King Of Leon Photos by Mike Molayem
How rare is it that you get a triple bill where all three bands sound completely different and all three ROCK.
Saturday night was one of those when Kings of Leon, The Secret Machines, and Shout Out Louds finished their two night stand at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. We brought the crew and got their early to make sure we could enjoy the set from the pit area. We came to rock.
On our trip up to Washington a couple months ago the Shout Out Louds Howl Howl Gaff Gaff became our theme CD. Mark and I would bounce around the ice cream truck as we sang along. The first track off the album, “The Comeback” started the night (beep beep beeeeeeeeeep) and the dancing begun. The sound was great and you could tell everyone was having a good time. They blistered through some of the best tracks on the album, and Adam’s vocals kept sounding more and more like Robert Smith. The happy Swedish pop groove kept bopping along and when they closed their set with “Very Loud” it was great the see the rest of the crowd enjoyed it as much as I did.
Secret Machines are one of those bands I’d heard about but never had any idea what they sounded like. Were they a Warped Tour kinda band? Well, they got on the Coachella bill this year so that’s always a good sign. I reread Warren’s review of their set at Coachella and the one thing I remembered was these guys rocked LOUD. Yet somehow I forgot the earplugs. So I’ve been developing a way to gauge how good a live band is that you’ve never heard before. They’re good…
– If they don’t suck and you’ve never heard any of there music before
– If it’s too loud and you still refuse to put earplugs in
– You want to see them play again
– You shake it most of the set
Ok, that’s four. I was having trouble remembering which of the last two was the one I thought of that night so I just threw in both.
Well, Secret Machines won across the board. I think that most people throw out Pink Floyd when looking for bands or sounds to compare them too. It’s fitting but it still doesn’t do them justice. There are similarities but this is thirty years later and these guys are creating a beautiful mix of everything from then til now…..and hopefully a bit of the future too. The swirling guitar and keyboard miraculously filled out the sound where it was hard to believe it was a three-piece up there. The Kinks inspired “Nowhere Again” was filled with enough confidence and sonic revelry to separate it from it’s “Lola” predecessor. There version of “If Your Traveling to a North Country Fair” slowed everything down and lost a few in the crowd. I thought it was a brave and beautiful take. In a fitting chorus, Secret Machines summed up their true intentions “Blowing all the other kids away”. Someone’s gotta do it.
Kings of Leon came out next in grand Southern rock fashion. No fancy lights or set design here, just some southern cats here to rock the house. The first half of their set was almost exclusively focus on tracks from “Aha Shake Heartbreak”. Sh*t, they’re all so damn catchy. That’s what makes this band so much fun. I found a spot where someone had spilled a drink on the floor, wet the bottom of my clogs then proceeded to twist and shout from the back of the pit. After playing “Taper Jean Girl” and “Slow Night” I thought they had played the couple/few songs I wanted to hear. Then came “Kings of the Rodeo” and “Soft”. Whoo hoo. It was insane how many 30-something-year-old guys were freaking out. Yeah, there were tons of young girls screaming an singing along but without a doubt these few freaks on the floor (including me) were moving the crowd more than anyone. One even had an “Enjoy Oregon” shirt which of course put a smile on my face. At one point Caleb said the crowd was much better than last night and it made me glad I had been patient. Their urgency and drive pulled them through the remainder of the set then it was time to reminisce. Three great bands on top of their game on the same bill. Life is good!
We weren’t able to score a photo pass for KOL so we’re hoping some folks who were shooting will send some here so we can post ’em.
Thanks to Jim, Greg, Laura, Renee, and Rick for making this happen.
