Kings of Leon / White Lies – American Airlines Center – 10/7/09
Posted October 16th, 2009 · Artists: Kings of Leon
Last week I ventured into the AAC for the first time for a concert in order to see the Kings of Leon/White Lies show. There were fratty bros a-plenty in attendance (see above picture), but despite the ‘flavor of the week’ vibe I got from the crowd both bands put on great sets and I was thoroughly impressed and enjoyed myself with this one.
When I first heard about KOL headlining AAC my reaction was a bit ‘huh?’ I know they’re big, trendy, etc and they have that “Use Somebody” song that is totally everywhere right now, but I was surprised they weren’t playing Granada or Palladium or something (which I think they did last time). Well tickets were not really an issue as people came out in force to this one. Also for this being my first concert experience at the AAC I was pleasantly surprised, the sound was pretty good and you could see really well from where I was so no complaints there.
Up first was White Lies, a new wave-ish band from London that has been getting quite a bit of buzz this year. I was really excited to see these guys; we missed them at SXSW in March despite wanting to see them so this was a great chance to catch them since I have not caught them at any of the fests this summer (as this is a fest-less summer for me).
They were really, really good. They have some kick-ass songs in the bank for sure (ahem, “Death”) and they really played it well. Very energetic, intense and steady. The steady driving bass and drum beat kept rolling the whole way through and they just had a great overall sound and vibe to their set. At the beginning a few of the aforementioned fratty bros were yelling obscenities and ‘you sucks’ at the band for I’m sure really good reasons, but anyway, I think they largely won over the crowd by the end. I was in their corner from the beginning though and I thought they killed it, they were really great and I would love to see them in a more regular venue some time down the road, hopefully they will be coming back. And yeah, “Death” was awesome.
After they finished, Kings of Leon came out. I had never seen these guys before, kind of was ok with their material, but had never really been a huge fan. Despite my lack of familiarity and lack of fandom for the band they were actually really, really impressive. Now the crowd was really going apeshit for this one and there were some SUPER-fans in the crowd around me. I had no idea they had this kind of following. I think they have really solidified themselves as the fratty-college band that will be able to play these songs and tour basically forever based on the crowd reaction I saw.
Anyway, they blew through a ton of songs I didn’t know and songs I did know and they really had a great energy and stage show to them, and they handled the big stage perfectly and really put on a great set I thought. “Sex On Fire” really had the crowd going and of course you had the crowd singing along on a ton of the songs. I still don’t know that I would really put these guys in a ‘Southern rock’ category, but they have some good licks, some very hook-y hooks and it all comes together very well. As I said, I fully expect them to be one of those bands that has their core fans and tours forever a la Dave Matthews or Counting Crows or something, that was the vibe I got there.
Anyway, both bands put on a great set, both the Kings and White Lies filled the place up and both had a stadium ready kind of rock out sound. Even though I was surprised that this tour was booked into such a huge venue, they all pulled it off really well and it didn’t seem like the venue was too big or anything and the fans just ate it all up. Both the Kings and White Lies filled the place up and both had a stadium ready kind of rock out sound.
Kings of Leon – Sex On Fire – From Only by the Night
White Lies – Death – From To Lose My Life . . .
