As a small drip of water pooled and finally fell from my nose, and my body was screaming for warmth, i silently prayed that this discomfort would all be worth it. It had rained for almost an hour at this point. We had no shelter, no blanket, no warmth. Little did i know that the rain would continue to fall for at least another two hours, breaking only for the last few songs of the set. And in the end? More than worth it. So, so much more!
In my opinion, the Kings of Leon are one of the most underrated, overrated bands out there. And I'll admit, i fell into the pop music snare of lies. I originally heard of these Nash-vegas based boys while perusing bands on purevolume.com. I enjoyed the few songs they had posted, one of which was 'Use Somebody,' and came back to their site a few times but they never became a regular play on my computer. Then i started hearing 'Use Somebody' on the radio. 'Sweet,' I thought, 'One of those no-name bands i happened upon has made it big. Good for them.' And then the song began to haunt me. It was EVERYWHERE. KOL became the overplayed, overrated boys that fell off my radar.
Then I stumbled upon their complete album, 'Only by the Night,' and their old albums. Pandora's box was opened. Thier raw, dangerous, southern, soulful rock snared me and i've been hooked ever since.
And last night, the long awaited live KOL concert experience became real for me. I will always stand by the statement that music is better live. Or at least your know the real musicians/performers when you see them live. And KOL delivered. Clouds of red smoke advanced on the lower crowd as operatic music announced the start of the show. The boys came on stage and there was no mistaking the distorted bass in the opening strains of 'Crawl.' My heart raced and my face may have melted as they played my absolute favorite song. Great start guys, you know the way to my heart :) They followed with 'Slow Night, So Long' and 'Taper Jean Girl.' Evidently they'd gotten all of my stalker mail requests for songs! Just kidding...sort of.
What's that? You've never heard of these songs? Because, you too, were turned off to KOL after them being overplayed and the only songs you know are 'Use Somebody' and 'Sex on Fire'? AH...dear friend. let me guide you on a musical journey. That for KOL includes so much more than just those few songs!!!
They played songs from all over their library. 'The Bucket,' 'Four Kicks,' 'Knocked Up,' 'Revelry,' and 'Molly's Chambers' were just some of these gems. Some bands stick only to their popular songs or their new album songs, but not so for KOL. They rocked. and i do mean ROCKED. If i hadn't been freezing, tired, shivering, sopping wet, I would have been dancing my face off.
So, if you are of the opinion that these boys are way overrated and overplayed, check out their other music and then let me know what you think. the beauty of music and opinion is that everyone has their own. what moves them. what makes them.
If you need more recommendations on great KOL tunes let me know.
always,
the future mrs. jared followill
