Photo courtesy of Jack Boland/Toronto SunWe all have those albums that signify turning points in our lives and define us as people in particular moments. Personally, the last time I was moved that deeply by album was when Kings of Leon released Only By The Night.When that beautiful thing arrived in 2008, it came on suddenly. I was in my early twenties and perhaps hadn’t yet noticed how badly the musical landscape needed a rock band. By that time, I also figured I had outgrown building that sort of gradual relationship with an album, but as it turned out it’s easy to be enthralled by the process of uncovering great music at any age.Truthfully, and I have no qualms about it, I love this band. I’ve seen them in concert on numerous occasions, I even find myself hungry for the experience from time to time, and yet, they are absolutely boring live. Are they a stadium caliber act? Unquestionably. But, something about Kings of Leon’s live show continuously falls flat. Don’t get me wrong, their catalogue is absolutely stacked these days, and Wednesday night’s roughly 27-song set list at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, was a clear indication of their current level of success, but these guy’s are fundamentally the kind of band that evokes a certain desire for proximity.Now, that’s hardly the worst problem they could have, and realistically I’m sure it’s not one they spend much time worrying about if ticket sales are any indication, but you pretty well always know what you’re going to get out of a Kings of Leon concert.That being said, what these guys tend to lack in stage presence they made up for over and over again as they moved seamlessly between their raucous Southern rock roots and deep, sprawling atmospherics last night. I’ve really never come across another band that functions so coherently within two almost completely separate genres; it’s really all about the songs with these guys and I can respect that.They opened the show with a screeching rendition of “Charmer” before moving into an array of songs that leaned heavily on both the breakthrough success of Only By The Night and their latest album Mechanical Bull. Ensuring they took on everything from “Closer” and “Notion” to the anthemic “Use Somebody” and newer more driving tunes like “Rock City,” “Temple,” “Family Tree” and “Supersoaker,” which was a crowd favourite, the hits were certainly not in short supply.Unsurprisingly, they made all the horny ladies in the crowd wait until the very last second to close out the night with “Sex On Fire.” Possibly one of the most iconic rock lyrics of the past 20 years, there’s something about that song that makes people toss their heads back and wail at the top of their lungs. It’s something like Bon Jovi’s “Living On A Prayer”; it’s the kind of song you give in to cause it just does something to the body whether you’re into it or not.It is also worth noting that opener Gary Clark Jr. is the fucking blues baby. His guitar licks absolutely ached out on that stage last night, and he has a vocal sweet spot that anyone would be hard pressed to match.What it really boils down to is an artist’s ability to create the kinds of individual moments that hang heavy in the air and that we instinctively respond to, and that’s something both acts seemed conscious of last night. Are Kings of Leon the most exciting live band you’re ever going to see, definitely not, but then it’s really more about being there and being a part of what briefly happens between the bookends of each song than anything else isn’t it?--@JulietteJagger is a rock journalist living in Toronto.
Advertisement
Advertisement