Interviews / Articles

[daisy]

it's already been scanned

there was a big thread about it too, if you try doing a search for it i'm sure you'll find it :)xx

[bellestarr]

you can probably order a back issue from RS?
issue 969 march 10, 2005

[bellestarr]

from Rolling Stone:

KINGS OF LEON, LUCINDA WILLIAMS, DAVID GRAY and the SECRET MACHINES will be featured in National Public Radio's online concert series All Songs Considered. The performances will be streamed live from Washington D.C.'s 9:30 club on August 6th (Gray), 7th (Williams) and the 11th (Kings of Leon and Secret Machines) and can be viewed on NPR.org

[bellestarr]

Tennessee's Kings let rock 'n' roll reign
Sunday, August 07, 2005
By BRADLEY BAMBARGER
Star-Ledger Staff
Sin and salvation have always been key themes running through Southern music, usually in that order. They're in the songs and story of the Tennessee family rock quartet Kings of Leon, albeit turned the wrong way around.

"We grew up in church, but we're not exactly putting out a holy message these days," admits 23-year-old Caleb Followill, singer/guitarist in Kings of Leon, who play Monday at the Roseland Ballroom in New York and Tuesday at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville. "We're trying to score girls at the end of the night like anyone else."

Kings of Leon have a well-publicized tale, one that can seem more Hollywood than backwoods. The three mostly home-schooled sons of itinerant Pentecostal preacher Leon Followill and their cousin -- all fairly ignorant of rock 'n' roll and its ways -- shirked their preordained future. Learning to sing, play and write together with a mentor or two, the Followills developed a pithy, sexy garage-rock style drawn from a well closer to the Strokes than to the Allman Brothers.

The U.K., in the market for real-live Americana even when America isn't, bought platinum quantities of Kings of Leon's 2003 debut RCA album, "Youth & Young Manhood." Such was the hullabaloo around the band -- cover stories, celebrity fans, etc. -- that British snoops came over aiming to debunk that too-good-to-be true history, only to come up empty. Moreover, the striking evolution reflected in the group's second album, "Aha Shake Heartbreak," enabled Kings of Leon to beat the sophomore jinx and score another hit over there.

Back home, the Kings of Leon have had a tougher row to hoe, with the heartland especially resistant to the outfit's quirky grit. Even though U2 hand-picked the band to open its massive U.S. tour, "Aha Shake Heartbreak" only saw a marginal sales boost. (Together, the two albums have sold about 1 million copies in the U.K. and less than half that here.) But after London's glitz, it's a healthy reality check for a Followill to pick up his bags at the Nashville airport with nary a squealing girl or hounding reporter in sight.

Likewise, playing in half-empty arenas to U2 fans was a test that was wholly constructive, stoking the band's natural competitive spirit: "Being brothers, we grew up fighting for what we want, whether it was in sports or over girls," Caleb says. It seems the most challenging thing about the U2 tour was avoiding in-depth political discussions with Bono, ones where a country boy might be in over his head.

"Well, yeah, we heard all about Africa," Caleb says. "Still, I was scared at every after-party that tonight would be the night where I'd really have to get into it with him. I'd get a buzz on a quickly as I could, so that I'd slur my words talking to him and Bono would realize that I wasn't in any shape for taking it all in. It worked."

Yet there was much inspiration to be gleaned from U2's veteran example, according to Caleb: "I'll admit that I didn't know U2's music all that well, like a lot of things. But, man, it was incredible the number of great songs they'd string together every night. It made us realize that we have to keep our songwriting standards high if we want to keep doing this -- we can't sell ourselves short."

On initial tours, the Kings of Leon -- Caleb plus drummer Nathan, 26; bassist Jared, 18; and lead guitarist Matthew, 21, the cousin -- took casual lessons in hip from the born-and-bred Manhattanites of the Strokes, their label mates on RCA. Earlier, though, came formative musical input from Nashville-based songwriter/producer Angelo Petraglia. Because they didn't know the rock'n'roll canon like most guys their ages, just digging into Petraglia's record collection was an education.

"Not only had the Followills not spent years as a band playing around locally, they hadn't grown up listening to the primary sources of rock'n'roll," says Steve Ralbovsky, senior VP of A&R at RCA. "Angelo turned them onto the Rolling Stones, Velvet Underground, invaluable stuff. They really learned on the job and applied what they learned in spades."

Petraglia has been a virtual fifth member of the band ever since. He even inspired the mix of biblical and paternal in the band's name by suggesting Kings of Zion, before Caleb gave it the filial twist with their father's (and grandfather's) first name. The connection goes deeper, though, as Petraglia also co-wrote the songs on "Youth & Young Manhood" with the band, as well as co-produced it with another key mentor, Ethan Johns (son of famed classic-rock engineer Glyn Johns).

For the second album, Petraglia and Ethan Johns were back with their earthy production style, although the Followills were now able to go on their own more as songwriters. They had grown more adept at their instruments, with addictively off-kilter tunes spilling out. They also had plenty to write about, lyrically; their heads were swimming with intense new experiences.

But experiences don't always equal good songs, and the most remarkable aspect of "Aha Shake Heartbreak" is the way the Followills turned their worldly education into vivid pop art. Caleb drawls and yowls sketchbook lyrics that evoke not only the rush of high times but the downside of dizziness. Parties, girls, whisky and stronger things are everywhere; yet even a singer in a hot rock band might have overindulged enough to not measure up to a supermodel's nocturnal expectations.

When not on the road, the Kings of Leon foursome live near or in the Lebanon, Tenn., home of mother Followill, who contributes to the enterprise by cutting their hair and mending their jeans, even if she does think they're too tight. Leon Followill is a lapsed preacher these days, painting houses in Oklahoma, where the band returns for an annual family reunion of fishing, drinking and tall-tale telling.

The Kings of Leon realize that, if not for their lucky breaks, they'd probably be following the same path as their namesake, although "I don't know if I could've ever really been a preacher," Caleb says. "We're not a picture-perfect band, so I know it'd be difficult to ever pull that off as a man .. . But a rock show can be like church, where you feel this pinch, like you can from a good sermon.

"But we're biggest where everybody's atheists -- they don't know what church is like," Caleb adds. "So I hope they can at least hear the blood, sweat, tears and, yes, the other bodily fluids in our music."

Kings of Leon

With Secret Machines and the Helio Sequence

When and Where: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 8, Roseland Ballroom, 239 W. 52nd St., New York; 7:30 p.m. Aug. 9, Starland Ballroom, 570 Jernee Mill Rd., Sayreville.

How much: $27 for Roseland ($30 day of show); $23 for Starland ($25 day of show). Call [phone] or visit www.ticketmaster.com.




© 2005 The Star Ledger
© 2005 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

[Clair]

thanks, that was good

[bellestarr]

MUSIC REVIEW
Kings of Leon rule with a hard-edged set
By Marc Hirsh, Globe Correspondent | August 8, 2005

The Kings of Leon may be the sons (and one nephew) of a Pentecostal preacher and hail from below the Mason-Dixon Line, but if there was ever anything that made them a southern rock band as the term is typically understood (and as the Kings of Leon are often labeled), you wouldn't have known it from their performance at Avalon on Friday. Instead of relying on the blues and country accents that characterize that genre, the quartet seemingly located a sonic world ripe for the plucking in Ram Jam's ''Black Betty," with a few Jet-style raveups and some touches of the Strokes and Guided By Voices for good measure.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


David Gray
At: Avalon, Thursday



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The band's two albums should have made that clear, but onstage the Kings Of Leon provided a different experience entirely, more direct and nervy than on record. If their songs can be somewhat repetitive and their lyrics occasionally awkward, none of that particularly mattered as they blazed through ''Velvet Snow," ''King of the Rodeo," and ''Wasted Time."

In any other band, singer and nominal frontman Caleb Followill would have been the focus, resembling a longhaired Ashton Kutcher and yowling in a voice that crossed Chris Robinson with Bon Scott. But those paying attention couldn't help but notice that the real action seemed to be happening off to the side, where guitarist and cousin Matthew Followill tore off one fiery lead after another.

He made it seem as though the songs, whether speedy numbers such as ''Pistol Of Fire" and the psychobilly ''Spiral Staircase" or slower ballads like ''Trani," were merely excuses for him to attack the fretboard. By the time they closed with the urgent ''Slow Night, So Long," the rest of the Kings had caught up to him, bristling with such electric abandon that there wasn't any room for Matthew to solo, and there wasn't any need.

The two men of the opening Helio Sequence made like a harder Postal Service, using only the minimal tools of guitar, drums, and a sequencer to pull from aspects of '60s pop, '70s prog, and '80s postpunk technophilia.



© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

[caroline, maybe]

bellestarr said:

Instead of relying on the blues and country accents that characterize that genre, the quartet seemingly located a sonic world ripe for the plucking in Ram Jam's ''Black Betty," with a few Jet-style raveups and some touches of the Strokes and Guided By Voices for good measure.

In any other band, singer and nominal frontman Caleb Followill would have been the focus, resembling a longhaired Ashton Kutcher and yowling in a voice that crossed Chris Robinson with Bon Scott. But those paying attention couldn't help but notice that the real action seemed to be happening off to the side, where guitarist and cousin Matthew Followill tore off one fiery lead after another.

I'm a little bit confused by those comments. especially the first review, cause I've never thought KoL was a band that you could pigeonhole as far as any other bands that they sound like. I don't think they sound like a mixture of the strokes, jet and guided by voices at all... but if they did, they would still be so much more than a mathematical equation.

the second review was pretty good... sounds like they had a good night, and I'm glad they discussed matthew's skills, cause they don't do that often enough. I guess the chris robinson/ bon scott thing is kind of true for caleb... but an ashton kutcher comparison!! that hurts.

[bellestarr]

Washington DC August 09, 2005
General Admission: Kings of Leon/Secret Machines/Helio Sequence @ Roseland Ballroom
[ed. note: Gothamist is most likely, more often than not, standing next to you at one of the many shows happening in the city on any given week. We are everywhere. Now we aim to tell you about our experiences - the good, the bad and the out of tune - right here in our new review section headed up by Central Village's Jeff Baum.]

Gothamist tries to avoid the Roseland Ballroom at all costs when going to see live music. The space is large and impersonal, the acoustics are lousy, and the crowd is usually more concerned with procuring another light beer or screaming at their boyfriend than listening to the actual music on stage. All that being said, last night's triple bill of The Helio Sequence, Secret Machines, and Kings of Leon was too good for us to pass up, and was a worthy exception to our no Roseland rule. We trekked up through Times Square to the midtown venue for what we hoped would be good music and, at the very least, a tolerable concert experience.

The Helio Sequence was up first. The Portland drum + guitar duo create catchy music that appropriately falls right between the modern-country rock and the spacey atmospheria of the two headliners. They put on a solid show and were able to fill what was likely one of the larger venues they've played with a full, satisfying sound. They ended their set with the oft-covered Beatles song "Tomorrow Never Knows," and the sparse crowd filing into the hall throughout their set seemed impressed by what they heard. We were too.

Next up were the Secret Machines, who, in our experience, have never failed to put on a dazzling live set. The band is heavily backlit by an impressive array of mechanical lights that strobe and dart around, perfectly complimenting the pseudopsychedelic sound the Brooklyn trio has come to master. While their 75 minute set seemed to drag at times, they were always able to bring it back together when it mattered, nailing their hits, as well as an absolutely breathtaking cover of Bob Dylan's "Girl from North Country"

The Kings of Leon came on last. While it was our understanding that this was supposed to be a double headlining bill, almost everybody was there to see the Kings. As obnoxious as the people at Roseland can sometimes be, we genuinely appreciated the enthusiastic response the crowd gave these guys. It's rare to go see a band in New York with an audience that so openly enjoys the music being played. There was lots of drunken dancing, clapping and singing along, which might usually annoy us, but last night it just felt appropriate. The band blew through nearly every song they've got, and the sea of baseball caps and Livestrong bracelets went nuts at the opening chords of each one. A very strong set overall.

While we don't see ourselves going back anytime soon, we were surprised that the club seemed smaller than we last remembered, and felt the carpeted floor was a nice touch. What really matters, of course, is quality of the music being played on stage, and all three bands lived up to our expectations and made for an enjoyable night.

Posted by Jeff Baum in General Admission , Music , Review

[Heartbroken Smile]

Caleb looks NOTHING like Ashton Kutcher. Are some people completely blind???

x

[bellestarr]

Wed Aug 10, 2005 2:43 AM BST



Kings of Leon , Roseland Ballroom, New York)

By Tina Whelski

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Kings of Leon already have been hailed in the U.K.

There, mane-tossing brothers Caleb, Jared and Nathan Followill -- lead vocalist/guitarist, bassist and drummer, respectively -- and lead guitarist cousin Matthew Followill enjoy platinum status for their current album, "Aha Shake Heartbreak," and their first release, "Youth & Young Manhood." If their show Monday at Roseland was an indicator, the U.S. will soon throw the Tennessee family a similar coronation.

Home-schooled for the lion's share of their formative years and traveling from church to church and town to town with their preacher father, the brothers formed a tight unit that's reflected in their musical bond. Converting idiomatic phrases of 1960s garage sounds and '70s spirit into their own concoction of 200-proof rock, Kings of Leon barreled through some of their best songs.

In "The Bucket," Kings of Leon demonstrated how easily they navigate changes in feel and arrangement. "Soft" evoked a summertime '70s vibe, like driving in a Nova, windows down, listening to AM radio with all your troubles miles behind you. "Milk" gave away their Southern roots and showed how well they trim parts down to work together through rhythms.

Caleb's burned, slurry drawl and gravelly toned scowl were featured most prominently on "Pistol of Fire" and "Taper Jean Girl." The band also performed "Rememo," a waltz with a hangover; "Four Kicks," a shuffle where Caleb played chords for Matthew to answer with a boogie; and "Trani," where the band's chord progressions hinted at their church music influences. The line, "Lord's gonna get us back," from "Holy Roller Novocaine," one of their encores, sealed their religious sentiments with an amen to their hard-living lifestyles. Kings of Leon said goodbye with the twangy guitar intro and very Who-like instrumentation of "Slow Night, So Long."

While the band sounds a little bit like everybody, it also sounds like nobody. Kings of Leon learned their classics well, and their arrangements move out of the ordinary. Someone in the audience captured the show's mood perfectly when he shouted out a very pleased, "Whee!"

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter



-

[Naboo's Miracle Wax]

bellestarr said:

Home-schooled for the lion's share of their formative years
-

I love the fact that they add that, Cause I'm homeschooled and everytime I hear or read that I don't feel so odd.

[bellestarr]

08/11/2005
Coldplay, Kings of Leon on road to superstardom
By Matt Grisafi , ASSOCIATE EDITOR

The road to Rock Stardom is littered with nobodies, wanna-bes, has-beens and as luck would have it, some acutal stars.
For most bands, the path is a quick jaunt - a full on sprint to the Gates of Eden. A couple hits might get them in the party. But the subsequent atrocious album eventually fingers them for the frauds they are and they're promptly booted out the back door onto their backsides, destined for a future season of "The Surreal Life" or, if they're lucky, a mention on "Behind the 00's" (they'll have to work on that title).

Advertisement


The greats, however, always seem to take their time. They soak it all up. They'll sip a drink and listen to Bob Dylan and John Lennon discuss literature. Or they'll smoke a cigarette while George Harrison and Robert Johnson trade licks on a ukelele. They might take a seat in the dark corner of the lounge while McCartney and Ray Charles tickle the ivories.


Sure there will be some bumps along the way. Just ask U2 about Zooropa. But if they take it all in, the journey will ultimately be a successful one.


Two bands in much different stages of their journeys nearly converged this weekend - Kings of Leon at the Electric Factory and Coldplay at the Camden, N.J., Tweeter Center.


I saw the Followill brothers (and cousin) carry their own instruments into The Khyber a few years ago, virtual unknowns to the music world. Since then they've worked their way farther and farther along the road (and driving the Brits wild in the process). The show at The Khyber turned into an opening gig at the TLA for still-wannabes like Ben Kweller and Adam Green. That turned into a few headlining gigs of their own there, followed by a slot opening for The Strokes at the Tower Theater. But this year the Tennessee boys hit the big time and were picked to open for U2 on their latest tour.


The band's triumphant return to the area came Saturday, a gig that saw them graduate yet again - this time to the Electric Factory for a co-headlining show with the Secret Machines. The Machines had to cancel their performance due to a death close to the band, but the Kings picked up the slack with an energetic, hair-raising set that left no doubt as to who the headliners were.


Having witnessed their maturation at nearly every area show, I stood with arms folded watching like a proud papa as the audience ate it up.


The Kings blistered through a 20-song set, spanning most of the material from their 2003 debut Youth & Young Manhood and this year's follow-up Aha Shake Heartbreak.


The southern garage rockers touched on a variety of subjects from sex - the humorous "Soft," was one of the highlights of the night - to some good ol' fashioned rebel rousing in the form of "Pistol of Fire" or "Joe's Head." They showed they can also slow things down with the carnival-like "Rememo," before wisely kicking things back into overdrive with recent single "Four Kicks."


Not ones to prance arounce stage or chat up the audience, the Kings prefer to let their music do the talking. They are a Saturday night band, at their best when frontman Caleb Followill's grainy drawl slides overtop soaring hooks from guitarist Matthew, driving the audience into a frenzy. If they stick that formula, their popularity should continue soaring as well.


If the Kings are a Saturday night band, then Sunday nights belong to Coldplay. Fittingly, the mellow, emotion-filled music of the Brit quartet filled the Tweeter Center Sunday in a performance that saw them come of age. While Kings of Leon helped make their mark opening for U2, Coldplay is setting themselves up to make a run at Bono and company's reign as the world's biggest band.


While they still have a ways to go before garnering that honor, like the song they played over the sound system before the band came on stage: "Tomorrow Never Knows."


One thing that was made known is that frontman Chris Martin is a bonafide superstar. In past performances Martin has always been talkative and somewhat animated, soulfully gyrating from the stool of his piano. But on this night he demanded the sold-out audience's attention by hopping onto speakers and at one point even taking a lap through the Tweeter Center crowd.


The high-energy opener "Square One" was much more dynamic live than it is on the band's latest album, X&Y. On this and most numbers, the music was enhanced by some dazzling lighting and entertaining (although at times downright odd) video. The special effects - topped by the release of giant yellow confetti-filled balloons during the band's breakthrough hit, "Yellow," - put Coldplay into the realm of acts like the Flaming Lips, Pink Floyd and the aforementioned U2.


The three opening songs - "Square One," "Politik" and "Yellow," - were as good an opening as I've ever seen. To keep that pace up, however, would have been a daunting task and one that even the emotion of Martin couldn't have carried. New tracks "Low" and "The Hardest Part" were the only blase numbers in the set.


Noticeably missing was the band's second big hit from that album, "Trouble," but a brilliant "Everything's Not Lost" made up for it.


After retrieving a shirt thrown to him that read "Johnny Cash was a friend of mine," Martin talked about the Man in Black before performing the acoustic "Til Kingdom Come" - a song they wrote for Cash but one he never got to record before his death. The band continued with an equally enjoyable stripped down version of "Don't Panic," off the band's 2000 debut, Parachutes.


Martin had the crowd mesmerized for the entire show, nearly melting the vast number of females in attendance. If you can't get laid at a Coldplay show, you're probably not trying very hard. (Unfortunately some of us had a concert to review.)


Sensational performances of "In My Place," and new single "Fix You," put the finishing touches on an impressive night.


They may not be U2 yet, but three albums into a fine career, they certainly look like they're on their way. But the Road to Stardom is a fickle one. One misstep and a band headed for U2 can become an INXS in the blink of an eye.






©News of Delaware County 2005

[bellestarr]

||



Kings of Leon rockers moved away from religious ways, but not too far



By Sean Piccoli
Pop Music Writer

August 12, 2005

It sounds like an unethical behaviorial experiment: Pull three sons of a traveling preacher off the religious circuit and introduce them to the rock 'n' roll lifestyle.

Except that the Followill brothers have been doing the research on themselves. They've been putting out their findings in cranked-up, four-minute reports. Caleb, Jared and Nate, along with first cousin Matthew Followill, make up Kings of Leon. They're a Tennessee-based band with an eccentric sound shaped in part by an unusual biography.

The four play Revolution in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, drawing from a pair of strikingly original albums. They will be singing about a life now filled with temptations their father -- Pentecostal preacher and band namesake Leon Followill -- warned against.

"We wanted to be like our dad," singer-guitarist Caleb said in a telephone interview, discussing a childhood that was both sheltered and nomadic. "We all assumed we'd come out of this being preachers."

What the Followills have become is confessors. The off-kilter boogie and shouted refrains on 2003's Youth and Young Manhood and this year's Aha Shake Heartbreak serve up disclosure to anyone willing to pick apart the band's sometimes coded lyrics. Failing that, Caleb, 23, will just flat-out tell you that he's singing about things he and his band mates have a) done and enjoyed, b) done and wish they hadn't, and c) wish to do but haven't yet -- or at least hadn't at the time the song was written.

The aim is to make "completely ... honest" music, according to Caleb.

Discomfort hangs all over Slow Night, So Long, the new album's opening track. The song's narrator finds himself confronted with an underage groupie: "She's 17 but I done went and plum forgot it ... She's opened up just like she really knows me/ I hate her face but enjoy the company." Soft ruefully admits to a badly timed bout of drunken impotence, but couches the embarassment in earthy metaphor.

"I think in a way we also try to hide what we're saying, by saying few words and having as many double meanings as we possibly can," Caleb said. They do this, he explains, partly out of self-consciousness and fear of seeming inarticulate: The unique backstory that has helped spur interest in Kings of Leon is, for the band members themselves, an occasional source of insecurity.

Caleb talked about the three siblings' limited schooling -- only drummer Nathan finished high school -- and their former lives in the bubble of evangelism. Welcomed into circles of exceedingly hip, worldy and educated people, they still worry about coming off as yokels.

"We're under a bit of a microscope and we always have been since the day we began as a band," Caleb said.

Kings of Leon was formed in 2000, a couple of years after the Followills' parents had divorced and the siblings had moved to Nashville. Living off the Bible Belt grid for the first time in their lives, Caleb, Nathan and bassist Jared threw themselves into music. They recruited cousin Matthew to play lead guitar. Starting a band was was not an obvious choice: While their mother played piano and their father knew how to work an audience, the siblings had little training on instruments, little experience with ensemble playing -- they were not the house band for dad's revivals -- and a spotty familiarity with secular music.

But they had enough of the latter to know what they liked and to draw inspiration from rock 'n' roll. And their incomplete base of knowledge arguably helped. Lacking an obvious template from which to copy, Kings of Leon spent less time appropriating other bands' ideas and more time coming up with their own.

Caleb freely called his music "Southern rock," and there is a regional feel to his drawl-and-a-howl vocal style and to the band's ragged grooves. But Kings of Leon is also working territory that will be familiar to fans of the Strokes and White Stripes: arty garage rock, its 20th century vintage refined by 21st century hindsight.

If the Followills retain anything of their Pentecostal origins, it is an attachment to road life. "I think it was in our blood to continue to travel," Caleb said. "None of us can sit still for too long."

Sean Piccoli can be reached at [e-mail] or 954-356-4832.
Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

[ILoveTheRazzleKid]

I'm so happy for them right now.

[bellestarr]

CONCERT REVIEW

A heaping helping of hard rock at HOB
Eric Michael
Sentinel Staff Writer

August 16, 2005

Rock 'n' roll was a family affair Monday night at the House of Blues during a double bill that featured two bands of brothers - and a cousin each.

Kings of Leon are three sons of a traveling Pentecostal minister - Nathan, Jared and Caleb Followill - who left the church and recruited their cousin Matthew Followill to conjure a rowdy unity of Southern rock traditions and gritty garage flavor.

They were joined by Secret Machines, a power trio of brothers Brandon and Benjamin Curtis and cousin Josh Garza, whose big, atmospheric sound blends driving guitar rock with heavily-processed psychedelic undertones.

The Machines opened with the radio-friendly "Nowhere Again," front-lighted in magenta before of a large bank of small white lights. Throughout the generous 70-minute performance, the Curtis brothers, on guitar and bass/keyboard, set a cosmic tone with heavy reverb, breathless harmonies and abundant electronic effects, but it was drummer Garza who fueled the band's furnace. He was a flurry of flailing hair and drumsticks as he beat an oversized kit with primal gusto and a right foot that shook the hall.

Highlights included a booming drum solo buried in "I Hate Pretending," the fuzzy guitar on "Sad and Lonely" and two dreamy, down-tempo covers, "De Luxe (Immer Wieder)" by German electronic pioneers Harmonia, and Bob Dylan's "Girl From the North Country."

The finale, "First Wave Intact," built to a deafening crescendo as Benjamin Curtis left his guitar on stage, ringing against his amplifier, to create a massive wall of insect fuzz while relentless strobes fired from the background.

If Secret Machines are the scruffy dreamers lurking in the background at the party, then Kings of Leon are the rowdy clan drinking beer on the tailgate of a rusted pickup in the parking lot.

The dirtbag wonderkids from Tennessee who opened for U2 this summer took the stage to a soaring classical aria and jumped straight into "Molly's Chambers," a la the Volkswagen commercial. With big, catchy guitar hooks and no-nonsense blues-rock rhythms, the Kings set a blistering pace early during the nearly 90 minute performance that raced through 20 songs.

Clad in too-tight denim and a Conway Twitty muscle shirt, frontman Caleb Followill's vocals contained all the grit of the Mississippi Delta as he led his kin in serving up a heaping helping of tracks from both their albums, including "Wasted Time," "Spiral Staircase," and "California Waiting" from Youth & Young Manhood and "King of the Rodeo," "Taper Jean Girl" and "Pistol of Fire" from Aha Shake Heartbreak.

The smooth and subtle "Milk" was a crowd favorite, enticing the packed hall to clap along with drummer Nathan Followill, as he kept a tight cadence while blowing bubbles nonchalantly with his gum. It proved to be the last chance for the audience to catch a breath, because the boys floored it through the rest of the set and into an encore featuring the raucous "Holy Roller Novocaine" and confessional "Slow Night, So Long." If the adage "the family that plays together, stays together" rings true, then Orlando fans should hope to be invited to any future family reunions.

[vintagechic1251]

bellestarr said:

The dirtbag wonderkids from Tennessee

oh, that's a really sweet thing to say.

[greaseball]

vintagechic1251 said:

bellestarr said:

The dirtbag wonderkids from Tennessee

oh, that's a really sweet thing to say.

I think it's a compliment.

[vintagechic1251]

^^ really? it doesn't really sound like much of a compliment to me. more like something that's in between apraisal and insult.

[caroline, maybe]

I think it's a backhanded compliment. I don't think he means it in an insulting way, hence the wonderkids part. but the "dirtbag" part isn't all that flattering.

[mickey o'neil]

i definitely think it's a compliment. i'd be pleased if someone called me a dirtbag wonderkid.