The Kings of Leon - Manchester Apollo 16th June 2005
Setlist: Taper Jean Girl / Pistol of Fire / Molly's Chambers / Wasted Time / Razz / The Bucket / Soft / Milk / Rememo / Four Kicks / Velvet Snow / King of the Rodeo / Joe's Head / California Waiting / Spiral Staircase / Happy Alone / Trani / Holy Roller Novocaine / Head to Toe / Slow Night So Long
I really like The Kings of Leon; they’re so different and unique. That is rare in any era, but even more so in these days of digital sampling, it is almost unheard of. Their music is completely original and they sound like no-one else. The songwriting is mature, way beyond the years of the individuals and, for me, they fill the void that was left by the passing of the great Johnny Cash. Their two CD releases play on rotation in my deck, the second being marginally better than the first, but each is an essential item in any music collection. That all said, even though I know the words that these Tennessee hustlers are singing, 99% of the time, I still have little, or no, idea what the hell they are on about! Then again, who ever really understood a single second of Tales from Topographic Oceans?
I really like The Kings of Leon; they’re so different and unique. That is rare in any era, but even more so in these days of digital sampling, it is almost unheard of. Their music is completely original and they sound like no-one else. The songwriting is mature, way beyond the years of the individuals and, for me, they fill the void that was left by the passing of the great Johnny Cash. Their two CD releases play on rotation in my deck, the second being marginally better than the first, but each is an essential item in any music collection. That all said, even though I know the words that these Tennessee hustlers are singing, 99% of the time, I still have little, or no, idea what the hell they are on about! Then again, who ever really understood a single second of Tales from Topographic Oceans?
When my youngest daughter mentioned that KoL would be playing the Apollo in Manchester, and that her and her friend Lottie wanted to go, I said, “Order me a ticket too!” And so, I found myself at a Kings of Leon gig.
Now, I have been going to gigs for a very long time and I have been taking either one, or both, of my daughters with me for the last ten years. Always, it has been to see a band from my era; my children being the ones to attract the stares of wonderment, as the audience was my age, or thereabouts. You can see it in peoples’ faces: What is she doing here? She’s far too young to be into this band; Look at him, he’s old enough to be her father!
So, it was quite a revelation for me to be the one being eyeballed by the unruly horde of pimply, long-haired adolescents, all hormones-raging, emboldened by the disproportionate excitement of being allowed out past their regular bedtimes.What’s with the old fella? Sick old pervert is only here to ogle teenage breasts! God, don’t they have an old-age limit at these gigs? From the puzzled expressions on their little crater-faces, I could tell that they didn’t for one minute believe that I was there for the music. But, I was!
Now, I have been going to gigs for a very long time and I have been taking either one, or both, of my daughters with me for the last ten years. Always, it has been to see a band from my era; my children being the ones to attract the stares of wonderment, as the audience was my age, or thereabouts. You can see it in peoples’ faces: What is she doing here? She’s far too young to be into this band; Look at him, he’s old enough to be her father!
So, it was quite a revelation for me to be the one being eyeballed by the unruly horde of pimply, long-haired adolescents, all hormones-raging, emboldened by the disproportionate excitement of being allowed out past their regular bedtimes.What’s with the old fella? Sick old pervert is only here to ogle teenage breasts! God, don’t they have an old-age limit at these gigs? From the puzzled expressions on their little crater-faces, I could tell that they didn’t for one minute believe that I was there for the music. But, I was!
The Features
Anybody who has read any of my other reviews knows how much I generally hate support bands, especially the melodically-challenged Funeral For A Friend. However, every so often, a support band is actually worth watching. Not only were The Features worth watching, they were damned good; a band I would gladly go and see in their own right. Hailing from the same region as the headliners, these Sparta TN youngsters have a flavour of their more famous hosts, but employ a more mainstream sound and style, merging pop, punk and garage into a quirky, fun package. Nevertheless, their songs are strong and their musicianship outstanding. They displayed an easy rapport with the audience and quickly won over the Manchester audience, which is not always an easy feat, especially at the Apollo, where support bands regularly get a less than warm welcome.
I thoroughly enjoyed their set and, now having heard their CD, I am even more taken with them. Of the tracks on the CD, Exhibit A and Me & The Skirts, are undoubtedly my favourites. But, The Way It's Meant To Be, Blow It Out, There's A Million Ways To Sing The Blues, Leave It All Behind, Exorcising Demons, The Idea Of Growing Old, Some Way Some How, Situation Gone Bad, Harder To Ignore and Circus all have their moments. I can’t remember the setlist, but I’m fairly sure that each of these songs got an airing.
If you like your sub 3 minute pop music a little on the punk/garage side, you could do much worse than checking out The Features.
Anybody who has read any of my other reviews knows how much I generally hate support bands, especially the melodically-challenged Funeral For A Friend. However, every so often, a support band is actually worth watching. Not only were The Features worth watching, they were damned good; a band I would gladly go and see in their own right. Hailing from the same region as the headliners, these Sparta TN youngsters have a flavour of their more famous hosts, but employ a more mainstream sound and style, merging pop, punk and garage into a quirky, fun package. Nevertheless, their songs are strong and their musicianship outstanding. They displayed an easy rapport with the audience and quickly won over the Manchester audience, which is not always an easy feat, especially at the Apollo, where support bands regularly get a less than warm welcome.
I thoroughly enjoyed their set and, now having heard their CD, I am even more taken with them. Of the tracks on the CD, Exhibit A and Me & The Skirts, are undoubtedly my favourites. But, The Way It's Meant To Be, Blow It Out, There's A Million Ways To Sing The Blues, Leave It All Behind, Exorcising Demons, The Idea Of Growing Old, Some Way Some How, Situation Gone Bad, Harder To Ignore and Circus all have their moments. I can’t remember the setlist, but I’m fairly sure that each of these songs got an airing.
If you like your sub 3 minute pop music a little on the punk/garage side, you could do much worse than checking out The Features.
Right, The Kings of Leon.
Three brothers and a cousin from Tennessee brings to mind duelling banjos and, having seen them, I still can easily imagine them sat in rocking chairs on the porch of a rundown shack in the middle of nowhere, barefoot and nekkid under their dungarees, banjos at the ready, chewing on huge plugs of tobacco and swigging ‘shine from a jug slung over one shoulder. Certainly, some of their lyrics do little to dispel the myth.
Nevertheless, stereotypes can be misleading. These young men are very talented and inventive, and deserve every bit of recognition that has come their way. They have worked hard, toured relentlessly, and achieved their success through their endeavours. And quite rightly so. It is refreshing in these days of pre-packaged, formulaic, talentless pap, to realise that the cream can still rise to the top, and that being different can still lead to mainstream success, rather than consign you to the bargain bins and cut-out boxes.
In the cold light of day, there is nothing about either of their CDs that should make The Kings of Leon even slightly popular. The songs are quirky and weird; the lyrics are pretty much unintelligible; and, even when you know what he is singing, it all still makes very little sense. What is more, some of the words are very, very rude indeed. But, both Young Youth and Manhood and Aha, Shake, Heartbreak have thwarted those barmy, honourable guardians of our morals, and avoided that pesky Parental Advisory sticker, seemingly because none of those retards looking out for our eternal salvation can figure out what the hell he is singing, and don’t have the nouse to look it up.
That is all by-the-by though. I was apprehensive about seeing this band live, as I really wanted to enjoy them; the last time I had really wanted to enjoy a live performance this much, I was bitterly disappointed by that band, which shall remain nameless.
Would this be another Velvet Revolver scenario*?
Three brothers and a cousin from Tennessee brings to mind duelling banjos and, having seen them, I still can easily imagine them sat in rocking chairs on the porch of a rundown shack in the middle of nowhere, barefoot and nekkid under their dungarees, banjos at the ready, chewing on huge plugs of tobacco and swigging ‘shine from a jug slung over one shoulder. Certainly, some of their lyrics do little to dispel the myth.
Nevertheless, stereotypes can be misleading. These young men are very talented and inventive, and deserve every bit of recognition that has come their way. They have worked hard, toured relentlessly, and achieved their success through their endeavours. And quite rightly so. It is refreshing in these days of pre-packaged, formulaic, talentless pap, to realise that the cream can still rise to the top, and that being different can still lead to mainstream success, rather than consign you to the bargain bins and cut-out boxes.
In the cold light of day, there is nothing about either of their CDs that should make The Kings of Leon even slightly popular. The songs are quirky and weird; the lyrics are pretty much unintelligible; and, even when you know what he is singing, it all still makes very little sense. What is more, some of the words are very, very rude indeed. But, both Young Youth and Manhood and Aha, Shake, Heartbreak have thwarted those barmy, honourable guardians of our morals, and avoided that pesky Parental Advisory sticker, seemingly because none of those retards looking out for our eternal salvation can figure out what the hell he is singing, and don’t have the nouse to look it up.
That is all by-the-by though. I was apprehensive about seeing this band live, as I really wanted to enjoy them; the last time I had really wanted to enjoy a live performance this much, I was bitterly disappointed by that band, which shall remain nameless.
Would this be another Velvet Revolver scenario*?
Oh, come on, did you really expect me to NOT mention the band?! Tcha!
The answer is, an emphatic, No! (No, it was not a repeat, just in case you’d lost the thread.)
Whilst the stage show might not have been Pink Floydly sublime, Alice Cooperly theatrical, or KISSly over the top, it made extremely good use of the lights, was very pretty to look at, and enhanced a marvellously tight, well-crafted performance, which was close enough to the CDs to be singalongable, yet different enough to let you know you’d seen a live show. The live sound was stunning too, one of the best I’ve heard. Indeed, there was nothing about the performance that I can even contemplate criticising. They played practically everything they have recorded, and everyone in the building, which was packed, spent most of the evening jumping up and down, being the young whippersnappers they are. Downstairs in the standing section, where I was wedged in with a gaggle of perspiring, hyperactive, 17-year-old dopers, there was no room to swing a cat, although why you’d bring a feline to a Kings of Leon gig, for centrifugal oscillation purposes or otherwise, is a question for another time, and one whose ethics we shall not debate here. At my time of life, I normally prefer my gig-going exploits to be more on the non-bodily-contact-with-the-other-punters side, but I did actually quite enjoy the hot, sweaty atmosphere and actually found myself moving my body in time with the music on more than one occasion. Very undignified, I must admit, for someone of my advancing years, but this band does that to you; they are the Heineken of freaky, hillbilly, rock bands – they refresh the parts that other freaky, hillbilly, rock bands can’t reach.
My only worry is that with Youth and Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak being such excellent offerings, these boys have already produced their best material and will now plummet into obscurity at the same rate they have risen to prominence. I hope not and I eagerly await a stellar third CD release.
The answer is, an emphatic, No! (No, it was not a repeat, just in case you’d lost the thread.)
Whilst the stage show might not have been Pink Floydly sublime, Alice Cooperly theatrical, or KISSly over the top, it made extremely good use of the lights, was very pretty to look at, and enhanced a marvellously tight, well-crafted performance, which was close enough to the CDs to be singalongable, yet different enough to let you know you’d seen a live show. The live sound was stunning too, one of the best I’ve heard. Indeed, there was nothing about the performance that I can even contemplate criticising. They played practically everything they have recorded, and everyone in the building, which was packed, spent most of the evening jumping up and down, being the young whippersnappers they are. Downstairs in the standing section, where I was wedged in with a gaggle of perspiring, hyperactive, 17-year-old dopers, there was no room to swing a cat, although why you’d bring a feline to a Kings of Leon gig, for centrifugal oscillation purposes or otherwise, is a question for another time, and one whose ethics we shall not debate here. At my time of life, I normally prefer my gig-going exploits to be more on the non-bodily-contact-with-the-other-punters side, but I did actually quite enjoy the hot, sweaty atmosphere and actually found myself moving my body in time with the music on more than one occasion. Very undignified, I must admit, for someone of my advancing years, but this band does that to you; they are the Heineken of freaky, hillbilly, rock bands – they refresh the parts that other freaky, hillbilly, rock bands can’t reach.
My only worry is that with Youth and Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak being such excellent offerings, these boys have already produced their best material and will now plummet into obscurity at the same rate they have risen to prominence. I hope not and I eagerly await a stellar third CD release.
In the meantime, as the song says:
You with your switchblade posse,
I'll get my guns from the south,
We'll take to the yard like a cockfight
Four kicks whose strutting now.
I don’t know what these boys are smoking, but where can I purchase a bale of it?
Homegrown’s alright by me…
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
24th June 2005
* Velvet Revolver did actually redeem themselves (or, more to the point, Scott Weiland did) at Download 05 - Donington 11-6-05
You with your switchblade posse,
I'll get my guns from the south,
We'll take to the yard like a cockfight
Four kicks whose strutting now.
I don’t know what these boys are smoking, but where can I purchase a bale of it?
Homegrown’s alright by me…
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
24th June 2005
* Velvet Revolver did actually redeem themselves (or, more to the point, Scott Weiland did) at Download 05 - Donington 11-6-05
About the photos...
Oh, they're mostly really bad!
I was quite a way back and the place was just so packed that getting closer would have been suicidal.
Then, everyone started bouncing around, so I'm lucky any of them came out anything other than blurred.
So, there are now great pictures here, but they do give you a flavour of what it was like to be there, I hope.
I was quite a way back and the place was just so packed that getting closer would have been suicidal.
Then, everyone started bouncing around, so I'm lucky any of them came out anything other than blurred.
So, there are now great pictures here, but they do give you a flavour of what it was like to be there, I hope.
