The Big Dance Concert Series

No lack of oomph at mid-afternoon Kings of Leon concert

Kings of Leon
Photo by © Michelle Watson/CatchlightGroup.com
Ludacris hit the stage as MC along with former college and NBA legends BillWalton and Christian Laettner.
Photo by © Michelle Watson/CatchlightGroup.com
The Kings of Leon drew a large crowd to Discovery Green for the Big DanceConcert Series.
Photo by © Michelle Watson/CatchlightGroup.com
Kings of Leon lead singer Caleb Followill
Photo by © Michelle Watson/CatchlightGroup.com
A Kings of Leon fan holds up her camera to record the band.
Photo by © Michelle Watson/CatchlightGroup.com
Former Duke star Christian Laettner stopped by the stage with rapper/actorLudacris before Kings of Leon and got a mixed response from the crowd.
Photo by © Michelle Watson/CatchlightGroup.com
Among fans were Jeff Peoples and Karen Cox.
Photo by © Michelle Watson/CatchlightGroup.com
Discovery Green as viewed from One Park Place.
Photo by © Michelle Watson/CatchlightGroup.com

If there were any concern that Kings of Leon, the Saturday headliners of The Big Dance Concert Series, would lose some oomph by performing at 3 p.m., the band drummed it away with the thunderous opening chords of "Radioactive."

Playing to an audience that nearly filled Discovery Green, the band started out strong and only gained momentum, barely breaking between songs including "Crawl," "Notion," and "Back Down South."

It was a marked difference from the marked apathy that met emo-pop supporting act Panic! At The Disco. The duo played several songs of their new album, Vices and Virtues, and in their signature three-piece suits were unprepared for the 80-something degree heat and humidity.

And Panic! At The Disco weren't the only ones to find the crowd tough. After their set Duke legend Christian Laettner came onstage for a Q&A (alongside rapper/actor Ludacris) and got plenty of boos from the Duke-hating (or maybe just Kentucky-supporting) crowd — at least until he mentioned he loved listening to Van Halen and the Smashing Pumpkins. See? Music really does bring us together.

But when it came to Kings of Leon's set, the crowd was sold from the beginning. The light show was somewhat pointless in the overcast yet bright day, but the band brought energy to the stage and the crowd, including a little ass-shaking by lead singer Caleb Followill. On tape, Followill's voice is clear and almost plaintive, but in concert it's full of grit and growl. Sometimes he literally snarls out the lyrics to enticing effect.

Casual fans of their radio hits might have been surprised to hear so much southern rock in Kings of Leon's performance, but for many it's a return to the sound that made them rising star darlings of the indie circuit before graduating to playing stadiums in 2008.

Though the crowd had been moving and singing along throughout the performance, the apex came in the last 15 minutes, when the band sailed through three of their most recognizable hits, early favorite "Molly's Chamber," "Sex on Fire" and the Grammy-winning "Use Somebody."

When they broke to talk to the crowd, Followill said the band was happy to play Houston again (they were at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion last fall) and proclaimed this concert their best yet in the city. This seemed expected, since cameras on cranes swooped overhead, broadcasting part of the performance nationally in the CBS Final Four pre-game show.

Speaking of recording concerts, when did holding up a lighter or a cell phone light get replaced by holding phones overhead to get video recordings? One out of every 10 people within 50 yards of the stage was doing this during the band's closer, "Use Somebody," and there's just no way YouTube needs that many records of this event.

It was the kind of show that any festival would be lucky to have as the finale after a long day — it just happened to take place in the middle of the afternoon. Sunday's star Kenny Chesney has some big, Southern rocker shoes to fill.

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Music Festival News

Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan to co-headline Outlaw Music Fest in Houston

Photo by Pamela Springsteen

Willie Nelson headlines the 10th annual Outlaw Music Festival on the road this summer.

The annual Outlaw Music Festival tour will celebrate its 10th anniversary in a big way, with two iconic co-headlining acts. The tour, which will spend summer 2025 crossing the U.S., will be headlined at every stop by music legends Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan, who will be joined by a variety of other Americana artists.

The tour will make a stop at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands on July 6. Playing in Houston will be Willie Nelson & Family, Dylan, The Avett Brothers, The Mavericks, and Tami Neilson.

The 34-city tour, the biggest one to date, will start on May 13 in Phoenix and end in Troy, Wisconsin on September 19. The only other Texas stop so far is Dallas, when it stops at Dos Equis Pavilion on July 5.

Throughout its 10 years, the Outlaw Music Festival has featured performances from Bonnie Raitt, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, John Fogerty, John Mellencamp, Luke Combs, Neil Young, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Sheryl Crow, and more.

Performers in other cities this year include Crow, Billy Strings, Lake Street Dive, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Wilco, Turnpike Troubadours, and more.

Tickets for the tour go on sale on Friday, February 7, at 10 AM via OutlawMusicFestival.com and ticketmaster.com.

Citi card members will have access to presale tickets beginning on Tuesday, February 4 at 10 am until Thursday, February 6 at 10 pm through the Citi Entertainment program.

2025 OUTLAW MUSIC FESTIVAL TOUR DATES

May 13, 2025 - Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre, Phoenix, AZ
May 15, 2025 - North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, Chula Vista, CA
May 16, 2025 - Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA
May 18, 2025 - Toyota Amphitheatre, Wheatland, CA
May 20, 2025 - Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater, Nampa, ID
May 22, 2025 - ONE Spokane Stadium, Spokane, WA
May 24, 2025 - Cascades Amphitheater, Ridgefield, WA
May 25, 2025 - The Gorge Amphitheatre, Quincy, WA
June 20, 2025 - Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, MI
June 21, 2025 - Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH
June 22, 2025 - Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH
June 25, 2025 - FirstBank Amphitheater, Franklin, TN
June 27, 2025 - Radians Amphitheater, Memphis, TN
June 28, 2025 - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, St. Louis, MO
June 29, 2025 - Thunder Ridge Nature's Arena Ridgedale, MO
July 5, 2025- Dos Equis Pavilion, Dallas, TX
July 6, 2025 - The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Presented By Huntsman, The Woodlands, TX
July 25, 2025 - Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, Alpharetta, GA
July 26, 2025 - PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte, NC
July 27, 2025 - Coastal Credit Union Music Park, Raleigh, NC
July 29, 2025 - Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater, Virginia Beach, VA
August 1, 2025 - Northwell at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY
August 2, 2025 - Broadview Stage at SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY
August 3, 2025 - BankNH Pavilion, Gilford, NH
August 8, 2025 - Darien Lake Amphitheater, Buffalo, NY
August 9, 2025 - Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, PA
August 10, 2025 - Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview, Syracuse, NY
September 5, 2025 - Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor, ME
September 6, 2025 - Xfinity Theatre, Hartford, CT
September 7, 2025 - Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MA
September 12, 2025 - Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, Camden, NJ
September 13, 2025 - PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
September 14, 2025 - Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD
September 19, 2025 - Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI

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