Monday 23/02/09 Kings of Leon, The Ettes @ Columbiahalle, Berlin

“It's raining an old yellow / And it’s carving a path / So now we’re on our way”

Adhering to their host’s penchant for efficiency, the Kings of Leon come on bang on 9pm and go off at half 10. In a set that is structured to perfection they launch through ‘Crawl,’ ‘Taper Jean Girl,’ ‘My Party’ and ‘Molly’s Chambers;’ and in four tracks they show just why they’re the biggest band in the world today. Four tracks, four albums, four styles that show a progression from their Southern-drawled debut ‘Youth and Young Manhood’ right through to last year’s all-conquering ‘Only By The Night.’

There was no sign of the forced illness that meant the cancellation of two shows in Spain the week previous only for Caleb to announce his “voice pretty shot” as an invitation to sing-a-long to the spell-binding ‘Revelry.’

“I got lost in the night so high I don’t want to come down /
To face the loss of the good thing that I’ve found.”

‘Milk’ that followed was simply beautiful. Like a bicycle kick into the top corner, it was effortless. Singing almost a cappella on the verse it is hard to not to dribble before Nathan’s drum beat eases in the chorus and out again. The high-tempo blues-rock of ‘Four Kicks’ and ‘Wasted Time’ gets the crowd playing guitar hero, sounding as fresh as they did six years ago. The wealth of the Kings’ material is staggering.

Most bands play their singles then their new LP, yet the standard of the Kings’ back catalogue means they can afford to play album tracks from any of their LPs. That gives them nearly 50 tracks in their distinguished arsenal to choose from and puts KOL in a great position. Adored by an ever-expanding fan base that have grown up watching their transition from shaggy-locked caners’ to Brit Awards winners’ and a welcome Mother’s Day present. In last week’s acceptance speech, they thanked the UK for her support in their early days but no one had told the host’s rocked out the sold out auditorium from start to finish.

A 3-piece called The Ettes warmed up but to be honest they were pretty shit. A poor man’s Yeah Yeah Yeahs, not that anyone cared. Slowing things right down through ‘Oncall,’ ‘Cold Desert’ and ‘Notion’ KOL return for a 3-track encore. Nathan returns alone to take the applause, launching his bottle of Becks over his head before picking up his sticks once more. He plays the intro to the wonderfully slow-building ‘Knocked Up’ as the rest of the Followill clan take to the stage. An extended version coupled with the equally majestic ‘Manhattan’ has the crowd in raptures before a pounding 3-minutes of ‘Charmer’ leaves the set over before it started.

“Just another girl who wants to rule the world / In any time or place
And when she gets into your head / You know she’s there to stay”