Dave Simpson 

Review: Kings of Leon

8 out of 10: Leeds, Saturday, 7.50pm. The good ole' boys deliver a set of seamless southern twang.
  
  


Stage: Leeds, Main stage

Time: Saturday, 7.50pm

Dress code: Black T-shirts, black jeans, black shirts and crucifixes - however the KoL look is more deep-south preacher meets Lee Van Cleef as gunslinger in the spaghetti westerns than anything remotely goth.

In summary: The good ole' southern boys draw the most enormous crowd of the weekend so far. At 7.45pm it feels as if everybody on site is scrambling across to the main stage. Nathan, Caleb, Jared and Matthew do not disappoint, delivering a set of seamless southern twang. A band reared on country music and the Bible, and purportedly raised in a purple Oldsmobile weaving through the south, they sound like the Strokes emerging from a swamp.

Highlight: Their early hit Molly's Chambers has everyone singing the "You want it, you got it" refrain immediately, although some of the more gently off-kilter songs from recent album Because of the Times sound great in the eerie twilight.

Better than: The Strokes at this festival in 2002.

Worse than: ZZ Top, by a whisker.

Talking point: How many of the audience would be able to say "Nathan, Caleb, Jared and Matthew" after a day sampling the festival spirit. Hic.

What they'll be up to this time next year: Same place, same time would do nicely.

Mark out of 10: 8

 

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