Altsounds - Kings of Leon @ Wembley Arena [LIVE]

Quote:

‘Say, fellow Kings of Leon gig-goer, have you heard of a smash hit single from the Followill fam’ called... what was it now?... Sexy Fire? Sex for Fire? Sex on Fire - that's it. I am sure that you have, and it’s pretty much the only reason I bought a ticket for this last night of the band’s “Only By The Night” tour. Despite the fact that the Kings powered through 23 super-charged tunes, the majority of which were back catalogue, I only paid proper attention when this number one started up, and proceeded to crush everyone else’s feet and drown the rest of the crowd in my abandoned beer just so I could get myself right down the front to watch a singer scream the word “sex” in the actual chorus of a song. For the next half of the set I wrapped my arms around my miserable-looking girlfriend and watched my "Sex on Fire" recording back on my phone. Again, and again, and again - until the lights came back on’.

To give these trend-worshipping music vultures their due, I myself am not a Kings of Leon fanatic and know my way around their singles a lot better than certain album tracks, naturally. But you can’t go to a Kings of Leon gig, stand completely oblivious to such older live gems as Molly’s Chambers and Milk, wait for the newer singles to pop on – and immediately declare yourself a Kings of Leon SUPERFAN. Through OTT cynicism I want to make this point and shame those who clearly gobbled up their tickets on a whim after being blown away by the notion that a relatively little-known band to the mainstream could achieve such airplay on Radio 1. Point made, I’ll now go on to tell you about Kings of Leon’s well-sussed and perfectly executed set on the eve of their last performance in London for 2008.

Support is racked up from France-based shoegazer unit M83, who were shockingly intense. Goodness me, a support band that is well received?! A tad old-school and bitingly exciting, M83 (project of main man Anthony Gonzalez) probably appealed to more of the audience than usual because, like Kings of Leon, they are refreshingly dedicated and modest when it comes to their performance and don’t rely on tricky light set-ups and technical tat to keep the punters entertained. Just shameless boom-bastic drum pads. Plus, they’re a tiny bit 80s and one of their songs made me think of David Essex.

Surprisingly the Kings opened quite poignantly with most recent single “Use Somebody” and decided to ditch kicking off with star track “Closer”. This could have been a shame but the boys did the right thing and redeemed themselves by treating us to an assortment of tracks from all 3 of their past albums instead. Don’t get me wrong, “Only By The Night” is packed full to the brim with well-written material, but bumpy-er and grindy-er oldies such as “My Party” and “Taper Jean Girl” were the real crowd hits (although not to those unfamiliar with anything other than Sex On Fire... a rant I’ll choose not to resurface!). It’s impossible to say Kings of Leon have sold out, as it’s clear the band enjoy playing their back catalogue as much as the new stuff and recognise that the die-hard fans wouldn’t appreciate just an incessant run-through of “Only By The Night”, even though “Notion” and “Revelry” definitely held their own live. There’s no harm in being proud of what you’ve become, and joyfully, Kings of Leon don’t push or force any of their stage presence either, whether they’re modestly blasting through gritty classics or proving their versatility with the slower and softer jewel “Cold Desert” and audience’s song of choice “Trani” (from debut full-length album “Youth and Young Manhood”).

“Knocked Up” is the perfect encore comeback, a thumping, squeaking, pumping ode to rebel pregnancy and crazy living, leading to the brash “Slow Night So Long”, making way for the long-awaited “Charmer”(wAAhOW!) and ending on “Black Thumbnail” far, far too smoothly. There’s no second second coming, which is probably just as well seems as the Sex-on-Fire-ists would have revolted and clogged up the barrier pit in indignation if they had to bop through any more unknowns. More than likely, the Kings were probably shattered from playing so many electrifying dates this time round, but our Wembley bunch got the reassurance that we were the best audience of them all – hard to believe, but easy to swallow.