There is a question hanging in the air inside the newly erected British Airways ARC tonight: who is having more fun? The die-hard fans packed into the intimate venue after pre-ordering their latest album ‘O My Beloved’, or the band themselves? It’s a pretty close call.
recent comments about writing music for himself again, rather than worrying about what Kings Of Leon should sound like, give a pretty good indication of where the band’s head is at. And tonight’s performance backs that up. After 23 years of touring, this is a band who seem to have found a new appreciation for what they do. They’re clearly enjoying themselves, and it’s hard not to get caught up in it.
Caleb is in particularly playful spirits, repeatedly reminding the crowd that the band have only just landed and haven’t rehearsed a thing. Had he not mentioned it, you’d never have known. Kings Of Leon sound as tight as ever, but there’s a welcome looseness to the performance. A few jokes, some back and forth with the crowd and a setlist that feels like it’s being put together as they go, rather than planned out.
And what a setlist. Dipping into nine of their ten studio albums, there’s plenty here for the fans who have stuck around for the long haul. What’s perhaps most surprising is just how enthusiastically the newer material is received. Tracks like ‘Rose’ and ‘KOYSAR’, the latter making its live debut, are sung back with the same conviction as the songs that have been part of people’s lives for the last two decades. Clearly, the ‘O My Beloved’ crowd have done their homework.
It’s the deeper cuts though that really get things going. ‘Wasted Time’, played live for the first time in 12 years, gets a huge reaction, while ‘Black Thumbnail’ has the entire venue moving. An encore appearance from ‘Knocked Up’ is another highlight, adding to a setlist that feels like the band are having just as much fun deciding what to play as the audience are hearing it.
The energy in the room is hard to ignore, with fans abandoning their seats, dancing in the aisles and singing every word back. There’s a real sense of homecoming to the evening, too. England has always held a special place in Kings Of Leon’s story, with the band often acknowledging the country for helping get their career off the ground in the early days. There’s a genuine appreciation on both sides, and tonight feels like a chance for the band to give something back to the audience who were there long before the global success.
That connection is particularly evident in the six tracks pulled from ‘Because Of The Times’, one of the band’s most loved early records. ‘Fans’ is another notable inclusion, dedicated to England and the people who championed them long before ‘Only By The Night’ made them a household name. Naturally, four tracks from that record also make the cut, with the inevitable ‘Sex On Fire’ bringing things to a deafening close.
British Airways ARC provides a pretty spectacular setting for it all too. The sound is excellent, with every part of the venue getting the same attention. It’s intimate enough to make the show feel special, without losing the scale needed to give the bigger songs the room they deserve.
It’s perhaps fitting that one of the band’s previous albums was titled ‘Can We Please Have Fun’. Because if tonight is anything to go by, they’ve taken that question pretty seriously. This isn’t a band going through the motions, revisiting their greatest hits or simply fulfilling an obligation to their fans. Kings Of Leon are having fun being Kings Of Leon again. Tonight feels like a show for themselves as much as it does for everyone in the room, and there’s every indication that having a good time is exactly what they’re planning to do from here on out.
They return to London next year for a headline show at The O2, but there’s something rather smug about leaving British Airways Arc tonight knowing we’ve witnessed a version of Kings Of Leon that fans across the globe will be desperately wishing they could have seen for themselves. Sometimes, you just had to be there.