Be_Somebody (Godfather Records GR450)
Reading Festival, England – August 28th, 2009
Scotiabank Place, Ottawa, ON, Canada – September 17th, 2009
(79:55): Be Somebody, My Party, Molly’s Chambers, Red Morning Light, Fans, Revelry, Closer, Crawl, Four Kicks, Charmer, Sex On Fire, The Bucket, Notion, On Call, Taper Jean Girl, Slow Night So Long. Bonus tracks, Scotiabank Place, Ottawa, ON, Canada – September 17th, 2009: Closer, I Want You, Manhattan, Use Somebody
Godfather’s Kings Of Leon release Be_Somebody presents the complete BBC broadcast from their headlining set at the Reading Festival in August. It contains the complete main set but missing the encores “Knocked Up,” “Manhattan,” “Use Somebody,” and “Black Thumbnail.” The sound quality is in excellent, flawless stereo. Their set at Reading was the cause for much controversy and what should have been a triumphant performance turned into a media disaster.
The Sun summed up their set, writing: “KINGS OF LEON – The band struggled through their headline slot at Reading with a painful set that ended in smashing their guitars. The Nashville brothers played a lacklustre set that failed to captivate the audience, partially due to the dreadful acoustics and high winds. Caleb Followill’s raspy vocals on Closer and Four Kicks did little to encourage the mass sing-a-long usually expected from a main stage act. The frontman tried to whip up enthusiasm, saying: “I thought this was supposed to be the loudest crowd in the world?” But failing to pick up the pace, he pleaded with fans before Sex on Fire, adding: “We need you guys to help us do this.” Caleb did his best to save the boys from embarrassment, again begging the audience to liven up for The Bucket. He eventually surrendered with an odd tirade, saying: “We know you’re sick of Kings of Leon. We’re f***ing sick of Kings of Leon too. But we get up here every night and I thank God for everything I’ve had. “So for all those who don’t give a f*** about us, I understand. But we’ve worked hard to be here. We’re the god damn Kings of Leon, so f*** you.” Best song: The Bucket Rating: 4 out of 10″
NMEreported the following day: “Kings Of Leon’s Nathan Followill has slammed the Reading Festival crowd he played a headline show for last night (August 28), describing them as ‘cold’. The drummer and his band played the first Main Stage headline show of the weekend, but after the set he posted a message on Twitter criticising the fans for giving them a poor reception. ‘Reading? What the fuck?’ he wrote. ‘Zero love for the kings. I know it was cold but holy shit, y’all were frozen. I can only hope Leeds is in better form.'”
Despite the negativity it is a very good set. Concert goers said they seemed disinterested, but there is enthusiasm in the beginning of the set. It is obvious they grow frustrated as the show goes on and the smashed guitars and tantrums are edited out of the broadcast. Godfather include fours songs from Ottawa from a professional broadcast as filler. Be_Somebody is packaged in a tri-fold gatefold cardboard sleeve and is an interesting Kings Of Leon release by the label.
3 Comments
As Good as Mott The (Motherfvckin) Hoople?
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I saw them at the O2 in June of this year and they were amazing! Next to Mott, they were the best live band I’ve seen for a while
These guys didn’t do anything for me, either, the one time I saw them (no way I’m sitting through a second show), so I sympathize with the crowd. And the band’s reaction was totally immature and unprofessional.
Gotta say, though, that if Godfather had included all the rants, I might have picked up this release just for fun. What’s the point of releasing a bootleg recording and editing out all the stage banter? That’s the good stuff – that’s what makes it real! Bizzare decision on Godfather’s part.
I’m sure there are people out there who dig these guys. Seriously, what do you folks see in them?