Monday, July 26, 2010

Kings of Leon. Minus Bird Poop.

So after MONTHS (seriously- since March) of waiting....finally I went to Chicago to see my lovers, Kings of Leon. First off, I can't even tell you how much I love KOL because all of you would be here for days and by the end you would wish I permanently lost my voice or that my fingers would just seriously fall off already. Because I could go on for days about them, their music, and their talent. So please, hit play to your right to rock the hell out with me.

So I'm going to post more about the rest of the weekend tomorrow, but I seriously felt like this concert deserved it's very own post. The concert was actually held in Tinley Park in the amphitheatre there- which to be honest, made me nervous. Two reasons: number one being our seats were in row ZZ out of MMM and two, all of the reviews of the venue that I read Friday night were awful. I kept reading about poor sound quality and that sucks. But seriously- nothing would prevent me from going to KOL.

Jennie and I, pre-concert 

At the concert we realized our seats were fucking awesome. Almost in front of the stage, just enough back that we could see AND we had cover over our heads. This would come to be pretty damn important about an hour into the show.

Me and Kelly, pre-concert

Two opening bands played, The Stills and Built to Spill. I had only heard maybe two songs from each band prior so I didn't really know what to expect. Usually this is fine because I've discovered a lot of bands I love by them being opening acts so I am always there early to catch them. I feel like a lot of opening acts don't get the credit they deserve when really, they want it just as bad as the headliner.

The Stills were good. They seem new, they seem like they are trying to find their performing niche so to speak, but they were pretty good. Good enough that I'd like to hear more from them.

Built to Spill sucked so fucking badly I felt like my ears were going to bleed. Seriously, I was one step away from covering my ears and hiding under my seat saying, "Mommy make it stop" because that band? WOULD.NOT.STOP. Seriously. Nobody was feeling them. Hardly any clapping was happening between songs. The singer either had an abnormally large tongue, a speech impediment, or was drunk as fuck because everything was slurred. They had to start a bunch of songs over, and really? Save yourself the embarrassment.

I'm sad you can't really see this. But the tragedy is not just her unfortunate shorts, but her legs? Looked like they had a herpes outbreak. Seriously. It was disgusting. They were all red and rash like. DISGUSTING.


AND we got to sit behind the fat family. Yup. The mom? Had afro hair and I couldn't see around her. The dad who wouldn't just sit the fuck down (seriously- he was forever getting up to get them all food and drinks) was so sweaty and fat. So he would fan the sweat from his hair onto us. DISGUSTING. And they kept eating these hamburgers that smelled like ass and then proceeded to fart all night. Oh- and the teenage girls? Had skirts so short I'm pretty sure we saw vag.

In the middle of the Built to Spill set my dear, dear bestie Mr. O texts me about the KOL concert in St. Louis. And the bird poop. And because I don't watch the news and hadn't been in touch with the internet since 5am on Friday, I had no idea what he was talking about and thought he was messing with me. Coincidentally- he wasn't.















Jennie and I waiting for KOL. It was 99 degrees and 100% humidity. Goodbye makeup. So glad we spent time on you.

When KOL came out obviously everybody started losing their shit.

HEY! It's me with really bizarro lighting and pigtails!

Anyways, so they opened with "Crawl" which is just a good opening song. One thing about KOL is that they? Are so incredible live that I am willing to say they are better live than they are on an album. Don't get me wrong- I have all of their cd's and know the words by heart. I can listen to any of their songs and immediately feel the emotions behind it. But they are true musicians. They don't need auto tune. They don't need machines and shit to make them sound good. They work at it until they perfect it on their own. And that? Is a real rock band.

But at about five songs in, Caleb says, "Well- we made if five songs so far", no doubt in reference to the bird poop incident in which they had to leave after three songs. (Which seriously- I don't blame them. That is fucking disgusting and Caleb is a germaphobe. I think big props to him for even going out because I certainly wouldn't have. Grossness.) And like right on cue- the rain started. Along with thunder and lightning. It was AMAZING. I like rain storms anyways and the scarier the better, but this was just awesome to see. I did feel bad for the assholes on the lawn but not for long because the wind switched and then we were getting drenched. Which was actually fine because it was so mother fucking hot outside.

To which Caleb says, "We'll keep playing until the birds start shitting."

Oh Caleb- I heart you. *swoon*

Anyways. So they played hard. I started to get jealous about the bitches on the lawn because guess what? It is REALLY hard to rock out when you have a super heavy purse on you. And are in narrow aisles that slant downward. Because that? Has broken ankle written all over it. But I did at a few points. I had to risk possible ankle injury because this concert was worth it. I called two friends during "Sex on Fire" because if you could been there? ELECTRIC. I love the sound of an entire crowd drowning out the band while singing. They did it during "Sex on Fire" and obviously again on "Use Somebody". Surprise sing along of the night? "Knocked Up". I love that song anyways, but I am surprised at how many people sang along to it because nobody knew it at the Minneapolis concert this fall. Shame. I was also surprised that I appeared to be the only one anywhere around me to know "Molly's Chambers" and "Fans". What the hell, people?! I will say for the record that "Molly's Chambers" is in my top 5 of favorite KOL songs and also one of the top three of their songs that seriously will get me hot and bothered. A lil Sara Fun Fact for ya.

OK, so after the encore performance it was REALLY raining. And I mean REALLY raining. Anybody on the lawn were so far gone drenched they were in no rush. For those of us who were only wet on our backs we wanted to stay a little more dry but it wasn't happening. It took us maybe 20 minutes to get from our seats to my van in which we arrived totally soaked. Soaked beyond soaked. It was so worth it. My bra was retaining water. My shoes were retaining water. My underwear was soaked. My jeans were so wet I had a hard time getting them off.

Annoying thing- when venues don't have traffic control and make exits a free for all. With the ridiculous amount in fees we pay just to see a concert you think they could at least get a rent-a-cop or something. It took us a really long time to get out of the parking lot.















So here's me when we got back to the hotel. My hair had started to dry and my shirt was stinky. Makeup is gone. Yucky.

All in all? Fantastic fucking concert. Probably the best concert I've ever been to? Yes- definitely would say that. Muse is going to be a close second, but Kings of Leon put on a great show. I think they had about 20-25 songs in their set and even though Caleb mentioned having a sore throat and haggard vocal chords, you never would have known it. They rocked it out and they rocked it hard. They interact just enough but they are there to play for you and that's what they do. Their set looked great (my camera sucks so fucking bad- all my pics are blurry. Sorry.), they had a little bit of pyro, they had a million screens so no matter where you were you were seeing the band. And even though you know a lot of time and money goes into these shows, to me, it still felt like you were seeing a band on the edge of being discovered. Like the last stop before they make it huge. That? Is talent. I think it just confirms that they are still in touch with their fans, they are there to perform and make great music- not to indulge in all of the excesses that eat a band up. True musicians. I wish there were more of them.

13 comments:

Annah said...

Oh my God Kings of Leon!!!!!!!!!!! Le sigh.

Lady Grey said...

I think I told you this in the last post comment... but I absolutely love love love KOL! (jealous!)

Krysten @ Why Girls Are Weird said...

Well aside from that rain and the fat people it sounds like it was a positively amazing concert.

Dustin wants you to know he's still jealous.

And your shirt? Super cute. As is your necklace. Just sayin'.

The Insatiable Host said...

I too love kol. A shit ton! Glad you had a blast!! Love the grey shirt too!!

Jennifer Kay said...

I have to say you're lookin' like a skinny bitch in these photos! Rock on.

Another David said...

sorry to hear built to spill sucked. they sound like they're on drugs on the records, so i can only imagine what they're like live hahaha

looks like a pretty solid concert, though. they came (are coming?) to dc, too, but the tickets are way too expensive for a band i'm kinda "eh" about.

Mama Kayla said...

Oh yay! I'm going in Sept. to see them too! Can't wait! This will make my 2nd time seeing them live!

Gini said...

YAY, glad you had an awesome time! Sounds like it was a sweet show!

That totally SUCKS about Built to Spill though, because they're one of my favorite bands. I've seen them three times (and a fourth next month) and every time they've been amazing-- NEVER had to restart songs. Bizarre. They've been around so long, I thought they'd have known better than to get so fucked up their show suffered. I wonder what the fuck their deal was??

Ang said...

sounds like a great show, but you forgot to mention that you too were retaining water! (see I read and pay attention).

Sorry you had to sit around gross people, but it sounds like you quickly moved past that and enjoyed the show in front of you. I don't own and KOL CD's, but I do enjoy the songs I hear on the radio!

Anonymous said...

Fuck that looked like fun!! Kings of Leon rock my world, baby!!

Loving the fat family. If you eat a burger that smells like ass, do your farts smell like burger? Is that how it works??

Chicken said...

I want that shirt. Although it might look better with pigeon poop on it, might give it a nice tie dye effect.

SarahMarie said...

I've been to that arena for Neil Young in tornado-like weather and Ozzfest during a downpour. Glad you enjoyed the show. I've heard they are awesome to see. I haven't been to a concert in forever, so I am quite jealous of your girls' weekend away!

Sarah
http://lifewithconnorandthetwins.blogspot.com

Mr O said...

Fun Fact: Sex on Fire, Crawl, AND Molly's Chambers were released as a pack on Rock Band.

I loved this review, I felt like I was there. Was I one of the friends that was called during SoF, because I couldn't make it out haha

I'm sorry your opening band sucked. But when they come my way, they are bringing THE BLACK FUCKING KEYS! I just feel like that is magical.

I'm sorry you had to sit behind the big people. And that you had a narrow window to rock out with. I know what it's like to be in a big crowd and be the only one rocking. I don't get it -- you paid the money, are you not going to enjoy yourself?

Basically, after this post, I have to see them in September by any means necessary.