Caleb wowing the crowd with his incredible vocals

 Top American band Kings of Leon cemented themselves as rock royalty on 11 December 2008 as they performed a spectacular set of songs at their sold-out show at the O2 arena in London.  I had the enjoyment to observe the Followills live again after my first gig back in December 2007 at Wembley Arena which was quite easily the best concert I’ve been to.

  Their 14 date UK tour kicked off back in November 2008 in Brighton and ended at the Wembley Arena on  December 22.

The Kings of Leon crew had the O2 arena rocking in the city that first discovered them and made them known to the world. Not including their Glastonbury headlining show this summer, this was the biggest gig of their lives in front of 20,000 fans, after selling out the O2 arena concert in under an hour, (faster than Led Zeppelin) there was huge anticipation ahead of the show and the Kings didn’t disappoint.

They played a vast array of songs, old classics, from their first two raw and explosive albums Youth and Young Manhood and  Aha Shake Heartbreak and the best from their last two albums Because of the Times and Only by the night.  The concertt was kicked off with the slow lingering track Closer and ended with the thunderous Black Thumb Nail, front man Caleb’s voice was echoing in my ear long after the encore. During a sound check for the song Manhattan, Caleb, a man of a few words said: “Its good to be home, if it weren’t for you guys, we wouldn’t be here, god bless you” and of course the crowd went wild.

The Kings of Leon clan have proved to be a pretty prolific band, since their emergence into the indie-garage rock in 2003 they have released four world class albums in 5 years. Their unique blends of genres, brutally honest lyrical content and Caleb’s distinctive vocals have made them international superstars.

The band’s sound derives from southern rock, garage rock, hard rock and blues.They have been touring the world consecutively for the past five years and now are the only modern band that sell out from all corners of the world, from New Zealand to the U.S to London in record breaking times.  The highlight of the night was for me was to hear their old classics from the first two albums, The Bucket, King of the Rodeo and the awesome Slow night, so long. Theirr first mainstream chart hit Sex on fire was an unforgettable and amusing. Hearing 20,000 people sing “youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, your sex is on fire” was a moment to remember.

This was my second time seeing the Kings live and as a die hard fan, it was a pleasure to watch them again and to witness the growth of the greatest band in the world at their peak. I’ve already purchased tickets to see them in June at the O2 arena; rumours of a fifth album have been sparked by Nathan the drummer’s revelation that the band have already written six or seven songs whilst on tour. I wouldn’t put it past them. The Kings of Leon are accomplished and potent musicians and songwriters who take their music very seriously. They are natural born performers and I would love it if they had another album to release by June 2009.   

What a stunning and memorable concert, can’t wait for the next show in June.