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Kings of Leon (USA)
11/04/04
AB, Brussels
Studio band - live band 2-0
The evening started with a bummer, as The Mooney Suzuki,
the opening act that I'd been looking forward to (and secretly even more than
The Kings of Leon), didn't make it to Brussels for some reason. Instead,
some DJ performed (a goddamn DJ instead of The Mooney Suzuki ! I mean…
did they run out of rock bands to choose from?) while the cosy AB Box
filled with loads of nervous, red-cheeked 18 year old girls and the occasional
rock fans. Anyway, you get the gist, right? The King of Leon are three brothers
and a cousin from the deep South who released their excellent debut to generally
raving reviews and rumours that they were just another manufactured band -
led into the right direction by a dude called Angelo, who produced their album
and co-wrote all the songs. Whatever the truth is, Youth & Young Manhood
remains for the most part a very impressive debut, certainly when you keep
the members' ridiculous ages and limited experience in mind. The band's second
album, Aha Shake Heartbreak, was released right before this gig, but
I didn't have the chance yet to hear it. However, as far as the concert was
an indication, the new material seems to lack the urgency and energy of the
debut, as the standout songs were the four of five songs they played from
the debut. 
"Happy
Alone" proved once and again that the Strokes' cool and a testosterone-fueled
southern swagger CAN be combined into something hip, "Molly's Chambers" remains
one of the most irresistible songs of its year (that line "Just another girl,
that wants to rule the world" keeps cracking me up) and encore "Spiral Staircase"
put an incendiary end to an otherwise quite tame and uninspired show. Bass
player Jared Followill nailed his Johnny Thunders-act down to a T (though
having a roadie bring you a cigarette right before your last song is still
kinda silly), guitar player Matthew (also a Followill) does his best to imitate
the careless attitude of their colleagues from New York and several generations
before them, Nathan focuses only on his drum kit (he's the smart guy)
and leader Caleb tossed picks into the audience as if they were 100 dollar-bills…
and all the little girls, they loved it. Throw a ball of dough in a pond and
you know what I mean. Anyway, the audience was told by Caleb that it wasn't
doing too bad and the band felt quite at ease, but they never kept the momentum
going for longer than ten minutes or so. Even though the songs from the debut
weren't as energetic (except for "Spiral Staircase") as their studio counterparts,
they were more than enough proof of their capabilities. The new songs (I think
the band played about 6 of 'em), however, hardly made a similar impact. I
can't imagine that any song sung in that slurry voice and performed by musicians
this capable, can ever be really bad, but what we heard were mainly
hardly memorable hooks, mid-tempo grooves that rarely took off and a few quiet
songs that came awfully close to being boring (but who knows what I'll say
once I've heard the record a few dozen times). Only during the two loudest
songs or so - one of 'em with an intense, noisy climax - the band managed
to impress, which is kinda unfortunate, as Jared nearly banged himself a hernia.
The two albums so far were kinda short, so it wasn't very unexpected that
the band called it quits after a mere hour. The Kings of Leon certainly aren't
a bad band - them boys can play and have some songs to back it up - but at
this particular night, they weren't half the triumphant unit that The Black
Keys were the night before. It was a decent gig (although I initially was
disappointed - because of the high hopes, I guess), but now they owe me. They'll
have to do much better than this next time around.