Kings of Leon, MEN Arena 18/06/14 | Gig Review

The guys who did Sex on Fire did a bunch of other songs. Seriously though, there’s so much more to Kings of Leon than Sex on Fire as proven by their set in Manchester.

Throughout the night they rocked through their grand list of soulless rock ballads. But they’re very good soulless rock ballads. For the Kings of Leon fans, it was an incredibly crowd-pleasing set having the perfect balance between old favourites ‘Molly’s Chamber’ and ‘Four Kicks’ along with newer hits like ‘Family Tree’ and ‘Supersoaker.’

Mechanical Bull snuck up on most rock fans, being the only decent Kings of Leon album since Only by the Night. But it did bring a load of classic rock ballads and stadium bangers. Undoubtedly, the album was better than Only by the Night as it had more than two major hits off the album (yeah, you know them). And since the bulk of the set was from Mechanical Bull, this was a welcome release for fans that wanted the new stuff just as much as the old stuff, although the classics were rare.

The problem at this gig was that Kings of Leon are obviously a stadium band. But in this arena, they didn’t cut it. The intensity of the drums muffled poor Caleb’s voice. And the bass was nowhere to be heard. Whether this was the fault of the band or the venue is yet to be seen. But what can be gathered is that it didn’t bring Kings of Leon to their full potential.

Nevertheless, there were some dignifying moments for the band towards the end of the set when performing crowd favourites ‘Beautiful War’ and ‘Use Somebody.’ Having 21,000 people sing back at you with every word must be incredibly humbling for Kings of Leon. And of course, the football fan frenzy that ensues every time Sex on Fire is played took hold of the MEN Arena.

The opening song ‘Charmer’ was perfect in showcasing the unique vocal capabilities of Caleb as they performed behind a giant curtain, obviously. What is admirable is that they don’t require the flashiness of other rock bands at the moment to please the fans, and just carry on with their usual gritty rock.

It was a shame that Caleb’s signature vocals were subdued thanks to very poor mixing. Otherwise, it was a solid rock show that was a damn good crowd-pleaser for fans and non-fans alike.

7/10