Tuesday Review

Kings of Leon - Live At The 02 London, England

I've never been a huge fan of Kings of Leon. When they first came on the scene, I remember all the Pentecostal-boys-turned-rock-stars articles and blog posts and read some of them, but the music never really grabbed me.

Since that time, I've discovered (thanks to Netflix) that I am much more likely to get into a band once I've seen them perform the songs live. I have to say this DVD really impressed me. I don't think I realized what a talented group of musicians these guys are - apart from a few electric guitar synth things, it's an amazing set to be delivered by a four-piece. Also loved that front man, Caleb Followhill, was so strong on guitar. When I saw him with an electric, I figured it was a one song thing, but I was surprised to see how integral his playing is. In fact, most of the hooks were coming from his instrument instead of the 'lead guitarist.'

The concert taught me a few things about this band; first off, Rolling Stone magazine can quick calling them 'southern rockers.' The variety of songs surprised me. Sure, there's some southern-tinged rock, but there's also funky disco stuff, alternate tune ballads and some big anthems.

You can't disparage this band - the vocals are excellent and the songs are captivating. After watching this concert, I went and checked out some studio versions on Rhapsody.com. A lot of the studio recordings seemed to try too hard to be some sort of distant-world lo-fi project. Seemed to be that each real record by KOL is more focused on experimentation than consistency. That doesn't mean experimentation is a bad thing, but seeing them live showed me that these guys have written a ton of songs that are really unique from one another.

I'm guessing that any Kings of Leon fan would dig this, but I'm also pretty certain it's perfect for folks who want to give the music a shot.