Post by Nashville on Oct 6, 2009 11:22:34 GMT
Review from concert Oklahoma City 3th october 2009:
Kings of Leon tore through a gimmick-free rock set that was every bit as epic as expected Saturday night at Ford Center.
MULTIMEDIA
PHOTOview all photos
Playing with the confidence and polish expected of a band that's toured the world nonstop for the past year, the quartet left a nearly-sold out crowd hollering for more as it spilled into the streets after a stunning, career-spanning, 90-minute set.
Their enthusiasm was notable because of what they had -- and had not -- seen and heard.
There were no backup musicians, pre-recorded tracks or computer-enhanced vocals. No high-flying theatrics, pyrotechnics or elaborate stage sets.
There were just four guys and four instruments, pulling no tricks and playing soaring, stylish rock music as if it was still the pure, primal force it once was.
In short, Kings of Leon offered a refreshing affirmation that gimmick-free arena rock still exists as it did with artists like U2 and Bruce Springsteen in their primes.
To that end, this is prime time to watch Kings of Leon. Four albums into its career, the Oklahoma-bred band is in the rarest of spots, having scored simultaneous creative and commercial breakthroughs with its album "Only by the Night."
The album's No. 1 singles "Sex on Fire" and "Be Somebody" are largely responsible for the feat, and the crowd acknowledged so by drowning out singer Caleb Followill with deafening roars of every lyric of both songs.
But equally impressive was the attention the nearly sold-out arena paid to songs from each stage of the band's career.
They let out blood-curdling screams in tandem with Followill on "Charmer," from 2007’s "Because of the Times." And when the band intentionally dirtied up the bombastic groove of "Molly's Chambers" by slowing it down a notch, the crowd cooed and begged for more music from the band's peppy 2003 debut, "Youth and Manhood."
It was clear that Oklahoma City loves Kings of Leon, and has for quite some time.
But perhaps most telling of the crowd's steadfast fixation with this band was the fact that they could've cared less when Followill announced that the Sooner football team was losing its game that night.
If you can make people forget about Sooner football in this state, you're in an elite group.
Followill usually sang with his eyes closed, contorting his bearded face to every syllable he sang in his snarling, sex-soaked voice. Sweat dripped from his brow during chorus of the hit "Be Somebody," when he pleaded that he could "use somebody, someone like you" so sincerely that it felt as if he was speaking directly to each person there. At one point in the song, he opened his eyes and flashed a smile as if to acknowledge that in the crowd, he'd found that someone.
"This is the best crowd of the tour," he said toward the close of the set. "It's a homecoming."
Welcome home, Kings.
Read more: www.newsok.com/article/3406301?searched=kings%20of%20leon&custom_click=search#ixzz0T9aOPSRC
Kings of Leon tore through a gimmick-free rock set that was every bit as epic as expected Saturday night at Ford Center.
MULTIMEDIA
PHOTOview all photos
Playing with the confidence and polish expected of a band that's toured the world nonstop for the past year, the quartet left a nearly-sold out crowd hollering for more as it spilled into the streets after a stunning, career-spanning, 90-minute set.
Their enthusiasm was notable because of what they had -- and had not -- seen and heard.
There were no backup musicians, pre-recorded tracks or computer-enhanced vocals. No high-flying theatrics, pyrotechnics or elaborate stage sets.
There were just four guys and four instruments, pulling no tricks and playing soaring, stylish rock music as if it was still the pure, primal force it once was.
In short, Kings of Leon offered a refreshing affirmation that gimmick-free arena rock still exists as it did with artists like U2 and Bruce Springsteen in their primes.
To that end, this is prime time to watch Kings of Leon. Four albums into its career, the Oklahoma-bred band is in the rarest of spots, having scored simultaneous creative and commercial breakthroughs with its album "Only by the Night."
The album's No. 1 singles "Sex on Fire" and "Be Somebody" are largely responsible for the feat, and the crowd acknowledged so by drowning out singer Caleb Followill with deafening roars of every lyric of both songs.
But equally impressive was the attention the nearly sold-out arena paid to songs from each stage of the band's career.
They let out blood-curdling screams in tandem with Followill on "Charmer," from 2007’s "Because of the Times." And when the band intentionally dirtied up the bombastic groove of "Molly's Chambers" by slowing it down a notch, the crowd cooed and begged for more music from the band's peppy 2003 debut, "Youth and Manhood."
It was clear that Oklahoma City loves Kings of Leon, and has for quite some time.
But perhaps most telling of the crowd's steadfast fixation with this band was the fact that they could've cared less when Followill announced that the Sooner football team was losing its game that night.
If you can make people forget about Sooner football in this state, you're in an elite group.
Followill usually sang with his eyes closed, contorting his bearded face to every syllable he sang in his snarling, sex-soaked voice. Sweat dripped from his brow during chorus of the hit "Be Somebody," when he pleaded that he could "use somebody, someone like you" so sincerely that it felt as if he was speaking directly to each person there. At one point in the song, he opened his eyes and flashed a smile as if to acknowledge that in the crowd, he'd found that someone.
"This is the best crowd of the tour," he said toward the close of the set. "It's a homecoming."
Welcome home, Kings.
Read more: www.newsok.com/article/3406301?searched=kings%20of%20leon&custom_click=search#ixzz0T9aOPSRC
