never forget. The band has grown a lot over the years and you can hear it on their albums and through their sound...now, as they reach a "make or break" point in their career, they must not look down on the newer fans that missed them in the early days, but they must make those new fans want to go back and listen to how their sound matured and led them to such a highly celebrated album.
In my previous post I gave a list of criteria that I would've liked to had been met for the show to be considered a "good" show. So here are my final thoughts:
CRITERIA TO MAKE THIS A GOOD SHOW
1. "King of the Rodeo" must be played. - FAIL...the set list did not include this song.
2. "Red Morning Light" must be played. - FAIL...not played.
3. "Use Somebody" CANNOT be the final song...don't leave a crowd on a slow song...ever. PASS...although I had my doubts at some points.
4. Being that there is no opening band to the extent of my knowledge...the show must last AT LEAST 2 hours. N/A...there was an opening band, the concert lasted about 1:40 mins.
5. B-Lar and I must remember the concert. PASS! Geno's Strawberry Daquiris got nothing on B-Lar! 
So they went 2-2-1...not a bad score. Either way it was well worth it. I'm also pleased to announce the next show on the concert agenda will be Silversun Pickups w/ Cage the Elephant on Tuesday, October 20th. Stay tuned for more information and enjoy the first weekend of NFL Football...
One of my long standing dreams was to attend Kings of leon concert live. . I know all the words of their songs by heart …well they are performing this year. Next weekend I’m going to visit my sister and we will attend their concert ; I've compared tickets prices tix before from Ticketwood for free
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ticketwood.com/kings-of-leon/
So I'll be analyzing as well as enjoying the concert.