Kings of Leon - M.E.N Arena (From St Helens Star)

Kings of Leon - M.E.N Arena

11:49am Wednesday 7th January 2009 in Leisure By Nicola Davies

LONG hailed as the second coming of rock and roll, the three sons and a nephew of a Pentecostal preacher proved themselves to be rock messiahs at this sell-out stadium concert in Manchester.

With fans lucky enough to have got a ticket packed to the rafters of the M.E.N Arena, the Kings of Leon did not disappoint.

Having seen the Followills in Manchester’s Apollo twice before I was eager to see how their dirty riffs would sound on a bigger stage and their tracks from Only By The Night and Because of the Times soared into the stadium space.

Playing a mix of tunes from all four albums the band kicked off with Closer and hits such as Molly’s Chambers, Kick the Bucket, Four Kicks, Use Somebody and Sex On Fire sent the crowd into raucous raptures, finishing an awesome set after four encore songs with Charmer.

Speaking in his slow southern drawl, frontman Caleb Followill thanked the ‘beautiful crowd’, saying: “When we started this band we never dreamed 10,000 people would know who we were.

“I don’t know how many of you are out there but I think you all know who we are. We’re Kings Of Leon.”

"Hits such as Molly’s Chambers, Kick the Bucket, Four Kicks, Use Somebody and Sex On Fire sent the crowd into raucous raptures"

Nicola Davies

As the fervour for the Tennessee band continues to build there is little chance of people not hearing of the Followill clan but let’s pray the rock gods don’t lose the sinfully good sound that first converted the masses.