In my office at work I have a bulletin board that has pictures of all the men in my life, my husband, grandfather, dad, brothers, and nephews. I didn’t set out to make a “men only” board, it just ended up that way. It seemed only fitting that I would put my ticket to the KoL show on that board for safe-keeping. I stared at that ticket while booting up my laptop and sipping my first cup of coffee yesterday, thinking it didn’t matter what the hell happened at work, I could get through it today. My last show of the year was the third time that I would see Kings of Leon this year. Knowing that they have had more success here, I was anticipating seeing how different one of their shows might be.
Wembley Arena, which is right next to the grand and new Wembley Stadium, reminds me a lot in design and size of UIC Pavilion in Chicago. In terms of the venue, it was not impressive. Since this show had been sold out, I kept telling myself I was going to just be happy with having scored a ticket, knowing it was not going to be great, but I would have a seat. I’m a little afraid of the standing sections in the UK, they get really rowdy with lots of beer throwing. But when I realized how far back I was, the thrill was gone just a bit. The stage was the most elaborate I have seen for a KoL show, and really beautiful at times.
For the setlist, the band played songs that I have never heard them play live before like Holy Roller Novocaine and Razz. It was nice to see them mix it up, since in the spring, their setlist did not change from show to show. The audience favourites were Fans, which is written about the English fans so I thought that would get quite a reception, and The Bucket. The audience sang every word and over-powered Caleb on vocals. They were passionate. My favourite probably was Holy Roller Novocaine because I have never heard them perform that live and it’s such a Southern song, which made me think of home.
It was a real treat to get to see them here, but their show at The Pageant this year was by far my favourite. --J
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