Subject: Kings of Leon

• Kings of Leon Offer New Track for Download

  July 28, 2008

• Balls of Fire: New Kings of Leon Video

  August 29, 2008

• Kings of Leon Get the 'Fork Treatment

  September 16, 2008

• Nathan's Hot Dog: Kings of Leon Like to Watch

  September 23, 2008

• The News From Europe: Nashville is 'Cool' Again

  October 27, 2008

• Breaking News: Kings of Leon Discover Animal Collective

  November 10, 2008

• Kings of Leon, The Beatles, Others: Doin' It

  November 12, 2008

• Kings of Leon, Mates of State, Computer vs. Banjo & More: Inside This Week's Music Section

  November 12, 2008

• Kings of Leon to Play Sommet Center Oct. 16

  It's true. In just 137 days, Kings of Leon will play the Sommet Center. That's quite a step up, capacity-wise, from Municipal Auditorium, where the Bros. Followill last entertained a Nashville audience (with their music) last November. No word yet on an opener, though I'm going to go ahead and nominate Screaming Females, just for the hell of it. The show will be all ages and is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $36-$46 and go on sale Saturday, June 20. (AEG Live.)

  June 1, 2009

• Kings of Leon's Caleb Followill Admits to Struggling With Anorexia

  In a recent interview with Q Magazine, Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill admitted that he has, in the past, struggled with anorexia. "I always thought I wasn't good enough." To combat what he saw as a weight problem, he said he would do press-ups until he couldn't go on and would go running run [sic] on blisteringly hot days wearing a heavy tracksuit to shift the excess. He would also drink coffee constantly. "Anything to keep my hands and mouth busy without eating," he said. I'd first

  December 9, 2008

• Duty Now for the Now: Launch Cream's Wikipedia Page

  So I was surfing Wikipedia today looking for personal information about members of the Raconteurs or Kings of Leon when I stumbled upon the wiki category Tennessee musical groups. On this list are links to wiki pages for artists such as Heypenny, Framing Hanley, The Nobility, The Lonely Hearts and and emo crybaby Backseat Goodbye. This got me thinking: If a band like Murfreesboro's Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza has a wiki entry then why the fuck doesn't the Cream? I think you see where I'm

  December 10, 2008

• Nashville Comprises 6% of Rolling Stone's Top 50

  As Steve already established a while back, 'tis the season for a whole mess of Top 10s and "Best of 2008" lists a great deal of us really don't give a damn about. While I'm certainly one of those people, morbid curiosity still gets to me. This weekend was one such an instance, as I looked over Rolling Stone's top 50 albums for this year. I couldn't help but notice that almost all Nashville's major label rockers who put out an album this year were represented:#45. Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward#44

  December 17, 2008

• Kings of Leon: 'Rediscovered as Visionary Geniuses by the Hipbots of 2025'

  I've professed my undying love for David Thorpe on the Cream before. Author of dozens of scathing take-downs of all your sacred musical cows for Something Awful, he split the scene and went to write for The Weekly Dig in Boston. Now he's over at The Phoenix, where he continues to spin solid gold-plated music snarkicism so worthy of wide-eyed amour it's as if someone is paying him to do it. Last week, he rated the top 10 songs on the Billboard Charts, and found himself in a classic stare-down w

  January 22, 2009

• 'A lot More Rock 'n' Roll': Nashville in the Guardian

  Flaming lips. Photo: Simone Joyner/Getty ImagesLike it or not, Kings of Leon continue to be the face(s) of Nashville in the U.K. press--even if said press does things like misspell the name "Followill." Take this article in the weekend's Guardian, for example. Aside from being reported some time ago--it opens with all of us in "the alternative music community" sipping cocktails at the Icon during Next Big Nashville five months ago--it makes the observation that "the city's country music heritag

  March 2, 2009

• Monday Morning Mystery Haikus

  It is far too often that we open ourselves up, let down our guard, create or participate in something completely questionable or ridiculous and then blame it on boredom. I make no excuses for what you are about to read, nor am I offering any explanations. Simply put, I have taken the concepts and my opinions of 15 local rock bands and described them in haiku. I'd say most of them are pretty easy, some have multiple interpretations, but all pertain strictly to local bands. Feel free to "solve

  March 30, 2009

• Kings of Leon Put the Pedal to the Meddle and Take the Reins of Their Sound

  November 13, 2008

• Hymns at Mercy Lounge

  October 9, 2008

• Holy Rollers

  Why we need the Kings of Leon more than they need us

  September 21, 2006

• Episode 30

  May 25, 2006

• Some Things Never Change: Kings of Leon Hold Up Brick Wall in New Video

  I know, I know, people love or hate the Kings of Leon. I actually don't find their music to be quite as horrendously awful as a lot of folks around here, but that's not the point of this blog post. I just watched a few moments of the new Kings of Leon video for "Notion," and was immediately struck by the sheer number of brick wall shots that happen in the first 40 seconds. It reminded me of that website Rock 'n' Roll Confidential and its "Hall of Douchebags," where they make fun of hideously a

  June 3, 2009

• Stage Dive

  The Features and Kings of Leon made for a contrasting bill—and crowd—at Exit/In Thursday night

  February 17, 2005

• Oh Brother: At Home in Nashville With the Followills

  You know, I think I'm just going to let this one speak for itself. Suffice it to say that Rolling Stone really, really seems to like Kings of Leon.

  April 17, 2009

• Growing Up in Public

  Nashville’s Kings of Leon come of age channeling ’70s rock, Southern-style

  November 27, 2003

• Kings of Leon: Not as Bad as Scott Stapp, According to The Ettes

  I think it's probably fair to say that over the past year or so we've given Kings of Leon more than their fair share of grief on this blog. That's not to say I have a bone to pick with the band--far from it. (I did run a preview of their last Nashville show in the music section of the paper, after all.) But we do poke fun at them, and that has not gone unnoticed! In light of a recent stint opening for KoL in Europe, The Ettes' singer/guitarist Coco sent along a missive chiding us for our attit

  June 19, 2009

• Kings of Leon Tickets, Southern Girls Rock 'n' Roll Camp: Newsy Bits

  * Speaking of Kings of Leon, tickets to their Oct. 16 show at the Sommet Center with White Lies go on sale this Saturday, June 20 at 10 a.m. Those will cost you $36 or $46. (Ticketmaster.) * The young man found dead in his tent at Bonnaroo has been identified, according to an AP report: "Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that the man is 26-year-old Matthew Lands, of Fort Payne, Ala." (KnoxNews.com.) * The Southern Girls Rock 'n' Roll Camp is looking for m

  June 19, 2009

• Kings of Leon Launch Record Label Imprint, Roster Features The Features

  It's just KoL day here on the blog, no? As was mentioned in this here comment thread, Kings of Leon are gearing up to launch a label imprint--strictly a trademark/brand, not an autonomous company--via Bug Music. Their first release? The Features' Some Kind of Salvation. From Kings of Leon's website: The inventive new label venture is the culmination of a creative new deal Bug Music and Kings Of Leon entered into the fall of 2008. The terms of that agreement allow the Kings Of Leon to sign and

  June 19, 2009

• Kings of Leon Certified Platinum

  Two's a trend, right? First Paramore, now Kings of Leon rock open those platinum gates, for so long rusted shut for any rock act out of Music City. Perhaps it's time to consider the Nashville Curse broken forever. Who'd've thunk it? From the release: RCA Records is proud to announce the RIAA certified platinum status of Kings of Leon's fourth studio album Only By The Night. This is the first platinum record for the band in the United States. This fall, the Grammy Award-winning band will embark

  July 22, 2009

• Popular Bands That Formed in Nashville?

  The popular kids. Did you know Ligion formed in Nashville? What about Sans Seraph? Or a little group called Skillet? Well, according to The Examiner, those are just a mere few of the popular bands who formed right here in Music City that you might not know about. Others include: American Bang Born Empty Bridge to Oblivion Framing Hanley Kings of Leon Luna Halo Red Return to Self The Becoming Third Awakening

  July 24, 2009

• MTV Video Music Awards: Taylor Swift, Kings of Leon, Paramore Nominated

  ...and one gigantic step backward for mankind.​Well, MTV announced the VMA nominees yesterday, and you can take the fact that Lady Gaga got nominated nine (9) times as a sign that these awards are nothing more than a trashy parade of trashy bullshit. Or you could not think that. (But seriously: Asher Roth? Seriously.) Anyhoo, if host Russell Brand isn't enough to make you tune in, then maybe root-root-rooting for the home team will. Nashville represents with three artists* in the mix for

  August 5, 2009

• Super Secret Special Guest to Appear at Tonight's 8 off 8th [Who Can It Be Now?]

  Will it be as epic as this was? If you follow the Mercy Lounge on Twitter then you've undoubtedly noticed their recent daily tweets alluding to a super-secret ninth band who are presumably flying into town to play a super-secret set to close tonight's 8 off 8th festivities. By examining these tweets we know that this is a band who: ...hate Kings of Leon but love to make you dance... is very popular with boys and has had over 7 bassists...will perform at next month's All Tomorrow's Parties...h

  August 17, 2009

• The Features Are Paste's Band of the Week

  Look not into the camera, lest it steal your soul.​Sure, we could have thrown this item in with our last post about The Features, but it's neither particularly golden nor is it especially a nugget. It's just a bit of deserved national praise for our hometown faves. While I don't especially agree with Paste's list of similar artists--Franz Ferdinand, The Whigs and Kings of Leon--it's a nice little write-up with loads of props to Smyrna: "I grew up listening to mostly British music, to be h

  August 18, 2009

• The Brown Note: Spring Hill Spider Party's Derrick Brown Addresses Monday Night's Fiasco

  Photo by Lance ConzettSHSP's Derrick Brown​By now you've all either put together or witnessed first-hand that the secret guest of Monday night's 9 off 8th at Mercy Lounge was notorious tongue-in-cheek body-pop troupe Spring Hill Spider Party. Not Kings of Leon. Not Radiohead. Not Creed. Spring Hill Spider Party. For fans of SHSP and regulars at Mercy, it was basically just a pretty funny little surprise. For others...well, we'll just say not everyone was doubled over with laughter. Spider

  August 20, 2009

• The Features, KinderCastle and The Billy Goats Play the Cream Party at Mercy Lounge 8/22/09

  Lance ConzettMC Iller of The Billy Goats We arrived at Mercy Lounge Saturday night earlier than we usually do--this was our birthday party, too, kinda--only to find that the parking lot was already full of folks who are, uh, older and have more insurance. (Beatlesfestapalooza was going on at the Cannery Ballroom.) As a result, we wound up parking farther than we're used to and walking over plenty of broken glass on our way back to the club. The things we do for rock! Luckily, we showed up in p

  August 24, 2009

• Third Man Records Open LA Location, KOL on Conan, Green Womb Is a Venue and More [Schedule-y Bits]

  Died Young, Stayed Pretty at The Belcourt Sept. 3. * The Dead Weather will be performing at the grand opening of Third Man Records and Novelties West in Los Angeles at noon on Wednesday. According to The DW's website, Third Man West will be open for a total of just three days, but at Wednesday's performance they'll give away a "'golden ticket' trip to Nashville to tour the original Third Man Records facility." So enigmatic. * Kings of Leon will be on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien this e

  August 24, 2009

• The Features and The Whigs to Play Cannery Ballroom Nov. 5

  In case you missed The Features tearin' it up Saturday night at the Cream party, you now have a chance to pick up the pieces of your shattered life and find some kind of salvation on Nov. 5. That is the day the band returns to Cannery Row along with Athens, Ga., garage-rock revivalists The Whigs for a double bill of non-suck. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased here. If $15 seems like a lot, then just skip dinner that night--you won't have to drink as much, and you'll save the cost of a meal o

  August 25, 2009

• The Heartless Bastards, The Fiery Furnaces, White Rabbits and more

  August 27, 2009

• Kings of Leon Like Ultra Balm Tissues: What's on Your Rider?

  You're doing it wrong.OK, so the standard lead-in here is how Van Halen always demanded a bowl of M&Ms--with all the brown ones removed--on their production rider. (This American Life did a piece on that recently, and yes, it's true.) But according to this post over at Idolator, riders are getting more modest as of late. Hummus has allegedly become the hot rider request of choice for today's most bookable talent. Hummus. (I love hummus, btw.) Now that they've got a No. 1 hit in the U.S.A., how a

  October 8, 2009

• I Wanna Come Over: Kings of Leon Feud Over Royalties

  The thing about naming your band something like "Kings of Leon" is that word "king." We all know that The King is like The Highlander in that there can only be one. Not four. (Sure, there were those three kings of Orient, but they were from different nations, presumably, and they were going to see The Baby Jesus--before he sold out and became popular--so you put your differences aside for some important shit like that.) Perhaps it's inevitable, then, that the frontman in a band with the name Kin

  October 12, 2009

• The Kings of Leon blink in the glare of mainstream adoration

  October 15, 2009

• Next Big Nashville 2009: Whatdjya Think?

  So it's been a week since Next Big Nashville 2009. Now that the dust has settled and the hangovers have subsided, the folks over at NBN would like to know what you thought. They've posted a general survey online that all are welcomed and encouraged to take. Check it out here and submit your email addy to win tickets to next year's NBN festivities. I'd really like to know what y'all thought of the festival as well. Were you exposed to any bands you weren't yet familiar with? Did YOUR band get a

  October 16, 2009

• Kings of Leon at The Sommet Center, 10/16/09

  Apparently the Kings of Leon can't take a joke. Midway through Friday night's sold-out Sommet Center homecoming performance, before more than 15,000 fans, singer Caleb Followill addressed their Nashville detractors who "talk shit" about and criticize them: "If any of them are here, I just hope they know how hard we work," he said. Could he really have meant little old us? A few hours later, as we were being forcibly removed from their after party (presumably at the band's request, or their man

  October 17, 2009

• Kings of Leon, Mother/Father, Monotonix and more

  October 22, 2009

• Pretty Lights, Dolly, The Meat Puppets & More: Inside This Weeks' Music Section

  Derek Vincent Smith, a.k.a. Pretty LightsTurn It On: Pretty Lights makes Girl Talk look like Coldplay Playing Wednesday, 28th at Exit/In.) Hello Again, Dolly: A hefty new collection reflects the many facets of Dolly Parton's talent (RCA Legacy). Men Without (Cowboy) Hats: The Meat Puppets are still half-assin' it after all these years. (Playing Thursday, 22nd at Exit/In.) Open-Ended: Chris Scruggs makes room for his muse on Anthem. (Playing Saturday, 24th at The Basement.) In The Spin: King

  October 23, 2009

• Help Turbo Fruits Get Some Play on BBC

  What say you, Nashville? Do you like Turbo Fruits? I mean, their newest offering, Echo Kid is pretty rockin', and unlike some, they haven't abandoned us for greener pastures. Also, it looks like merry olde England is starting to dig them too. Not only have they been getting a little airplay on BBC 1 and 2, they've found themselves in the midst of a little contest wherein listeners vote which song will be played every single day the following week. The best part is, you don't have to be a list

  November 13, 2009

• The Year in Music: Ear to the Ground

  December 10, 2009

• 2009: Grimey's Top Sellers and Staff Picks

  ​If you're one of the few people who actually paid for records in 2009, then you likely paid for them at Grimey's New & Preloved Music--Nashville's favorite record shop. If there's one group of geeks in this town who trump us with their music knowledge, then it's easily the staff at this beloved local establishment. Hell, Doyle Davis probably knows more about Guided by Voices than Mr. Miyagi knows about karate--Bee Thousand is the crane kick of indie-rock, BTW. This morning, Grimey's "indi

  January 4, 2010

• Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift, The Dead Weather and More Chart in Pazz and Jop 2009

  Yesterday, the Village Voice's yearly Pazz and Jop poll results went live. (Remember when D.P.R. was filling out his ballot?) To the shock and amazement of this one guy who lives in Jersey, Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion topped the albums chart. If you've been near an Internet in the past year, most of the Top 10 probably won't surprise you much: Phoenix, Grizzly Bear, The xx, Dirty Projectors and so forth. Meanwhile, to the mild shock and bemusement of this critic, Jay-Z's "Empi

  January 20, 2010

• Kings of Leon Not Leaving Their Record Label, According to Drummer's Internet

  ​I know you were all getting bumpy skin just thinking about what Perez Hilton said about Kings of Leon. (Which was that they "have left Columbia Records for Warner Brothers where they will be paying to record their own albums!" The gist: KOL would pay for part of their recording costs in exchange for a larger cut of profits from record sales.) Please rest assured, however: Spinner reports that KOL are not signing a new contract with Warner, and that Nathan Followill said as much on his Tw

  January 26, 2010

• Kings of Leon Dote on The Features to NME. Followill: 'I'm Not Just Stroking Their Pole'

  "Everyone can kiss my fucking ass!"​Remember when Haruch found those videos of Kings of Leon playing shuffleboard (or "pushboard") down at Loser's with The Features? Well, the videos have unfortunately been evicted from the Interwebs "due to a copyright claim by Vector Management," but the true product of that boozy excursion has made it to print. NME's James McMahon sat down with London's most beloved Nashvillians to talk about their epic boners for The Features -- something we at the Cre

  February 18, 2010

• Lightning 100 Celebrates 20 Years

  1990 was the year of "Nothing Compares 2 U," "Vogue," "U Can't Touch This" and "Ice Ice Baby." They Might Be Giants released Flood. The Reds beat the A's in the Series. REO Speedwagon released The Earth, a Small Man, His Dog and a Chicken. Wilson Phillips existed. In Nashville, the mayor was a Boner and it was the year "hip adult" radio came to town -- Lightning 100 (or "Radio Lightning" as it was called then) first took to the local airwaves twenty years ago this month, supplanting Lite 100,

  March 2, 2010