Live Review: Kings Of Leon

By Reese Gorman

The kings of Oklahoma City, popularly known as Kings of Leon (KOL), came back to their domain Friday 9/27. They put on a free concert for 28, 000 people in honor of the grand opening of Scissortail Park in Oklahoma City.

The new park is located in the heart of downtown Oklahoma City, it stretches over six acres and includes a stage in an amphitheater fashion with a lawn overlooking the entire facility. If you are trying to envision the grand beauty of this facility, imagine Austin 360 Amphitheater in a Zilker park setting.

KOL are known for their dark yet sensual sound and the pure lyrical intellect behind each one of their songs. 

KOL may not have the boisterous stage presence as some bands. if we are being true to ourselves, that is not their style. They overtake and captivate the audience with the grit and emotional depth behind each one of their songs. 

For the first half of their songs, I just stood there with my eyes closed, singing the lyrics to myself and letting the music overtake me. Their lyrics started to resonate deep inside me and touched me in an unexplainable way.

It broke my heart a little to see the ignorance people have when it comes to KOL songs that are not “Waste a Moment” or “Sex on Fire.” Those two songs are amazing, do not get me wrong, but they are anything from their best songs. These songs become popular more so about the beat and sensual lyrics than the actual depth behind the song itself. 

I understand that bands have to appeal to the masses when it comes to performing. Although, I would have liked to see them play more of their lowkey yet more lyrical songs than what they did.

The other two bands were mediocre at best. Steve, formerly known as Republican Hair, seemed to me as a bunch of fifty-year-old men going through a midlife crisis and decided to create a band and somehow stumbled into a limited amount of success. BRONCHO which I have seen multiple times let me down immensely. The audience was not into them, partially Steve’s fault, but they did nothing to revive the audience. They just stayed behind the comfort of the mic the entire time not straying into the vastness of unknown that is the rest of the stage.

I believe that this new park and amphitheater has an immense amount of potential and getting Kings of Leon there for the first performance was a huge get. I can now realistically see Oklahoma City being a marquee stop for well-known bands and artist and that makes me extremely happy. 

All in all apart from their setlist Kings of Leon did not let me down. I loved their performance and the raw emotion they put into their performance, they truly did break down the “walls” of my soul and set my “heart on fire.”