Kings of Leon at the Forum

Kings of Leon kicked off their tour early August and Tuesday night stopped at the Forum in Los Angeles, CA. Opening the show was Cold War Kids from Long Beach, CA.  KOL formed 22 years ago in Nashville, TN and like the Beach Boys is made of three brothers and their cousin. Caleb (Lead Vocals/ Guitar), Jared (Bass), Matthew (Lead Guitar), and Nathan (Drums) formed as teenagers. However for this tour Matthew announced in July he would be taking time off after the birth of his daughter. On a personal note I saw KOL open for Bob Dylan at the Forum in 2006 and just two years later they released their fourth album Only by the Night which went 2x platinum in the U.S. It also included two of their biggest hits “Use Somebody,” and “Sex on Fire.” From there KOL has become one the biggest rock groups worldwide selling out arenas and playing major festivals across the country. Just this past March KOL released their eight studio album When You See Yourself, Are You Far Away which made KOL the first band to release a new album as an NFT. Their setlist included five songs from the new album, the title track, “100,000 People,” “Echoing,” “Time in Disguise,” and “Supermarket” acoustically.

KOL performed a staggering 27 songs over two hours with their backing band of Liam O’Neill (Keys), Timothy Deaux (Rhythm Guitar), and Chris Coleman (Lead Guitar) filling in for Matthew Followill. The opening song was “When You See Yourself, Are You Far Away” The show was full of hits the audience sang to like “Sex on Fire,” “Supersoaker,” “The Bucket,” and “Closer.” The encore consisted of four songs: “Supermarket,” “Back Down South,” “Waste a Moment,” and “Use Somebody.” 

The Followill's mother Betty Ann had been in declining health the last few weeks of this tour and the band made a statement that their performances at Ohana Festival and the Shoreline Amphitheatre would be cancelled. Sadly Caleb, Jared, and Nathan lost their mother Friday.

“ Our mother, who many of our fans know and love, has been dealing with a medical crisis for the last several weeks and while it has been hard to take the stage each night, it has been the love and energy from you, our fans, that has gotten us though.

Just before taking the stage at The Forum we learned she took a turn for the worse. It was a hard show to get through, but you held us up that night in a way we will never forget. Immediately following the show, we all flew home, where we will remain by her side until the time comes to say goodbye. Our show tonight at Shoreline Amphitheatre and our appearance at Ohana Festival this weekend are cancelled but we wanted to say thank you to all our fans, to Eddie, and to the entire Pearl Jam family for supporting us during this time."