Kansas City Music Blog

Click photo for slide show.

The four proud Kings of Leon strutted onto the Uptown's stage at 9:15 p.m. Friday night to the sounds of operatic intro music and excited cheers. The theater was beyond sold-out -- scalped tickets were going on the street outside for upwards of $200 and the line for a piss or a beer was at least 10 minutes long throughout the night.

The last time I saw this band was at a free show in 2006, and the Madrid Theater was barely half-full. That night, singer and guitarist Caleb Followill gave me goosebumps as he broke into a crackly falsetto for the refrain on "Charmer." I was already familiar with the band, but that song -- and the rest of the album Because of the Times -- made me a true fan. Apparently, the band's latest album, Only by the Night, led by the strong first single "Sex On Fire," has turned on a lot more folks.

The appeal is easy to see -- with their too-good-to-be-true biography, Southern good looks and sexually charged rock and roll, the Followill brothers and cousin are the kind of musicians women want to sleep with and men want to be. It seems like Caleb Followill is always singing about getting some, whether he's knocking a girl up, angling to take the risk or getting head while he's driving. Sex is such a dominant theme in KoL songs, that when some dude near me starting shouting "Just the tip!" before the encore, I thought he might be referring to an actual song.

Earlier in the night, the Whigs proved to be a perfect opener. Also scroungy Southerners who felt compelled to comment on the snow outside, the Athens, Georgia, trio played surprisingly powerful garage rock that complemented but didn't outshine the headliners' set. The Whigs laid down some darn catchy basslines, well-placed oohs and warmed up the crowd with their loud guitars. But their set was a little too long and certainly lacked KoL's polish. In hindsight, though, I think I respect the Whigs a little more for their rawness. Not every band needs to be playboys.

KoL kicked off its Uptown set with "Closer," a song from the new album. The band played under multiple spotlights with beams that darted around the stage. One caught guitar player Matthew Followil playing his instrument with his teeth, an appropriately showy move for this band of cocksure young lads.

The rest of the set was heavy on tracks from the band's last three albums. Despite Caleb Followill's apology for the band's pre-show activities -- "Because it was so cold, we all decided to have a few drinks. Hope you don't mind if you can tell." -- KoL played competently. At one point, a woman near me screamed out, " The way you play music makes me feel good."

The show wasn't mind-blowing, however. It was just the kind of solid performance you should expect from a band that has gotten big enough to sell out a 2,000-seat venue. Beyond the well-paced set list, the light show was impressive, too. The colors on the stage changed with each song, depending on the mood. Red poured down for the mean Southern rocker "My Party." Strings of white lights flickered behind the band on "Milk." And I swear the stage turned vagina pink when Caleb Followill traded out his electric for an acoustic guitar on "Fans."

That's a song in which the singer seems to gloat about his obvious effect on the ladies. "You know the rainy days they ain't so bad when you're the King, the King they want to see," he sings. That chip-on-the-shoulder admission is a little much for this lady. I prefer Followill when he owns up to being a womanizer on Revelry: "See the time we shared, it was precious to me. But all the while I was dreaming of revelry."

Predictably, the band saved its most popular tunes for the latter half of the set. I'd be lying if I didn't describe "Sex On Fire" as climactic, with the whole crowd singing along, lighters held aloft. My favorite moment, again, though, was "Charmer." Followill struggled a little more this time to hit those high notes, but he made it, sounding all desperate in lust with the woman who stole his karma. Like she exists.

Crystal K. Wiebe

That's the soundman's hand on the official Kings of Leon set list.

Photos (minus set list) by Scott Spychalski