Kings of Leon & Band of Horses . . . . (as read from the scroll) . . . Aaron’s Amphitheatre was the scene,  July 27th in the year of 2011 the date…. The show was like none other out there.  Band of Horses opening for Kings of Leon.

Arriving at Aaron’s as media guests of Kings of Leon, we were greeted and given the low down. I was surprised to learn that it was only myself and one other photographer at the show, so I knew this was going to be good.

It was steamy hot and even hotter in the photo pit.  Guests who had the privilege of standing at the barrier were already lined up waiting for the show to start.  Maybe the girls I was standing in front of were really nice or maybe they had a little too much to drink, but either way I totally didn’t mind them fanning me with their Aaron’s Amphitheater paper fan they received at the gate. Thanks ladies!

Standard rule, only shoot the first three songs, no flash and surprise…. this time there will be a dead zone in the photo pit that you cannot pass.  This happens to be in the middle of the photo pit so once the set starts, you are stuck! Yippie!  Like Willie Wonka, I agree, the only good prize is a surprise! Oh well, I love a challenge!

Band of Horses came out right on time and the growing crowd is ready to hear this group of talented musicians.  Made up of  Ben Bridwell,  Ryan Monroe, Tyler Ramsey,
Bill Reynolds and Creighton Barrett this band from Seattle have already released three studio albums, the most recent and most successful of which is 2010’s Grammy nominated Infinite Arms.

The highlight of the set was hearing them sing a cover of Cee Lo Green’s “Georgia”.  This was a good call boys as we southerners like to represent!

It appears to me that Band of Horses knows their strengths;  They know what works and sticks with it;  Huge, catchy choruses, loose verse melodies, and that voice that comes clean and right out of Ben Bridwell’s throat.  It reminded me a lot of Atlanta rocker Kevn Kinney.
To sum it up, tonight’s display is exactly why Band Of Horses are performing in this sized venue and touring all over the world. They are a tight and perfectly polished band who get on stage and give it everything!  That is exactly what that crowd was there for.

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As Aarons Amphitheatre reached near capacity, Kings of Leon took the stage at 8:30 p.m.  Diving right into “Radioactive”, the crowd made it clear that this is what they wanted.  Pure rock from these talented Followill boys that have taken them to the top of the charts.

By the time the band played “Molly’s Chambers”, their fourth song of the night, not too many people were sitting.  Arms in the air and a lot of singing was what I saw from the crowd for the rest of the night.  Caleb Followill’s lyrics seemed to connect with the crowd especially with the mention of “Southern” things, and it was hard to not sing along myself.

“Back Down South” and “Mary” were also in last nights set and are featured on their new album, Come Around Sundown. Right after “Mary” was played Caleb told the crowd that the very first Kings of Leon show was in Atlanta. The crowd loved that!

Having never seen Kings of Leon myself before live, It definitely lived up to what I had thought it would be.

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Kings of Leon Setlist:

Radioactive
Taper Jean Girl
Four Kicks
Molly’s Chambers
The Bucket
The Immortals
Fans
Back Down South
Mi Amigo
No Money
Mary
Notion
California Waiting
Birthday
Closer
Pyro
On Call
Knocked Up
Sex on Fire
Encore:
Crawl
Use Somebody
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