Kings Of Leon, The Hold Steady, 120 Days - Astoria, London - Monday 26th February 2007

Last Time I went to see the Kings Of Leon, they were awesome, and the gig was possibly one of the hottest I've ever been to (temperature-wise at least). So, when they announced an NME Awards show at the Astoria, it provoked great excitement, and the setting of a number of alarm clocks to make sure tickets were secured. Again, gay clubs meant that the doors opened stupidly early, but on a Monday night that was no great hardship.

The first band I saw were 120 Days, who confused me a little. They started off with a decent enough set of indie-ish songs, which were fairly reminscent of the Happy Mondays. Then, 2 of my mates arrived and asked what they were like - I said they were not bad at all. Annoyingly, their set then degenerated into some fairly thick dance music, with the odd repeated vocal over the top - they literally turned from the Happy Mondays into Underworld overnight. This made me look a bit stupid really, as my description of them completely ceased to be true from that moment on. Most annoying.

The next band, and in fact the main support band, were called The Hold Steady. I really liked them - they reminded me a little of Counting Crows, except that of course they were much better than Counting Crows in reality. They were (or at least sounded extremely) American, and they had an excellent mix of different instruments - mainly guitars and keyboards, but creating a good sound. Their vocalist was singing for part of the time, and talking for the rest of the songs - but he made all of the songs sound different and interesting. The music was easy on the ear, and although those with me didn't agree, I'd really like to see them again some time.

Then the Kings Of Leon appeared. They raced straight into one of the standout tracks from their excellent new album, closely followed by Taper Jean Girl and King Of The Rodeo. By this time, the crowd reaction was completely adoring, and you would already tell that this was going to be a great gig. They ran lots of songs together, so there were few gaps and lulls, and in fact the band hardly said a word in between songs for the whole set. I looked at my watch after about ten songs, and we were still only half an hour into the set - always a good sign.

The great songs kept coming - they have so many good songs from their first 2 albums, and their new album initially sounds fantastic too. They even left out several of my favourites, and still had more than enough great songs to pull off a brilliant set. Ending up with Slow Night, So Long, the set lasted for a breathtaking hour and ten minutes - and I would have immediately sat through the whole thing again. I have never seen the Kings Of Leon play live when they have been anything less that utterly amazing - the grinding, loud and dirty guitar sound is just a fantastic ingredient for excellent songs. Seems like there were a lot of famous people at the gig as well, although annoyingly I didn't see any.

Meanwhile, in the face of such a fantastic live show by a stormingly great band, it is great to see The Sun's "Bizarre" column focussing on the important parts of the set, like how good the guitars sounded the tightness of Caleb's jeans. Honestly, they did not deserve the privilege of being at such a good gig. One good point, in that the band sound like they have 2 decades of back catalogue, rather than 2 albums, but a piss poor review all round here.