No rain (well not much), no mud, 4 bands....no doubt about it - I had an awesome night!!!
I arrived at Hyde Park all kitted out for the heavens to open - as did the 60,000 other people attending the gig. Kings of Leon were playing their second night of the nine days of performances held at Hyde Park. Bands due to perform at Hyde Park over the next couple of days include Rod Stewart, the Killers, Arcade Fire, The Black Eyed Peas, Pulp and Bon Jovi.
Sadly due to work I missed Zac Brown Band perform so I can't tell you anything about them. However bands I did get to see were The White Lies, Paul Weller and of course Kings of Leon.
I thought the supports The White Lies and Paul Weller were both great. I am a big fan of the White Lies anyway, so I was excited when I head they were supporting. Although they have great songs and sang them all very well they didn't seem to work the crowd very well. After their performance I feel that The White lies would be more suited to smaller venues where I am sure they will be fantastic live.
Next, after the White Lies was Paul Weller - an English punk rocker who certainly knows how to get a crowd going. Some of the songs that he sang included Changing man, Broken Strings (my fav) and From the Floorboards Up. It was clear from his effortless performance that Paul Weller has played a few gigs in his time - rocking out on stage and getting the crowd pumped for the main act.
Next were the headliners - Kings of Leon. They are truly fabulous. Their set list included Radioactive, Taper Jean Girl, Four Kicks,The Bucket, Pistol of Fire, The Immortals, Revelry, Fans, Back Down South, Crawl, No Money, Charmer, Milk, Mary, Notion, Closer, Manhattan, Pyro, California Waiting, Molly's Chambers, On Call and Sex on Fire.
During this set there were no gimmicks, just Kings of Leon singing their songs. There was one negative to their performance however, the time it took for them to really work the crowd. Although they are promoting their new album "Come Around Sundown' the crowd didn't seem to respond as well to their newer tracks. In addition to this I feel that Anthony Caleb (lead singer) could have done more in terms of including the crowd. Despite saying "this is the best night of my life" he said very little else other than "thank you" a few times.
Although the crowd was slow to get going, there was no doubt that every single person was singing with their arms in the air by the time the band performed their number 1 hit single "Sex on Fire." This, with their excellent encore performance was definitely the highlight for me. Their encore included Knocked Up, Use Somebody and Black Thumbnai.
The gig concluded with fireworks which for me drew a close to a great night of live music.
Although the people I went with felt the gig lacked any atmosphere I would have to disagree. I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening listening to an awesome band. Yes their show in Manchester two years ago was better, but I would still go and see them live again in a heart beat.
1 comment:
Thanks for the previous comment. Interestingly, people have very different opinions about the KOL performance on June 23 in Hyde Park.
For me - admittedly I am not a true fan, but went along to acconpany my wife - this was a truly disappointing concert.
However, I liked the fact that KOL didn't go for the spectacular and stayed true to their talents as rock musicians.
But the concert lacked pretty much everything - atmosphere, energy, audience engagement and, more surprisingly, duration.
I thought that such a highly acclaimed band would have listend occasionally to the great ones out there and known that you cannot leave a crowd of nearly 60,000 to the chilly winds of Central London after a mere 90 minute uninspiring performance. Even with the encores played the entire set didn't scratch the two hours mark - not even closely.
Bearing in mind that people paid a good amount of money to see KOL (and perhaps the supporting acts as well) performing live, the result speaks certainly not in their favor.
I am not fond of massive light shows nor any sort of extravaganza on stage; yet, even the musical parts were quite soulless. It seemed to me as; "Let's just get over with this gig".
Pearl Jam rocked last year, so did Springsteen and the E-Street Band at the same spot two years ago, to name only a few. Bon Jovi know how to pay back the audience as well.
KOL are not made for such a stage I think (in fact, only very few bands are when it comes to musical excellence); so why don't you guys play smaller venues. But before you do so, you'd better attend a few good concerts to listen and learn. D minus.
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