Yesterday morning, I found out via twitter that Kings Of Leon had cancelled a show in Dallas, Texas halfway through the set. By doing what I do best (i.e. creeping) I managed to track down some more details about the incident. It seems that frontman Caleb complained of problems with his voice about seven songs into the set. He then said that he needed to go off stage to vomit and drink a beer, and then he would be back to play three more songs, presumably hits such as “Pyro”, “Sex On Fire” and “Use Somebody”. Well, Mr. Caleb never returned to the stage, and several minutes later, band members Jared and Matt came onto the stage and said that Caleb was “unfit” to pay the rest of the concert, but that they’d be back as soon as they could. In a youtube video, you can tell that Jared is shocked and extremely upset, he tells the fans to burn their records, but to hate Caleb because it’s not the fault of the rest of the band. Articles will later say that Caleb blamed his actions on heat exhaustion and dehydration. But is that the real story?
From a quick look through fans’ comments on the band’s facebook, it is evident that everyone is extremely upset about what happened. Comments on a youtube video of Jared and Matt’s apology to the crowd state that Caleb wasn’t just tired or dehydrated, but in fact too drunk to continue with the show. Jared later tweeted “Dallas, I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am. There are internal sicknesses & problems that have needed to be addressed. No words.” , and after a second show in Texas was cancelled last night, “I love our fans so much. I know you guys aren't stupid. I can't lie. There are problems in our band bigger than not drinking enough Gatorade”. These tweets seem to allude to the fact that perhaps it wasn’t just dehydration after all. To see a band seem to fall apart like this is heartbreaking at the best of times, but it’s made all the worse by the fact that these guys are brothers. If you consider this, Jared basically told the fans to hate his brother. Eek. For their own sake, I hope that whatever is wrong get’s sorted out as quickly as possible. There is no denying the fact that Kings Of Leon are a fantastic band, and I would never stop being a fan of theirs no matter what was to happen, but I also have my concerns.
In March of this year, Lauren managed to convince me that we simply had to see KOL during their South African tour in October. The even had already been postponed once due to the fact that drummer Nathan had injured his shoulder. It wasn’t very difficult to convince me, and soon we were off to buy our tickets. About two months ago, we booked flights to get there, and it seemed like we didn’t have a trouble in the world, in terms of this concert. And now these issues? Excuse me for perhaps overreacting or jumping to conclusions, but what if the same thing happens here? Or what if we get to Joburg only to find that the band aren’t in fact going to perform? No, no, no, we can’t be having that! When one has been looking forward to something for so long, and made such elaborate plans to get attend, a disappointment would be nothing short of devastating. So, Caleb, if alcohol is the problem, get help, pull yourself together, and get back on stage where you belong. You have a wonderfully loyal fanbase who will always support you, but in the long run, do it for yourself, not for the fans. If it really was just heat and a lack of, uh, Gatorade, well then I do apologise, and look forward to seeing all four of you in October.
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