My fandom of Kings Of Leon surprises a lot of you. Don’t know why. Well, it may because a lot of people just think their recent output sucks. I’m a realistic fan of Kings Of Leon, I realize that their new stuff isn’t up to par with their back catalog, but I also think they’ve just become a victim of the “band to hate” that needs to come around every so often. I have high hopes that they will soon turn things around again and re-discover their roots, now that they’ve settled in as a pretty large rock band. It was disappointing to hear that their headlining show was cancelled on Friday due to the weather, but it was a pleasant surprise that they were able to reschedule for a spot on Satuday.
The band came out and didn’t fuck around with their set. It started with “Radioactive” a song that I never really liked, but it did sound pretty glorious live. Then they turned back the clock and gave us “Crawl”, “Taper Jean Girl”, “My Party”, and “Fans.” Many people see Because Of The Times as the album where they jumped ship, but I really do enjoy that album quite a bit, so it was good to hear all these tracks still kicking around (Only By The Night is the album where they jumped in my humble opinion.) You can’t go wrong when they play songs like “Molly’s Chambers”, “Four Kicks”, “On Call”, “The Bucket”, and “Knocked Up”, all songs that sounded really mighty and strong. It’s good to see that they realized their older material is where it’s at, save for only a select cuts from their last album, and the worthy ones from Only By The Night (“Closer”, “Sex On Fire”, “Use Somebody”).
Although the set was marginally smaller and more simplified than they had originally planned, they still found time to play their new single “Supersoaker” for the first time ever. It sounds like a glorious anthem that sits happily in the middle of Because Of The Times-era and Only By The Night. It’s going to do really well on the radio, and I hope the rest of their new album Mechanical Bull is as strong.
I do have a love/hate relationship with this band. Like an ex-girlfriend as much as I want to walk away, I keep finding myself coming back for more, hoping that they will return to who they once were.
Listen to “Supersoaker” below:
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