Kings Of Leon - Live At The O2
Performance
Production
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Kings Of Leon - Live At The O2
Performance
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Here's a cool idea for a concert tour package: Kings of Leon, Hanson, and the Jonas Brothers - The Brothers Tour. Okay, maybe not so cool. Kings of Leon was formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999, when brothers Caleb (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Nathan (drums) and Jared (bass) Followill got together with their cousin Matthew Followill (lead guitar) to make some good old fashioned southern-tinged alternative rock and roll. They all go by their middle names, which must either be a Tennessee thing, or just their rock star alter egos. Kings of Leon's music follows that back-to-the-basics, alt-rock, sound that has been popularized by such similar bands as The Strokes, The Killers, and all those other bands that start with The. KOL's uniqueness comes primarily from the gritty, tortured vocals of their frontman, Caleb Followill, who reminds me of an early Rod Stewart or Leslie West, but with a southern twang. Or as the allmusic site describes it in their Aha Shake Heartbreak review; "Followill's lazy drawl sounds like a cross between Bon Scott, Ray Davies, and Eddie Money with a slight Jamaican accent." Unique indeed. A few months back, Kings Of Leon released their first concert DVD titled, Live At The O2, London England. Take a wild guess where it was filmed. The DVD was recorded during the band's sold out show at the O2 Arena, London, on June 30, 2009, before a capacity crowd of about 18,000 screaming fans. These guys are already huge in Europe and are rapidly gaining popularity in North America too. I recently saw where they will be headlining my local 25,000 capacity amphitheater in Virginia, during this summer's tour. The setlist is 22-songs deep and it features material from all four of the band's albums. You will see the evolution of their style from the alternate universe Lynyrd Skynyrd sounds of their first album, Youth and Young Manhood, on up to the more psychedelic-soul stylings of their most recent stuff. They play eight songs from their latest hit album, Only By The Night, which includes the fan favorite "Sex On Fire," and their 2010 Grammy Award record of the year winner, "Use Somebody." The concert moves along in an almost hypnotic fashion as there are not a lot of contrasting elements to either the music or the show. The stage show is very modest and the lighting barely manages to keep the stage lit enough to film. You are really forced to focus on the music and performances here, and that is not always a bad thing. These guys can really play, and they keep the crowd, especially the girls, enraptured throughout the entire performance. The overall production quality of this DVD was excellent. Your audio options are Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and PCM stereo and you can't go wrong with either. Although the stage lighting keeps things very dark throughout most of the show, the widescreen picture was clear and sharp. The camera work really put you up close and personal with the band, and presented the mood of the performance perfectly. There were no bonus materials included. Other than the lack of any bonus material, Kings Of Leon fans cannot really ask for a much better DVD than Live At The O2. It should certainly widen these guys appeal. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - May 2010 |
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Running Time: 100 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - November 2009 |