Kings Of Leon

RICOH Arena, Coventry

words and pictures by James Waktins

Tennessee’s finest export since Jack Daniels, Kings Of Leon, descended on the West Midlands to brighten the spirits of a rain-soaked capacity crowd at the RICOH Arena.

Playing to over 30,000 revellers, frontman Caleb Followill was in superlative form, offering solace to those who’d braved the miserable Bank Holiday weather.

His four-piece band opened with a thunderous Four Kicks, then mesmorised the RICOH with a jaunty race through their impressive back catalogue.

Offering an impressive 25 songs in two hours, KOL blazed through their seasoned earlier works, with Taper Jean Girl, The Bucket and a raucious version of Spiral Staircase, before offering some anthemic sing-along cheer to newbie fans, including Revelry and Fans.

Bringing the tone down a notch with latest single, Back Down South, the Kings gave their army of revellers every reason to stand back and listen in awe.

Watching KOL is nought per cent about the stage show and 100 per cent about the music.

They are a throwback to a different age, when fashion and stage craft counted for nought and tunes were everything.

The Followill family thrilled their fans with other highlights, including Charmer, Pyro and the mega-anthem Use Somebody, before the spine-tingling encore of Sex On Fire rumbled through the arena’s footings.

The Kings ended the night with Black Thumbnail and as a huge shower of fireworks lit up the rainy night sky, KOL left the stage to a rapturous roar.

As Caleb declared mid-gig, it’s a safe bet that the Kings will returned to the Midlands sometime soon.