September 26, 2024

We checked off a band from our bucket list! I traveled with my dad and middle sister, Tia, on a quick trip to Music City to see Kings of Leon on their Can We Please Have Fun world tour. We flew out to Nashville on Wednesday and spent the first night eating the best barbecue at Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint and listening to live music on the Honky Tonk Highway. As an aside, if you ever find yourself in Nashville, I highly recommend getting a fried bologna sandwich from Martin’s.

We went into several bars our first evening down Honky Tonk Row, but spent a majority of our time at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row and Kid Rock’s Big Honky Tonk & Steakhouse. At Dierks, we listened to Tim Cote perform an array of music from country to rap. His lively performance kept us in our seats for a handful of songs. Then, we moved on to Kid Rock, which has the best rooftop view of the Highway. The weather that evening was perfect, especially considering rain was in the forecast for the next several days. The first band at Kid Rock’s played a variety of classic rock songs, which had us singing along. Downstairs, we found the energetic PJ Ferguson and the Tennessee Strange. Equipped with loads of energy and a talented saxophone player, their tunes ranged from classic rock to classic country, depending on the amount spent by patrons to select their favorite tunes. We made it out until 1 am, when tired from travel, we walked back to our hotel.

After some solid shut-eye, we ventured out the next day to see the Honky Tonk Highway in the daylight. We ate delicious fried chicken strips at Hattie B’s (where the medium heat packed a nice punch) and enjoyed shopping on Broadway Plaza. We topped off the afternoon with delicious ice cream from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream (I got the Brown Butter Almond Brittle and Salted Peanut Butter with Chocolate Flecks, and yes, they were as good as they sounded).

That night, we made our way to the Bridgestone Arena to see Kings of Leon. The Arena itself stood prominently at the end of Honky Tonk Highway. Looking from the outside, the Arena looked slightly smaller than the CHI Health Center in Omaha. However, upon stepping in, that clearly was not the case. The Bridgestone Arena boasts approximately 20,000 seats for concerts, meanwhile the CHI Health Center holds approximately 18,300. Despite having greater capacity, the lines at Bridgestone Arena remained short, even for the women’s restrooms and merch! Our first stop, merch, took only 10 or so minutes, with the line being relatively short. Despite this short wait, we could have walked around the corner away from the entrance to find lines where waits were 2 minutes or less (lesson learned!).

The merch selection for Kings of Leon (KOL) provided many different options. From long-sleeved shirts, to t-shirts, to hoodies, the designs were fun and creative. It took me forever to decide which design I wanted. KOL even had an event-specific option for Nashville that I would have gotten if it hadn’t been printed on a white shirt. For those that know me, white is a dangerous color for spills. I ended up picking a black t-shirt, Bridgestone brand, for $45. The shirt is soft, but the quality is not up to par with Cage’s Comfort Colors.

We found our seats, which were spectacular. Phantogram opened for KOL. Sarah Barthel, the lead singer for Phantogram, has an amazing set of pipes. You can instantly tell she is extremely talented. Her voice is incredible and she is also able to play several instruments including the keyboard and synthesizer, which we saw firsthand. Although I don’t know a ton of their music, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to them perform. One song I did know, You Don’t Get Me High Anymore, sounded fantastic live and had everyone singing along.

Next up was Kings of Leon! Prior to the concert, we were ignorant to the fact that KOL’s hometown is in Tennessee. This turned out to be a pleasant surprise as the crowd really turned out for KOL’s hometown show. My family is one that prepares for concerts by looking up the setlist from previous concerts and listening to them on repeat in hopes to sing along to most words. However, they switched it up and played a slightly different set for their hometown, which was still immensely enjoyable.

This concert easily snuck into my top 10 concerts, especially given their unique visual show. Throughout their set, they had karaoke-type lyrics shown at different points in their songs for the crowd to sing along. Paired with clever photographs and videos, this setup was entertaining and light-hearted. They also had a huge string light setup in front of the stage that added extra intrigue. They were able to change the color and pattern of the lights to match the vibe of the song.

Not only did the light show and visuals impress, but so did their music. Kings of Leon is a band of three brothers and one cousin, who are all extremely talented. The lead vocalist, Caleb Followill, sounds even better live than in their recorded music, which is extremely hard to accomplish. The setlist was comprised of songs from Youth & Young Manhood, released in 2003, all the way to Can We Please Have Fund, which they released this year (2024). Highlights for me included Ballerina Radio (with it’s fun karaoke singalong), Sex on Fire (because everyone loves a classic), Beautiful War (which almost brought me to tears with its beauty), Mustang (my favorite from the new album), and WALLS (again, beautiful).

Following the concert, we walked right out the door and over to Honky Tonk Highway for some post-concert live music. Nashville is unique in this aspect, where you can leave one live music venue and walk instantly to 20+ more. This second night, we again spent most of our time at Kid Rock and Dierks Bentley’s bars. Dierks Bentley hosted MGK that night for an after People’s Choice Country Music Awards party. We watched MGK’s opener, Party Down, whose choreographed moves were a lot of fun. We were under the mistaken impression that MGK would not actually perform that night at Dierks Bentley, but it turned out he sure did in the small upper room. What a missed opportunity! After Dierks Bentley’s, we went over to Kid Rock where we watched the Mantz Brothers perform. These identical twins were fantastic, with amazing voices and energy. They sang on top of the bar at the top of their lungs and boy, it sounded great! It even made the country music choices more bearable. Overall, this was truly a top 10 night!

OVERALL RATINGS

Venue: 9/10

Setlist: 9/10

Sound Quality: 8/10

Merch: 9.5/10

Vibes: 15/10