Kings of Leon Review

LOVE LOVE LOVE this band!

Kings of Leon are a four man American rock band from Tennessee. Although they first formed together in 1999 it was not until 2008 that they got their first big break. Their big break came from the two BRIT awards they won from the success of their platinum selling album "Only By Night." This album includes their three number one singles, Sex Is On Fire, Use Somebody, and Notion.

To date, this band has released five albums; "Youth & Young Manhood," "Aha Shake Heartbeat," "Because of the Times," "Only by the Night," and the most recent (back in 2010) "Come Around Sundown." Although this group have been on hiatus for the last couple of years, they are doing a series of gigs over the next upcoming months, and are also due to release a sixth album "Mechanical Bull," sometime this year.

I have seen Kings of Leon twice, once in Manchester and once in Hyde Park, London.  For me seeing them play in Manchester on their sold out UK tour two years ago was the most memorable experience. I was originally put off by the price of the ticket and the size of the venue (absolutely massive!) when I was buying the tickets. Shockingly, although I was quite far back from the stage, and the arena was filled with hundreds of fans, the atmosphere was not only electrifying but intimate as well.

I have to admit I have never a seen a crowd of such magnitude become so wild and excited during a gig before. The reception that the band received when they first stepped out onto the stage was so great that it was five minutes until the band could even begin singing.

Considering the gig was only an hour and a half the crowd was certainly spoiled by the number of great songs they got to hear. When I saw them in Manchester their set list was flavorless and included Crawl, Taper Jean Girl, Molly's Chamber, Red Morning Light, Fans, California Waiting, Milk, Closer, Four Kicks, Charmer, My Party, Sex is on Fire, The Bucket, On Call, Cold Desert, and Use Somebody.

What made their performance even more memorable for me was the amount of effort and passion they put into each of their songs.The band seemed in both shock and gratitude by the response the crowd gave them. When it came to the encore, Kings Of Leon ended their show with four more songs including Knocked Up and Manhattan. I was generally gutted when the gig came to an end because the time seemed to fly by.

The quality of the music and talent shown by Kings of Leon was so high that the lack of on stage props and extras did not matter. I would certainly say this is a gig not to be missed.

If you wish to read my review of their live peformance at Hyde Park, check out: http://musicgigsnfestivals.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/kings-of-leon-hyde-park-review.html

Tour dates: 
12th June. The 02 Arena - London
13th June. The O2 Arena - London
24th June. Manchester Arena - Manchester
25th June. Manchester Arena - Manchester
9th July. LG Arena - Birmingham
10th July. LG Arena - Birmingham
14th August. Boucher Playing Fields - Belfast
15th August. Bellahouston Park - Glasgow
17th August - V Festival

For more information about their European dates and to buy tickets check out: http://www.songkick.com/artists/2847-kings-of-leon/calendar?page=1

Smoke & Jackal

So I am going to apologise in advance for this one, but for this post I will be deviating from the norm..

For each post mentioned on this blog I try to write about an artist/ band that is either currently, or about to, embark on a tour of some sort. Although this band has no upcoming gigs on the pipeline I cannot let them go unmentioned, they are just too good!

Smoke & Jackal is a rock band from Tennessee, that first got together in June of this year (2012). Made up of Mona singer and guitarist Nick Brown, and Kings of Leon bassist Jared Followill, this is a duo you MUST check out.

In a press statement released by the duo, they announced "coming together just worked." And worked it has. On October 16th Smoke and Jackal released their debut EP "EP1" which includes the tracks "Fall Around" and "No TELL." To hear all tracks from their EP check out: EP1.

Kings of Leon @ Hyde Park Review

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.  

Kings of Leon Music Gig

Kings of Leon definitely make it into my top 5 favorite bands. They have released  numerous number one singles including "Sex is on fire," "Use somebody," and "Notion," as well as a number one album "Because of the Times." I have seen this band live twice and both times they have rocked it! The first time I saw them was in Manchester, UK when they managed to get the entire crowd of 10,000 people up on to their feet and singing along. The second time was when they headlined at the Hard Rock Calling Festival, in London http://www.hardrockcalling.co.uk/2011/, which proved to be yet another fantastic performance. Having seen two flawless performances from Kings of Leon, I would definitely urge everyone to go and see them live.

Tour dates: 
30th May. Ricoh Arena - Coventry, UK.
10th June. Seaclose Park - Newport, UK.
17th June. Stadium of Light - Sunderland, UK.
19th June. Old Trafford Cricket ground - Manchester, UK.
20th June. O2 Arena - London, UK.
22nd June. Hyde Park - London, UK.
23rd June. Hyde Park - London, UK.

To buy tickets or for more information visit: http://www.kingsofleon.com/pages/tour