Last night I was feeling kind of downish, so I went to hang out over at Ryan's to do what we usually do when we're hanging out and there's nothing going on......get a little messed up, listen to music, and argue about it. I know it's weird, especially when we've got Megadeth blaring, but this is how I relax.
Anyway, I get over there and Ryan's got "King's of Leon: Live at the O2 London" playing. After seeing KOL at the Nokia Theatre in Sept. 2008 I've always wanted to see their live show someplace else. I remember thinking at the time that the Nokia Theatre was the weirdest place to see them play. It's all super modern looking, it's completely seated (no standing room only), and the place is pretty huge. I always thought I'd see them at a HOB-like venue with a bunch of trashed, greasy, indie rockers who'd be absolutely losing their shit. The band would be plugged in up there, more fucked than the audience, and ripping through a raucous setlist. It's because of my experience at Nokia that I never really thought that they'd ever be good in a large mainstream venue. I was wrong.
The O2 show was great. Everything from the setlist, the seating, the production, and the sound was done well. All of those things combined had them up there looking how they should......and had the audience looking and feeling like they should. It gave me a chance to reflect on these dudes for a minute and the kind of rock band that they are. They've got their own style, they've got their own sound, and there's a little bit of that mystique that Led Zepplin had.
Ryan and I sat there progressively fading into the furniture talking about where the band came from, their old albums, some of the alleged crazy things they'd done on tour, what the songs were about, and how great the lyrics or beats or guitar riffs were. I haven't been stoked on a recorded concert like that in a while.
