Kings of Leon show why they’re sex-rock royalty
With their good looks and steamy Southern rock-flavoured songs, Kings of Leon rubbed about 8,000 fans the right way on Wednesday night at Rexall Place.
The three Followill brothers, Caleb, Jared and Nathan, along with their cousin Matthew played a tight, if not perfunctory set, trying to reassert their claim as bona fide arena-rockers.
(After releasing their breakthrough album, Only By the Night, in 2008, the Tennessee natives lost their way with their next effort, Come Around Sundown, and erratic behaviour.)
They’re still not ready to dethrone the likes of U2 or Coldplay in terms of showmanship — the Followills aren’t prone to rock-star poses, fancy props or effusive displays of affection for their fans — but the Kings certainly trump their competitors in the sex-rock department.
“Can’t make out what you’re saying / But you rub me the right way,” Caleb sang during Temple, a melodic scorcher from the band’s sixth and latest album, Mechanical Bull, which dominated the first half of their almost two-hour show.
Five years ago, during Kings of Leon’s first Rexall visit, their frontman came across like a petulant baby, complaining over and over again about technical issues and ruining the flow of the show.
(First rules of the biz: Never let ’em see you sweat. And don’t throw your crew under the bus. At least not in public.)
This time, Caleb behaved much more professionally — opting to focus on his performance, thereby getting the most out of his pipes.
He squawked like a pterodactyl on the show’s opener, Charmer, which the band played in silhouette behind a white curtain. He rasped with desperation on Closer, a sensual number with slow, pulsating synths and bio-lumine scent visuals on the stage’s only screen. He cooed like a wraith on Radioactive — or wait: was he even singing that part or was it just a pre-recorded track?
“This is a secret proposition / Lay your hands on me,” he instructed on Family Tree, a funky, blues-rock ditty with a great bottom end. (As in bass line.)
His own family tree didn’t let him down, for the most part. Jared provided the beefy bass lines on Supersoaker and On Call, then lasciviously aimed his instrument at the crowd during Closer.
Nathan showed off his range on drums, bashing out disco-rock rhythms on My Party, then tiptoeing on Milk; while Matthew nonchalantly contributed guitar licks as he stared at his feet for most of the set. (OK, he could use a few lessons in stagecraft.)
Like good lovers, the Kings made fans wait until the end of the night to get the goods — Use Somebody and Sex on Fire — along with four other tunes from the same album, Only By the Night.
Use Somebody elicited the first electric fan singalong of the set, but the Followills didn’t capitalize on the momentum — they walked offstage, taking a quick break before their three-song encore, including Crawl and a laser-filled Sex on Fire.
While Kings of Leon brought the sex and sludge-rock, openers Local Natives delivered a 45-minute set of heartache and hyper poprock.
The fivesome from Los Angeles slowly won over the hearts of the crowd, which grew larger and louder as the band played snappy, shimmering tunes from their two albums, Gorilla Manor and Hummingbird.
Kelcey’s Ayer’s bittersweet vocals and the group’s percussive oomph — drummer Matt Frazier is often assisted by his frontman — were their strengths, as was their devotion to fans.
Airplanes, an uptempo ditty, was a particular highlight, dedicated to an Edmonton fan, Nina, who once drove to Vancouver to see Local Natives, then couldn’t get into the show.
They’re the real charmers.