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
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