KOL Rocks West Palm Beach
On Saturday, September 6, the southern alternative rock band Kings of Leon continued their tour for their sixth album Mechanical Bull at the Cruzan Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach.
Multiple shows were cancelled for the month of August due to drummer Nathan Followill breaking his ribs in an accident in which their tour bus made an abrupt stop to avoid hitting a pedestrian on August 9 after a show in Boston. Luckily for West Palm Beach, Followill healed just in time.
Starting off the night was one of the opening acts, Kongos. The band—which also consists four brothers—rocked the stage with their alternative tunes performing hit singles such as “Come with Me Now.”
Seats slowly filled as fans waited for the main act. From the lawn, you could enjoy the view of the cotton candy skies while jamming to Young the Giant, who had quite the fan base singing along.
After the two opening acts, the crowd cheered as the members of Kings of Leon walked onto the stage performing Mechanical Bull’s first single “Supersoaker.” Without saying a word, they smoothly transitioned to one of their older hits “Taper Jean Girl.”
In his raspy southern accent, lead vocalist Caleb Followill took a moment to thank the crowd. Later, while playing “Family Tree” he seductively rubbed his hands down his chest singing the lyrics “this is a secret proposition, lay your hands on me.”
The on stage visuals were a sight worth seeing, with an LED screen containing an array of different colors and themes ranging from watery, blue lights, patriotic images, and kaleidoscopic effects. Retro footage of sunsets and palm trees were projected onto the screen while the band performed “Mary” from their beachy album Come Around Sundown.
During the performance of “Beautiful War” vintage footage of a wild horse played in the background. There was never a dull moment in either audio or visuals.
Despite one small technical difficulty in which Caleb Followill strummed his guitar, smiled and said “I’m just gonna talk to you guys now,”—ironically never really saying much more as the crew fixed a few cables—the show was a success. The minor error only lasted a few seconds.
The Followills make each show special by playing a specific song for each city. Using the hashtag “#songforthecity” fans are able to request their favorite song they would like to hear on tour. For West Palm Beach, that song was none other than “Manhattan” from their 2008 platinum album Only By the Night.
The Cruzan lit up like a starry night as people held up their cellphones while KOL performed the mellow “Cold Dessert,” another single off of their platinum album. You could feel the emotional connection Caleb Followill has to this particular song; it was recorded after a long drunken night with only the first verse thought out and the rest completely improvised.
Leaving the crowd wanting more, the band said good night and pretended to pack up their things.
They quickly returned for an encore and played “Crawl” and “Black Thumbnail” then ended with a hot, sparkling set of “Sex is on Fire.”
The Mechanical Bull neon sign appeared on the screen, the band walked off the stage and the fans left West Palm with an unforgettable memory.
