Kings Must Be Trashier

Kool Haus

Toronto, ON

on Nov 7 2008

Zack Vitiello (CHARTattack)

11/10/2008 11:55am

The fact that Nashville, Tenn. rockers Kings Of Leon just put out the worst album of their career didn't stop scalpers outside of Toronto's Kool Haus from charging more than $200 for a ticket to Friday night's sold-out show. But what was even more shocking was that it didn't stop people from buying them.

It may be cool to hate the Kings after the release of their offensively average Only By The Night, but the group have been on a steady upward climb as of late, including a headlining gig at the first night of the U.K.'s legendary Glastonbury Festival. It therefore didn't come as a surprise to see Toronto indie-darlings K-OS, Sebastien Grainger and Born Ruffians' Luke Lalonde in attendance, looking on curiously as if to see what all the hype was about.

We Are Scientists got the ball rolling with their quirky pop-punk antics. The Brooklyn band seemed to be having a great deal of fun on stage as they played material off their recent Brain Thrust Mastery album and a couple of the highlights off 2006's With Love And Squalor, including "It's A Hit" and "Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt." Lead singer Keith Murray and bassist Chris Cain engaged in some embarrassingly silly between-song banter, but the sheer mediocrity of their music made it a better drinking soundtrack than something to actually listen to.

By the time Kings Of Leon took the stage, most of the college dudes in attendance had reached the (in)appropriate level of drunkenness needed to turn the packed Kool Haus into a writhing sea of waving hands and nodding heads.

While basked in a dark blue light, the Kings opened with "Closer," the exceptionally dull first track off Only By The Night. A heavily distorted and guitar-driven "Crawl" was next, instigating a wave of "rock on" hand-signals and crowd-surfing that would last virtually the entire evening.

As "My Party" and "Razz," off 2007's Because Of The Times and 2004's Aha Shake Heartbreak respectively, blasted forth from the speakers with a newfound sheen and striking grandeur, it became clear that these weren't the same Kings Of Leon that I had seen just two years ago.

This is in large part due to the fact that the brothers (and cousin) Followill have finally figured out what they're doing behind their respective instruments. Lead singer Caleb clearly demonstrated that he's learned how to sing, hitting a number of impressive notes without his voice cracking like a 13-year-old boy. Likewise, Matthew's once sloppy guitar work was noticeably tighter and more intricate, while Jared seems to have found his footing behind his bass, and delivered thudding riffs that served as the backbone to many of the night's songs.

But these improvements have occurred at the expense of the rawness that marked the Kings' past performances. The garage-inspired southern twang that once underlaid their songs seems to have evaporated, replaced by soaring orchestrations capable of filling a venue much larger than the Kool Haus.

Nowhere was this more apparent than during new songs "Sex On Fire" and "Use Somebody," both of which came across as gigantic epics and were met with uproarious applause. Yet the highly refined aesthetic left me longing for the down-and-dirty feel that marked their older material.

Thankfully, the Kings split up their set evenly, playing seven songs off each of their last three efforts, along with a surprise performance of "Molly's Chambers" from 2003's Youth And Young Manhood. Oldtime fan-favourites "Taper Jean Girl," "Milk" and "Four Kicks" were especially noteworthy and found Caleb's vocals sounding terrible in the best possible way. Unfortunately, "McFearless," "On Call" and the night's ender, "Slow Night, So Long," fell victim to overpowering guitars and lofty vocals, stripping the songs of the aforementioned rawness found on the records.

After several minutes of deafening (and seriously drunken) cheering, Kings Of Leon reclaimed the stage for a string of encores. Nathan climbed behind his oversized drum kit puffing on a cigarette and began pounding out the familiar beat of "Knocked Up" as his bandmates added their respective parts one by one. The sprawling seven-minute track was shockingly heavy, but sleeper "Manhattan" killed the mood with a shimmering guitar line and singalong chorus.

At this point, Caleb, who had been keeping the banter to a minimum, raised a glass of what I can only assume was whiskey and made a toast to all the people who supported the band. He also mentioned that he's been drunk every time he played in Toronto.

After several band members drained their glasses, the time was right for "Charmer." It's not surprising that the Kings left this track for the end. You could almost hear Caleb's vocal chords tearing with every shriek. But the booze and the screaming made the final song of the night that much more enjoyable.

As the recognizable chords of "Black Thumbnail" drifted through the now sopping-wet air, the audience went absolutely ape-shit and the band followed suit. Caleb finally loosened up and moved more during this song than he had all night. A piercing guitar solo matched Caleb's ear-splitting yelps, ending the night with a refreshing and much-needed breath of trashy rock 'n' roll stink.

Here's the set list:
"Closer"
"Crawl"
"My Party"
"Razz"
"Molly's Chambers"
"Taper Jean Girl"
"King Of The Rodeo"
"Sex On Fire"
"Fans"
"Revelry"
"Milk"
"Four Kicks"
"The Bucket"
"McFearless"
"Use Somebody"
"On Call"
"Cold Desert"
"Slow Night, So Long"

Encores:
"Knocked Up"
"Manhattan"
"Charmer"
"Black Thumbnail"