The Like/Kings of Leon

Much to their dismay, The Like were dealt a tough blow when they were compared to early 90's pop trio Wilson Phillips, as each of the three girls in The Like have famous fathers (Mitchell Froom, Pete Thomas, and Tony Berg). Aside from the knock on the celebrated genes, The Like have recently garnered attention with their no frills rock and roll, even if they are a combined age of 53. Drummer Tennessee Thomas smacks a primitive drum set, ala The Archies, while guitarist and singer Z Berg plays the axe relatively mundane, yet holds confident vocals that harkens Chrissie Hynde. The third Liker, bassist Charlotte Froom keeps it all under control with her straight-forward bass lines that never gets too technical.

The stoic crowd stood transfixed at the band’s dream pop, not knowing whether to dance, pound drinks or holler. Berg even went out of the way to mention, “Are you guys alright? I feel like I’m playing to a funeral.” In response to the insult, she graced the audience’s laid back attitude, with “You Bring Me Down,” off their latest album Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking. However, what you give is what you get in rock and roll. and The Like need to look or at least pretend like they are having a little more fun on stage. Just give these girls a few years, till they're like 22, and they’ll be sure to garner more of a stage buzz. Their new album on the other hand demands attention.

In true opposite fashion, the evening’s headliner – Kings of Leon- have been giving new meaning to the word “rock stars” with their throwback hairdos, vintage clothing and excessive lifestyle. With the death of hair metal, these southern garage rockers have certainly filled the voids of "rock and roll all night and party every day." Having recently opened for U2 in cavernous arenas, KOL have more than earned their stage power. The three Fallowill brothers (Caleb, Nathan and Jared) along with cousin Matthew Followill, took the stage to a surprisingly undersold crowd, as they delivered their “rawk" with a trembling version of “Molly’s Chambers" to open the evening.

Most notable amongst the immediate mix was bassist Jared who holds the fort down with his new-wave inspired bass playing and doning Duran Duran-ish garb. Lead singer Caleb sounds years beyond his age, as his seasoned yelp give the hard rock songs a relentless bite. Although he confessed to being sick and spitting up blood earlier in the night, you would never have guessed his discomfort during the bouncy rocker “The Bucket” where he roared like a caged lion. Nathan, blowing bubblegum bubbles appeared to be going through the motions but kept the beats feisty, while Matthew added some fiery guitar leads.

Kings of Leon had their set down stone cold, running through their string of “hits” which include: “California Waiting,” “Four Kicks,” “The Bucket,” and “King of the Rodeo.” As Matthew recently stated: “On our first album, I'd say about 30 percent of what we were writing about was autobiographical and 70 percent was wishful thinking. We were writing about things we hadn't seen yet. On this album, 90 percent of what we're writing about are things we've experienced, nights we've had. There's still that other ten percent though..."

As they fill up that last ten percent, you can be certain these young men have enough back stage stories to tell, which might make any domesticated guy cringe with envy. The live act is one thing, but we’ll leave the rest to our imagination.