Gig review: Kings Of Leon, Glasgow

This was precisely the kind of show the Hydro was built to host: one performed by a band who are these days rarely seen performing under anything but sky, in a venue big enough to host a condensed festival atmosphere on the night before midsummer.

Kings of Leon: The kind of show the Hydro was built to host. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Kings Of Leon - The Hydro, Glasgow

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As such, this sell-out date by hugely popular Tennessee rockers Kings of Leon can be considered a success, but there’s no denying they carry the lesser qualities of a large festival headliner throughout their show. Some of their less interesting songs seem crammed in, as though meat ‘n’ potatoes filler is the objective of the show, rather than a distillation of everything that’s best about them.

Amidst it all, though, the Followill brothers (and cousin) had their moments, like the raw country funk of The Bucket and the brisk groove of recent single Supersoaker, while there were welcome if relatively rare breaks in tone with the slower, more moody singalong Temple and the wailing guitar epic Pyro. The stage set was excellent, a simple assault of lasers and strobes augmented by a floor-to-ceiling video wall behind the band, with the halogen lit pine trees and chain fences displayed during Tonight contrasting with the earnest, stubbled onstage faces appearing in giant close-up.

For all that the show was long and diligently played, though, it was only in the closing stages that it truly kicked into life, with the truck-stop punk of Don’t Matter feeding into fan favourite Molly’s Chamber, its robust grind prefaced by a little faux tuning to heighten the tension, and then the parched drama of Beautiful War feeding into the inevitable and gloriously predictable main set closer Use Somebody and grand finale Sex On Fire.

Seen on 20.06.14