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Having last played Aotearoa in 2011, the sojourn back to New Zealand has been a long time coming for Nashville rockers Kings of Leon.
It’s been a long wait for the fans, as well, with Sunday night’s gig originally booked for March, but postponed following the arrival of Omicron earlier this year.
And after months of build-up, this crowd was ready for a party. The rapidly-filling arena was warmed up by Australian band Temper Trap, whose set was short but impressive, especially revealing they had not played a show in three years.
By the time they closed with the huge hit Sweet Disposition, this night, it seemed, could get loud.
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That enthusiasm grew even more with the band’s pre-show nod to their newest album When You see Yourself.
A crowd cam highlighting candid, cute and hilarious moments from those waiting on the band played on the big screens. It was the perfect way to get the packed venue pumped when they – well – saw themselves.
But if these US rockers were excited to finally be here, it was hard to tell when they kicked off the set with the title track to the latest album. A few songs in, the loud, enthusiastic crowd from moments earlier seemed to mellow a fair bit.
Known as much for their almost shy demeanour on-stage as their massive sing-along worthy hits, It took five songs before lead vocalist Caleb Followill finally addressed the crowd.
“How you all doing?”
It was not much, but it was all that was needed for these fans to start making some noise again.
It can often be tough for a crowd to feed off the energy of a band that isn’t in turn sharing moments or banter with those fans. It was a shame because musically, Caleb’s album-like vocals could not be faulted, and the band, (featuring Followill’s two brothers and their cousin) delivered a flawless set of tracks from the band’s 8-album history.
And the few times Caleb did address the crowd, and played those big hits, the response was noise, and a lot of it.
“Alright, this is a party,” Caleb later told the crowd after a few hits like Revelry and Waste a Moment. “Ready to sing?”
And they were.
And the bright side to a set with very little banter from the band is there was plenty of time for chances to sing.
Molly’s Chamber and Radioactive and On Call set the packed venue off and Use Somebody – with thousands of hands in the air, phone lights out and dancing on shoulders – made a mass sing-along at a volume that competed with the band themselves.
But it was the moment right before the encore that really delivered. After an almost two-hour set, these fans were not ready for home.
The result was a truly deafening sound of many thousands screaming, foot stomping, and clapping in unison at the kind of ear-ringing volume that can only come from an arena full of Kings of Leon fans who have not yet heard Sex on Fire.
While the band publicly stated they thought the song was a “piece of shit” back in 2008, they’ve since made peace with their biggest hit. And the packed arena of fans on their feet, crossing generations, with many drinks under their belts showed their gratitude with a mass sing-along of epic proportions.
“If you didn’t have a good time, come back tomorrow,” Caleb told the crowd before the encore.
Judging by the deafening noise that finally came towards the end of the show, many of them may just do that.
Kings of Leon Play a second show at Auckland’s Spark Arena Monday October 24.
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