Kings of Leon shows crowd a good time

09/15/09 - I bought my tickets for the Sept. 11 Kings of Leon show in Mansfield, Mass. at the Comcast Center in May, and I spent most of the summer listening to their CDs and memorizing lyrics. Embarrassingly enough, I've also planned ways of stalking their tour bus for a chance to meet the lead singer, Caleb Followill. The day of the show finally came, and I got to the venue super early thinking that by some miracle I might catch a glimpse of the band backstage. And while I didn't get to meet the band, I did get a chance to notice some of the fans. There were a lot of drunk girls and an older man dancing enthusiastically in the aisles. Before he was taken away, I overheard that he was a patient let out of a mental institution for the night. KOL certainly has a broad fan base.

The show opened with Glasvegas, an alternative rock group from Glasgow, Scotland, who entered the stage clad in all black. Their sound was much darker than the Kings of Leon's. While the lead singer had a similar raspy voice, heavy emphasis on rhythmic drums gave a hypnotic undertone to Glasvegas' music. Each member of the band was quirky: the drummer a large woman in a turtleneck, the guitarist disturbingly gyrating in leather pants, and the lead singer in Ray-Bans dramatically crouching and reaching for the sky.

I laughed when the Kings of Leon took the stage. It was pitch black and church organs blasted in the arena. While their music is the opposite of Christian, religious symbols abound in their songs. The three brothers in the band grew up in the south, traveling with their father, a Pentecostal Church preacher. Their lyrics and attitude seemed like a reaction to this upbringing - the whole show was one huge dance party.

In his Tennessee drawl, Caleb Followhill ordered us all to "grab a drink and have a good time." Later in the show he told us he was going to get drunk as he threw down his red party cup.

Despite Followhill's party-all-night attitude, the band proved their professional talent. All of the songs matched the quality of their albums. The band played material mostly from the last two CDs, which contrast greatly.

Before huge, top-40 success this year, KOL's sound was a lot more heavy rock and experimental. This is evident on the 7-minute long track, "Knocked Up," and the shrieking vocals in the song "Charmer." Most of the crowd only recognized the new songs that feature Followhill's vocals, a repeating chorus and back-up singing - like the radio hits "Use Somebody" and "Sex on Fire."

Certainly KOL is aware of their sudden success: Followhill described the tour as a "victory lap," and thanked all the fans who have been around since their first CD, Youth and Young Manhood. The only member of the band to address the audience - and the most featured on the big screen video - was the lead singer. While I have no complaints, because I think Caleb Followill is sex on fire, I did get a sense that he was unfairly singled out from the rest of the band.

KOL definitely delivered quality, playing for almost two hours, including a full four-song encore. They saved their biggest hit, "Use Somebody" for the very end, but not before the crowd got a head start singing the "oh oooh oh" back-up vocals.

My journey back to my car at the end of the night proved almost as eventful as the show itself. One guy was pants-ed in the parking lot, falling buck-naked into the car to our right. To our left, a group of guys decided to grill some burgers with a 4-foot fire. To top it all off, a drunk man tried to break into my car as we were in traffic and called me a bitch for not opening my window.

In spite of all the craziness in the crowd, and my failed efforts at meeting the band, I am already anxiously awaiting the band's next album. I would go to another show in a heartbeat and my obsession with Followhill's drunken talent has only increased.