Taxi Violence and Machineri at Kirstenbosch

Enthralled by the beauty of Cape Town and amazed by the talent of local artists: not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I arrive at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens at around 4pm on Sunday the 19^th of February, armed with a Hello Kitty picnic blanket and a chocolate Steri Stumpie… taking life seriously, wasn’t I? Although slightly worried that the Hardcore Rock Fans might judge me, I soon find out that this is not the case at all. The atmosphere amongst the couple of thousand people gathered on the lawns in the Botanical Gardens is nothing if not completely relaxed.

The sun is still high in the sky, and the temperature at least 5000^oC when three-piece band Machineri takes to the stage. Composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Sannie Fox, guitarist Andre Geldenhuys and drummer Daniel Huxham, the band’s sound is pure blues-rock…well, as pure as such a mixed genre can be. Their guitar riffs and Fox’s vocals scream ‘blues’, whilst the drums bring in the rock elements which result in the band often being considered rock. Fox’s voice stays strong the entire set, and their catchy tunes have many in the crowd bopping their heads in time to the music. Some energy is injected into the band’s somewhat low-key performance when they are joined on stage by vocalist Inge Beckmann, who air-guitars her way through an upbeat number.

Taxi Violence appear on stage just as the sun begins to sink behind the mountain. “We’re Taxi Violence, and you’re here to see us, give yourself a round of applause”, frontman George van der Spuy jokes good-naturedly, before launching into “I Went Down to the River”, accompanied by Inge Beckmann, as well as the shouts of some very excited audience members. The band’s talent is immediately evident, and by the second song, “Devil ‘n’ Pistol”, most of the audience is tapping their feet, clapping, and resisting the potent urge to head bang. This is also my personal favourite of the set, I love the lyrics which incorporate some blues and country themes. Van de Spuy continues to engage with the audience throughout the set, cracking jokes, and telling us the stories behind some of the songs. I think that this makes all the difference in the world, the constant banter makes the crowd feel connected to the band, they just seem so friendly and genuinely likeable. I am also unable to fault them performance-wise, they switch effortlessly between the country-infused “Between the Heavens and the Deep Blue Sea” and the pure rock of “The Turn”. They also perform their first hit, “Untie Yourself” - during which the cello and keyboards are positively haunting – and throw in a cover of traditional folk song “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” for good measure (much to the distaste of the very grumpy and very vocal man behind me). It’s not often that I discover a band live, but despite never having consciously listened to Taxi Violence before, I felt myself hoping that they’d come back for an encore after the show. I truly think that this one performance has turned me into a fan. It’s very difficult to compare this band to anyone else, or describe who they sound like, because, well, they sound like themselves. George van der Spuy along with guitarist Rian Zietsman, bassist Jason Ling, and drummer Louis Nel make up extremely talented rock band.

As I leave the venue, I’m left wondering why more concerts aren’t outdoors. I can think of no better way to spend an afternoon than surrounded by picturesque scenery, good vibes and true talent.

If Real Life Was High School...

Ah, high school. Gone, but not forgotten, I’m afraid. It can be said that high school is a kind of trial-run for the Real World, and that the same stereotypes assigned to teenagers carry on throughout the rest of life. Now, we all idolize our favourite band members, but if real life was high school, just where would they all fit in? No matter how awesome everyone from Brandon Flowers to Nathan Followill seem, I’m certain that they don’t all sit atop life’s ‘cool’ pile. So where would our favourite band boys fit in, if real life was high school?

Chris Martin: he’s a nice guy, good-natured, cares about stuff like making trade fair, and likes to sing. Nerd alert or what? There’s no way that the footballers would allow Chris at their table in the cafeteria. He’s the sweetheart that all the girls would adore as a friend, but at whom the jocks would look down their noses. Don’t underestimate him, though; one look into those blue eyes, and even the cheerleaders would be swooning.

Adam Levine: Whilst also not the footballer type, Adam would definitely be a popular kid. Not wanting to take part in any violent sport for fear of harming his good looks, Adam would spend his time clowning around in the back of the class, while miraculously still getting good grades and never being in trouble. His secret? Flashing that winning smile at Life’s teachers would never fail to get him out of any pickle.

Nathan Followill: Ah, here we go: the jock. Nathan’s effortless Coolness would ensure that he was constantly surrounded by a gang of admirers. Never shy to speak his mind, anyone who annoyed Nathan would be met with a typically scathing comment (let’s hope Glee creator Ryan Murphy wasn’t the principle, or fist fights may ensue). Causes of frequent stints in detention would most likely be bringing beer to school, or attempting to engage staff and students in golf tournaments during lessons.

Jared Followill: Let’s just say that this boy’s Tough Guy act isn’t fooling me. While he may slam lesser humans against lockers and demand their lunch money, he’s likely to shove it back into his victim’s pocket when they’re not looking. Never missing an opportunity for a photograph, Jared will pout and fluff his hair in front of the mirror for hours, but when he says he has a hot date with a cheerleader, you’d probably just find him at home on the couch with his mom.

Brandon Flowers: the sparkly outfits, the feathers, and the Vegas obsession would make Bran head of the Glee club. He’d be brilliant at anything he did, and wouldn’t be afraid to let everyone know it. Uninterested in the goings-on of the Cool crowd, Brandon would spend his break times writing songs, and gluing feathers to his school uniform.

(Credit for the idea for this story goes to Nerissa Naidoo)

Guilty Pleasures: We All Have Them!

Admit it; we all have guilty pleasures when it comes to music. Whether you’re the cheerleader, dance music-obsessed girl with a secret stash of MCR albums, or the hardcore metal dude with a closet love for Mika, everyone has some dirty little music secrets that we’d rather people not know about. Now, I’m usually a rock/alternative child, but oh well, at risk of throwing myself to the sharks, I’m going to reveal my top 5 musical guilty pleasures.

5) ABBA- I’m sure I’m not alone in this one. Yes, I know all the words to “Fernando”, and yes, I’ve been known to sing it in my head when someone mentions the name in general conversation. Yes, I’ve danced around my room to “Dancing Queen”, and yes, I’ve attracted some odd stares when singing along to “Mama Mia” in public. So what?

4) American Country- I don’t just mean normal country, I mean Alan Jackson, Carlene Carter and who knows who else singing songs along the lines of “Hillbilly Rock, Hillbilly Roll” and “Dancin’ With Elvis”. I happen to have an entire album full of these gems, and I’m yet to meet someone who doesn’t think they’re catchy, at the very least. All together now “Up on the mountain, way outta town, it’s Saturday night and the folks gather round…”

3) Katy Perry- Most people adore Katy, but most people aren’t me. ‘The One That Got Away’, for example, is the very type of song that would usually result in me pretending to gag before turning the radio off. However, it happens to be one of my very favourite songs. You can psycho-analyse me all you want at this point, but in reality it’s simply because it’s an adorable song. I love Katy, the end.

2) Taylor Swift- Shock, horror! This sweet-as-sugar little country-pop darling is one of my favourite artists at the moment. I don’t care that she only sings about heartbreak and men, she’s a decent girl and a breath of fresh air in a music industry filled with rappers and popstars singing about taking each other’s clothes off. Every once in a while, I enjoy a break from the serious music that I usually listen to and Taylor’s cute lyrics provide exactly that.

1) Westlife- I know, I know, its boyband pop at its cheesiest, but I can’t deny My Love for Westlife. Whether I want to cry my eyes out over how much I miss my childhood, cheer myself up when I’m sad, or simply kill time on a road trip, Westlife are my go-to guys. Their songs are ingrained in my head from years upon years of singing along, and I struggle to find a childhood memory without a Westlife song attached to it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to listen to the Coast To Coast album and think about the good old days…

Do you have any guilty pleasures when it comes to music? 

Musical Taste And The Eternal Search For Popularity

[I mean absolutely no offence to Cool Kids or Popular Kids, two of my best friends are stereotypical Cool Kids, and 99% of the time, I wish I was one of them. Bro, I don’t care if you listen to Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake or Justin Bieber, I’m simply wondering why liking Coldplay makes me uncool.]

Be it consciously or unconsciously, we all crave popularity. No matter how old you are, don’t even try to pretend that you don’t wish you were the person that everyone else wanted to be. The cheerleader, the footballer- the Cool Kid. Like it or not, taste in music plays a part in popularity.

I’m not a cool kid, I never have been, and I’m under no illusions that I ever will be. I’m a concert kid, a music kid, basically, I’m a fangirl, and that’s not cool at all. Whilst normal people my age listen to the likes of Usher, Enrique and Lady Gaga, I’m perfectly happy to exist on a diet of indie rock, alternative rock, and normal rock- that is, of course, until I crack out my collection of oldies and country, but we won’t talk about that…

It probably all started when I was about nine. I don’t even know what Cool Kids my age listened to in the late 90’s, but I’m willing to bet that it was Britney, The Spice Girls and TLC, as opposed to my favourites, which included Savage Garden. I mean really now, what kind of nine-year-old is into rock bands?

But back to Cool Kids. Cool Kids simply adore dance music, but why? Why is it that liking Pitbull is cool, but liking Muse is odd? What is it that separates the two? My own humble opinion is that I’ve already answered my own question: it’s because Pitbull makes dance music. Cool Kids are always at clubs- dancing- and their lives could basically be summed up by any number of popular dance songs on the radio. They can associate with lyrics such as “hey baby, you look so good on the dance floor, baby, you’re amazing, on the dance floor baby, let’s dance baby, take your clothes off baby”, because that is what a Cool Guy says to a Cool Girl! Ha! I’ve figured it out! And the reason that un-cool people don’t like dance music is because we can’t relate to the lyrics…no guy has ever asked me to take my clothes off on the dance floor, baby!

There are exceptions, however, and I can think of one in particular. I met a girl, about four years ago, who is undoubtedly a Cool Kid. So much so, that on first impressions, I thought she’d never be friends with me. However, she has impeccable music taste: she loves Death Cab For Cutie and 1940’s jazz music, no one judges her for her it!

I am almost certain that I exist in a constant state of being judged. People ask what kind of music I listen to, and as soon as I tell them that my favourite bands are Coldplay and The Killers, I can almost feel them deciding that I’m not cool. Perhaps before answering, I should make a judgment call as to the popularity of the person asking, and if the person is a Cool Kid, I should answer “David Guetta, bro, he’s legit”. The day before I saw Coldplay live, I bounced into my lecture, squealing with excitement. My classmates’ reactions ranged from ‘I hate Coldplay’ to ‘Coldplay are terrible’ to ‘they make me feel like killing myself’. I’m not going to lie, my feelings were slightly hurt. If I had been a Cool Kid, excitemed about seeing Deadmau5, for example, they would have most likely jumped up and down squealing with me.

Whilst considering my favourite bands, I must acknowledge that even some Cool Kids were jealous that I went to see Kings of Leon live. Upon a quick Facebook creep, I find out that over 70 of my Facebook friends ‘like’ Kings of Leon…and some of these 70 are Cool Kids! However, I am soon able to deduce that Cool Kids don’t actually like Kings of Leon- Cool Kids like Sex On Fire. Sigh, there go my last hopes of ever being cool…

Fangirl Favourites of 2011

With the year drawing to a close, I thought I’d share my most played tracks, artists and albums of the year, as well as my favourite newly discovered artists. Bear in mind that very few of these albums/songs actually came out this year…I have weird taste, alright? These stats all come from my Last.fm account, and some of them even managed to surprise me! They were, however, slightly skewed by the fact that I listened to Kings Of Leon almost incessantly for several weeks before seeing them live, in an attempt to learn every single word of every single song that they would play (and I was successful).

Top Played Artists of 2011:

1)      Coldplay

2)      Kings Of Leon

3)      The Killers

4)      The Gaslight anthem

5)      The Script

6)      Taylor Swift

7)      Hey Monday

8)      The  Vaccines

9)       Paramore

10)    Brandon Flowers

Oh goodness me, I only discovered The Gaslight Anthem in August! Imagine if I’d been listening to them all year, they’d definitely have been number one!

Top Played Songs of 2011:

1)      The ‘59 Sound- The Gaslight Anthem

2)      Paradise- Coldplay

3)      Even Cowgirls Get The Blues- The Gaslight Anthem

4)      Fans- Kings Of Leon

5)      Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall- Coldplay

6)      Back Down South- Kings Of Leon

7)      Pyro- Kings Of Leon

8)      Charmer- Kings Of Leon

9)      Film Noir­­- The Gaslight Anthem

10)   Meet Me By The River’s Edge­- The Gaslight Anthem

Wow! This kind of makes it look like I have no variety in music taste and simply listen to a few favourite bands. I assure you, I’m really very diverse! I do, however, have a couple of obsessions.

Top Played Albums of 2011:

1)      The ’59 Sound­- The Gaslight Anthem

2)      Come Around Sundown- Kings Of Leon

3)      Mylo Xyloto- Coldplay

4)      Only By The Night­- Kings Of Leon

5)      Because of the Times­- Kings Of Leon

6)      Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends­- Coldplay

7)      Science  & Faith- The Script

8)      What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?- The Vaccines

9)      Flamingo- Brandon Flowers

10)   Hold On Tight- Hey Monday

I think I’ve re-enforced my borderline-OCD Kings Of Leon obsession…

Favourite New Bands of 2011 (in no particular order):

I don’t care if they didn’t form in 2011, these are bands that I discovered this year. I’ve left out The Gaslight Anthem, I’m pretty sure that by now you realize that I love them a lot.

·         The Vaccines

·         Foster The People

·         Mumford & Sons

·         Hey Monday

·         Most Thieves

Favourite Live Performances of 2011:

1)      Coldplay at FNB Stadium- Without a doubt, the best live band I have ever seen. Explosive, stunning, perfect.

2)      Kings of Leon at FNB Stadium- I’d have preferred to have been pressed up against the barrier, but who really cares? It’s Kings Of Leon, for goodness sake, they’re rock gods!

3)      The Script at the Grand Arena, Grandwest- A beautiful performance, for which I had possibly the best barrier spot that I’ve ever had at a concert.

4)      The Parlotones at FNB Stadium (with Coldplay)- I’ve seen these guys live three times, and they just keep on getting better!

5)      Freshly Ground at East Coast Radio Durban Day- This band was definitely the highlight of my day! Extremely entertaining and beautifully executed performance.

Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? I feel like my music taste has definitely changed this year, and become a lot more alternative. Last year’s top albums included Taylor Swift, Mika, and Owl City, all of whom I still appreciate, but no longer listen to quite as often. In addition to all of the artists mentioned, my love of country music has strengthened by a great amount, but that will be the subject of a whole other blog post…

Album Review: Daughtry- 'Break The Spell'

I became a fan of Daughtry in early 2007, the first time I heard ‘It’s Not Over’ on the radio. Their style is slightly heavier than my usual taste, yet they remain one of my favourite bands, and so needless to say, I was eager to give their latest album, ‘Break The Spell’, a listen.

Although I’ve only listened to the entire album about three times so far, my first impressions are very positive. This is a Daughtry album, through and through, there’s no mistaking the music and Chris Daughtry’s extremely distinctive vocals. I’m proud of the band for staying true to themselves; in a world where rock is a dying genre of music, they feel no need to go mainstream or to engage in things like duets with commercial artists in an attempt to sell more albums. And why should they? Daughtry clearly have a winning formula, as proven by their delivery of a third spectacular album.

My personal favourite tracks so far are ‘Louder Than Ever’, ‘Spaceship’, the extremely catchy single ‘Crawling Back To You’ and title track ‘Break The Spell’. Fans will not be disappointed in this album, I’d recommend buying it immediately, and seeing a live Daughtry show as soon as possible, I was lucky enough to attend their concert in Cape Town last year (a show which the band later referred to as their best show ever), and they put on a fantastic performance. 

Indie Rock 'n' Roll's Best Bassist Goes Solo

At the beginning of 2010, The Killers went on a hiatus, after recording and being on tour for almost six years straight. A few months into said hiatus, however, frontman Brandon Flowers announced that he was to release a solo album, entitled 'Flamingo'. Earlier this year, drummer Ronnie Vannucci released his own solo album, 'Big Talk', and now it's bassist Mark Stoermer's turn to do the same. 

Mark's album is called 'Another Life'- a title which interested me immediately- and is available as a free download on his website, for a limited time only.  

Of course I downloaded it at the first chance I got, I mean come on, he's a member of my favourite band in the world, I support him by default! But the album really is good, and I'm not just saying that. Some of the songs, for example 'There is No Is' and 'Shadow In A Dream' are great background music-type songs, they're very calm and chilled out. They don't make you want to jump around and scream like The Killers' songs do, but that's fine, this is Mark's album, not the band's. 'The Way We Were Before' is extremely catchy, and I've found myself tapping my foot and humming along to it. I also know almost all the words to 'The Haunts' by now as I've had it on repeat so many times this morning. Another outstanding song is the title track 'Another Life', but my very favourite song on the album has to be 'No Time'. I think a squeal may actually have escaped my lips the first time I listened to this song: it's a country song. I'm sure we all know how fond I am of country music, and my favourite bass player singing a country song simply made my day. 

In short, I'd definitely recommend the album, even to people who are not fans of The Killers: I promise you won't find any 'Mr Brightside' sound-alikes on here. 

What Are Big Concerts Plotting Now?

And so it begins again, another mysterious post on Big Concerts' Facebook page, stating that there is another Big Announcement on its way. Just one month short of a year ago, we went through this when Kings Of Leon were announced. There was some hype on 5fm, and pleas to stay tuned at 5pm to hear which huge rock band were on their way to SA. I had no signal for 5fm at the time, and was reduced to creeping their twitter feed on a not-very-internet-friendly cellphone in order to see who it was. Cue some squealing when KOL were announced. Next came the announcement of The Script, back in February of this year, I had convinced myself that it was going to be Bon Jovi, and whilst I do like them, I was much more excited when I heard it was The Script, whom I adore. I managed to get golden circle tickets for this with no problem. And then...then came May, and The Coldplay Announcement. Highveld Stereo declared that it was a British rock band composed of four men, one of whom was married to a famous blonde. I did not allow myself to believe that it was Coldplay until the very words were tweeted by Ryan O'Connor of Kfm in Cape Town. 

Now, we have another BIG announcement coming tomorrow. All we know so far is that there will be arena shows in Cape Town and Durban (yes, Durban) and a stadium show in Gauteng. Personally, if I had to place bets, I'd go with either the Red Hot Chili Peppers, or Foo Fighters, and this seems to be in line with the general consensus. But then again, who on Earth would be able to sell out a stadium, and yet come to Durban? And why is there no stadium show in Cape Town? The Grandwest holds, well, a grand total of about 8000 people...10% of the capacity of FNB Stadium in Joburg, so what is going on here? I am completely intrigued! But patience is a virtue, and so I will wait patiently for the announcement, at 9am tomorrow. But do I need to prepare myself? Do I need to draw money in case I need to run down to Computicket immediately as for The Script? Or will I have a few days to prepare myself as with Coldplay? What if tickets go on sale at 9am on Thursday (as for Coldplay) when I will be on a  plane? Oh dear. Anyway, who would I even want tickets for? Well now, I could go on for days here... Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Adele, Owl City, 30 Seconds To Mars, Muse, Panic! At The Disco, Lady Antebellum, Train, Mika...(and if it was The Killers, which it's not, I'd be booking flights to all three cities). But I do realise that I have been extremely lucky this year, managing to see three of my favourite international bands live. So whoever gets announced tomorrow, whether it be Justin Bieber, Madonna or Marilyn Manson, I'll be happy that the fans of that artist will get to see them live.

Edit: I know exactly who it is, but I'll let my readers wait for the real announcement, it's much more fun. But I will say that I was way off-track with my guesses. 

Kings Of Leon- Live in Johannesburg

Sigh, the life of a fangirl: another Friday, another cross-country flight to see a band. This time it was Tennessee’s Kings Of Leon that Lauren and I were off to Johannesburg to see. Our flight was due to leave just after 2pm, but the issues began at 10am, when we were informed via sms that our flight had been delayed. This in itself was not a huge problem in my life, the huge problem came in the form of the five or so highly inefficient people I had to deal with to make sure that the flight really was delayed, as well as the four phone numbers which were unanswered. Anyway, the flight really had been delayed, and we eventually departed around 3.45pm. The flight itself was pleasant enough until about half an hour before landing, when we experienced a fair amount of not-so-fun turbulence, now I’m not scared of flying or anything, but I’ve seen Lost…I know how turbulence can end! Needless to say we were more than happy to touch down onto some solid ground.

Saturday morning dawned, and once again we were off to the shops, this time to experience Sandton City, which is absolutely huge and beautifully decorated! Oh I could get lost in some of those shops for hours upon hours, but I’m sure I’m losing my train of thought…. Ahhh, shoes….

As we had seated tickets, we had no need to queue at the stadium a zillion hours before the gates opened, and so we caught the 4pm park ‘n’ ride from Gold Reef City and arrived at the stadium just after the gates opened. This was a completely new experience for me; the last time I’d had seated concert tickets, I’d been 14, but we had still queued for two hours before the gates opened! This is almost refreshing, no need to run or panic about getting a barrier spot, we simply made out way calmly to our seats, then killed some time wandering around looking for food and merchandise. The seats around us began to fill up very slowly, but I had a great view of the general standing area, and the people here fascinated me. They seemed to be acting as though they were at some kind of social event as opposed to a concert. They milled around, greeted friends, left the standing area and came back numerous times…there was no fighting for barrier positions, and to be honest, they didn’t seem too excited, but I’ll get back to that.

Three support bands preceded Kings Of Leon, and might I say that the main support band, Die Heuwels Fantasties, impressed me. I’d seen them almost a year ago, but they had improved a million fold, and even though they are an Afrikaans band, and I only caught snatches of their lyrics, they were very entertaining.

And then…the lights go down, the screens go on, and the Followill boys troop onto the stage to the intro of ‘Radioactive’. My seat is quickly forgotten, and I jump up and down and scream to my heart’s content. Kings Of Leon give an absolutely flawless performance, Caleb’s voice is exactly the same as it sounds on the CD; clearly very little in the way of studio adjustments goes on here. Caleb is so into his performance, it is amazing. One can see the emotion on his face as he utters those perfect vocals, song after song. And when he talks in that southern accent, my heart just melts. The other band members amaze me as well; Matt never stops smiling, Jared is clearly having the time of his life, and Nathan…Nathan is just the very definition of the word ‘cool’. Banging away at his drums with tattooed arms, his long, dark hair blowing in the evening wind, this man is a true rockstar (am I making it blatantly obvious who my favourite is yet?).

The setlist is almost perfect – unfortunately the boys don’t seem to hear me screaming “Chaaaaaaaaaarmerrrrrrrrrrr” though, sigh- and the stage setup is amazing. The lights never stop going crazy, and the screens allow even the furthest people to get a perfect view of the Followill boys’ pretty faces. I do not sit down at all during the 22-song setlist, and I literally spend most of the time jumping up and down, squealing, and taking very blurry photos. I go positively crazy when I hear the first few beats of ‘Fans’! “Eeeeeeeee! Is it ‘Fans’ ? Omg omg omg ‘Fans’ I’m gonna die, eeeeeeeeee”. Then I manage to sing along to the first line of ‘Revelry’ without realizing what song it was, cue a belated freak out session…I do love ‘Revelry’ indeed. By the time ‘Knocked Up’ comes around, I’ve screamed my throat almost to breaking point, and I’m unable to do the ‘whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh’s, but I continue jumping, nonetheless. I feel like I am on the receiving end of some quite serious judgment from the people behind me, as I know almost every word to every single song. I’m the girl who is screaming and jumping and singing to even the less well-known songs such as ‘The Bucket’ and ‘On Call’. Most of the people seated in my block only seem to know the chorus of ‘My Party’, and let’s face it, those lyrics aren’t that difficult. I feel that I am seated with people who just came for a night out, and because they wanted to sing along to that song they’d heard on the radio, what was it called again? Oh yes…‘Sex On Fire’. At least this song gets a great reaction, though Jon Savage’s idea of a surprise flashmob fails miserably. When this song ends, the stage lights go down, and the boys are gone, but I’m not moving a muscle. Surely no one would be thick enough to think that they’d leave without playing ‘Use Somebody’. Well, maybe not… half of the general admissions people are leaving already, flowing out of the area in streams, leaving the back completely empty. But I’m right, and the band returns for an encore of four songs including, of course, ‘Use Somebody’. It seems almost poetic that the rain begins just as the band start to play the third-last song, ‘Manhattan’, it’s almost as if the weather had decided to be nice and allow the concert to proceed, instead of ruining it with the previously predicted thunderstorm. The last song is ‘Black Thumbnail, and it’s quite bad that I know that after this song, the show is really over, that’s how well I’d creeped previous setlists. The show ends with a display of, well, pyro that makes Coldplay’s firework display look like a cute first attempt.

Before I know it, we’re on the park ‘n’ ride bus, then back at our car. The traffic plan, like the rest of the organization is absolutely perfect tonight. Everything from the sound, to the food, to the merchandise stalls cannot be criticized, and Big Concerts deserves a huge congratulations on this.  The thing that saddens me is the lack of vibe on the way back. Instead of bursting out into ‘whoa-oh-oh-oh’s or signing ‘Sex On Fire’, the crowd on the bus back is discussing everything but the concert: the U2 traffic plan, and the finances of the McDonalds drive-thru are hot topics tonight.

Anyway, none of that matters, does it? All that matters is that Kings Of Leon put on an excellent show, and for two hours, I had the absolute time of my life singing along to everything from the radio-friendly ‘Sex On Fire’, to the beautiful ‘Back Down South’ and the explosive ‘Molly’s Chambers’. Well done, KOL, you’re welcome back in our creepy, thunderstorm-filled country any time. 

Getting Excited About KOL

I've had tickets for Kings of Leon since March this year, and trust me, that was a long time ago. This concert always seemed like something in the very, very distant future, not least because my university career would be almost over by the time it arrived. However, the time had finally come, and I can now officially say that I am seeing Kings of Leon this very Saturday night. 

I must give Lauren credit for convincing me to get tickets for this concert, though it really was not a very difficult task. She simply sent me a message saying 'KOL tickets. Now' and I responded 'OK'. Before we knew it, we were in the line to acquire some seated tickets for the show. Seated tickets! Oh the horror! Seats are not the way we usually roll, as we're the type of girls who queue for hours and then creep out way to the barrier of golden circle, meaning that Saturday night is likely to be a whole new experience for us. But we took what we could get, and the fact that we won't be able to reach out and touch Caleb has done little to diminish our excitement! 

For anyone attending these concerts, I highly recommend watching the band's documentary 'Talihina Sky'. I watched it a couple of weeks ago, and was completely entranced. I feel much more connected to the band, and the back story is extremely, well, enlightening is probably the appropriate word here.  

As for the setlist, I've done my fair share of creeping, and I'm pretty certain we'll get the old favourites such as 'Molly's Chambers', 'Taper Jean Girl', 'Sex On Fire', and 'Use Somebody', as well as my personal favourites 'Fans' and 'Back Down South'. I may squeal uncontrollably when I hear the country-style first chords of the latter.

Not the most dedicated to academics at the best of times, the fact that the band are now officially in the country means that my productivity will be low to zero for the rest of the day, and thus I have spent the past hour or so creating the photo's which follow. Sigh, I guess I am just a fangirl through and through!