Kings Of Leon at the Bradley Center
The band makes a difficult transition to arena-rock status
Blame it on swine flu: Kings of Leon turned in a sickly performance Saturday at the Bradley Center, a forgettable, by-the-numbers show from the normally bright-eyed pin-up boys of Southern rock. “We’re all kind of sick,” frontman Caleb Followill told the arena audience. “My bastard voice is trying to go on me.” Followill then thanked Georgia and Australia before mentioning Milwaukee. It must have been a hell of a fever.
Sickness or not, Kings Of Leon are obligated to bring their arena-rock A-game to every show now that their latest record, Only By The Night, has made the band a record executive’s wet dream. But while KOL sounded as slick as they do on record, they brought the energy of a midweek matchup of the Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies, essentially calling up a club-level stage show to the big leagues in order to cash in on ubiquitous radio hits “Sex On Fire” and “Use Somebody.” Those songs aside, nothing much else seemed to warrant the move to the largest stage in the city. Those not impressed by generic lights and cute boys with guitars left the show wanting something more.
Theoretically, KOL's new U2-friendly sound should lend itself to arenas, with textural lead guitar parts resonating over simple backline grooves, giving otherwise straightforward rock songs a deeper dimension. The band featured mostly new songs—standouts were “Revelry” and “I Want You”, and predictably “Sex on Fire” won the liveliest reception form the audience. “Four Kicks” from Aha Shake Heartbreak was a welcome surprise.
But a lot more was needed to transcend the seen-it-before drabness draped on this performance, which suffered from detached stage presence, minimal audience interaction, and an overall lack of gusto that sapped the energy to the point of boredom. At least when Oasis plays a shitty show, the Gallagher brothers get loaded and fight with each other. A drunken brother-fight would have been a welcome bit of spontaneity during KOL’s Bradley Center stop. The coolest thing the Followills did was smoke cigarettes onstage.
