The kings of mediocrity: Kings of Leon in Joburg

31 October 2011 - 15:11 By Nikita Ramkissoon
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Caleb Followill finally says a word or two to the crowd at FNB Stadium.
Caleb Followill finally says a word or two to the crowd at FNB Stadium.
Image: Nikita Ramkissoon

Kings of Leon graced the stages of Cape Town and Johannesburg this past week, and we got a chance to see the Followill brothers in all their splendour.

Yes, the band is amazing. Their music is technically superb and that drummer, Nathan, is one who makes off-beat sound perfect.

But the concert at FNB Stadium in Gauteng this weekend was nothing to write home about.

I really like their music. They’re different, off-beat, off-kilter and quirky. The songs are original, with a distinctive sound and feel. I love it.

At the concert, they had all of that, great sound (if you were up close) and perfect execution.

However, I may as well have bought a live DVD of theirs and watched it at home.

Kings of Leon have no stage personality and seemed distant and disinterested in playing.

What I enjoyed about recent live shows such as U2, Coldplay, Metallica, and 30 Seconds to Mars – to name a few – is that all of them put on a good stage show. There was something different from listening to an album, and that lay in the fact that these groups not only interacted with the crowd, but didn’t just stand on stage and play and end of with a few fireworks. They played to the crowd, not at them.

I doubt Kings of Leon realised what city they were in. And I’ve heard the same of the Cape Town show.

The Joburg crowd even did a dance for Sex is on Fire and the Followills didn’t even notice. How rude. We pay through our teeth to see a live show and all we get is a live version of what we could have played on our car stereo. Great.

It’s as if the band didn’t really care about the show and all they wanted to do was get it over with.

The video was this split-screen frenetically-edited mashup of images and nobody on the ground beyond golden circle could see the stage. What happened to having an elevated stage? Unless you’re less than 4.5ft tall, you should be able to see the stage.

This, and the rain didn’t really dampen anyone’s spirit, though, as the band played old and new favourites and pretty much had everyone on their feet the entire time.

But the fact that they didn’t care was disappointing. At least pretend to be having a good time and don’t treat the audience like they don’t matter. The fans are the ones your job depends on.

It doesn’t make a difference to a band like Kings of Leon, though. The masses loved it for what it was, and South African sales are just a smidgeon of their overall sales. It just really disappoints me that artists see fit to disregard an entire fan base with not even so much as a ‘Hello Joburg’.

The Black Hotels were pretty boring as an opening act, but The Shadowclub and Die Heuwels Fantasties rocked like no other. Each of the bands' growing fan base is evident of their talent, and they had most people dancing, rather than just passing time until the main act. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the crowd singing along. There may be hope yet for good local talent.

I’m glad I got a free ticket. I got to dance to my favourites and didn’t feel bad that it was just about as good as listening to a CD.

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