Openers: The Whigs, The Black Keys
Headliners: Kings of Leon
Venue: Lakewood Amphitheater
Date: 09/15/2010
Verdict: Pretty Awesome! (****)
setlist Wow, it has been a while since I actually keep track of going to see a show. I miss doing it, because it helps me remember shows.
Katherine and I took off half a day of work so that we wouldn't have to fight traffic. It was a great idea because we were able to eat La Fonda for lunch. Adrian and Kim came with us to she show. We drove surface streets and got to see the very pretty (from the outside) US Penitentiary at the south end of Boulevard. Going the back ways is the way to get to Lakewood and avoid traffic. We actually go there way early and could have tailgated if we had planned ahead of time. We really should have because a 20 oz Bub Light was $10!!! Live and learn.
I've never really been into The Whigs. They aren't bad. They did exactly what you want openers to do. They played rockin' songs with lots of energy. They didn't play a bunch of ballads and lose the crowd. They didn't ramble on stage. But yet I still just don't get an emotional connection. It's like those people that on paper you should be friends with. They live in the same area, like the same stuff, are friends with a lot of the same people, but some how you just never become friends. I guess that's the best way I can describe it. Thay are that one person with 50 of the same Facebook friends that you really don't know. Oh well. It is what it is. The small opening crowd at least was appreciative as they should have been.
I wish I could have The Black Keys open for me! What a treat. You get one of the best, most consistent, most productive, most undeniably sweet bands to open for you. How does that happen? Also they make really good music videos when few other people are. They played some old stuff. They played some new stuff with the help of a few friends on bass and keys. They played some more old stuff. They crowd wanted an encore. They should have played a few more. It was awesome. When comparing their previous music to
Brothers I think Charly is right in calling it "getting it on music". There is still plenty of music that makes you want to get drunk and get into a fight, but the addition of the groove from the bass and keys really makes a lot of the new stuff ideal for getting to know lovely ladies.
If you told me to pick one band that I was into from the early part of the decade (lets say 2000-2004) to be headlining at Phillips Arena last year and Lakewood this year, Kings of Leon would not have been it. It's not that I didn't think they were awesome, because
Youth and Youngmanhood is one of my all time favorite albums, it's just that I didn't think they would catch on. At the time the "southernish" sounding bands weren't exactly tearing it up. I would have guessed The Strokes I think. They were the poster child for the new wave of rock. But Kings of Leon are it. It's pretty awesome that they did it too! I would have preferred they not do it with "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody" or really most of
Only by the Night, but whatever. A good band, that makes awesome rock and roll, and is 3 preacher boys and their cousin is way to awesome to hate on when they make it big. They played really well and I liked it a lot better than the Phillips show. Their new stuff was cool and better than "Use Somebody" which was played as part of the encore, but at least there was a palatte cleanser of "Black Thumbnail" at the end. Some of the highlights were the smoke at the beginning and end, Trani (sadly without a mic stand throwdown), My Party, Molly's Chamber, and everything else except "Sex on Fire". I still wish they would open with "Closer", especially with all the red smoke they had it would have been pretty awesome! I wish I could get a drink with them at the Highlander, I bet it would be awesome.
