Kings of Leon review: Returning rock royalty unleash their anthems to charm the crowd

Despite their widescreen choruses and howling Southern rock, Kings of Leon didn’t always connect with the audience, says Andre Paine
Band of brothers: Caleb, left, and Jared Followill play in front of a 55,000-strong crowd at Hyde Park
Ian West/PA
Andre Paine16 November 2017

A Royal Park was a fitting venue for Kings of Leon, whose records still rule the charts. Last year’s comeback reached No 1 on both sides of the Atlantic, though it was Britain that first embraced the band of brothers (and their cousin) from Nashville.

Balmy festival weather meant this felt more like a weekend as shirtless blokes lounged on the scorched grass in the afternoon. It was worth skipping work to catch support acts such as The Cactus Blossoms’ country harmonies and the soulful swagger of Tom Grennan.

Kings of Leon’s return to Hyde Park after six years — as part of Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time — seemed to please frontman Caleb Followill as much as the 55,000-strong crowd, including Princess Eugenie, John McEnroe, Daisy Lowe, Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancy.

It should have been a triumph, yet the singer hinted at uncertainty. “You never know if you’re going to enjoy yourself at big concerts like this,” said Followill.

Perhaps he was right to worry. Despite their widescreen choruses and howling Southern rock, Kings of Leon didn’t always connect with the audience. The band were industrious — guitar virtuoso Matthew Followill even played with his teeth — but those great songs couldn’t quite cohere into a commanding performance.

It didn’t help that Caleb Followill was a fairly static frontman. “I’m having a lot of fun up here,” he reassured us. The gloomy Over, about addiction, didn’t sound much fun.

At least Followill roused the crowd with The Bucket, King Of The Rodeo and Fans. New material such as Eyes On You had a lean efficiency, though Find Me was too in thrall to Eighties rock. In fact, the group’s slick sound on slow-building choruses could sometimes be a slog.

But five consecutive chart-topping albums ensured there were several huge tunes — On Call, Use Somebody, Crawl — that made it all worthwhile. The biggest of the lot, Sex On Fire may be their silliest, though the devoted singalong suggests these Kings will remain rock royalty for years to come.

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