Kings overwhelmed by throne of rock

Not for the first time in the history of Slane concerts, the headline act were outshone by the undercard as both Elbow and Thin Lizzy stole the show from Kings of Leon on Saturday. In contrast to many of the reviews in the national newspapers which invariably tend to pander to the headliners, Kings of Leon committed the cardinal sin of any major stadium gig - they struggled to interact with the 80,000-strong crowd who tried their best to join in the 30th anniversary celebrations and Lord Henry Mountcharles's 60th birthday party. Maybe it was because of the death of Cleo Followill, uncle of the Followill brothers, the day before the concert or maybe it was the enormity of the crowds in front of them, but the Kings appeared overwhelmed. Their sole interaction was to confirm it was the longest set they had ever performed and, on that front, they didn't disappoint. However, for the majority of their two-hour show, it appeared that the main act was satisfying less than a quarter of the crowd, with those further back up the hill oblivious to what was going on nearer the stage. The majority of the Kings' "longest ever set" was taken from their two multimillion-selling albums, 'Only By The Night' and 2010's 'Come Around Sundown'. When the three Followill brothers - Nathan, Jared and Caleb and their cousin Matthew Followill - ripped into tunes 'Be Somebody', 'Revelry', 'Back Down South', 'Radioactive', 'Use Somebody', 'Crawl' and especially 'Sex On Fire', the crowd were roused. However, just as quickly as they arose from their apparent slumber, the atmosphere dipped again as the latest offerings from the Nashville rockers failed to strike a chord with the masses and the whole set left a feeling of being unfulfilled. Superb set The same cannot be said for the magnificent Thin Lizzy. Inspired by their return to the banks of the Boyne for the first time since headlining Slane in 1981, there was a feeling that Phil Lynott was smiling down on them and approving of every inch of their superb set. It always helps when you have classics like 'Are You Ready To Rock', 'Dancing In The Moonlight', 'Waiting Foror An Alibi', 'Jailbreak', 'The Boys Are Back In Town' and 'Whiskey In The Jar' to call upon, but Ricky Warwick was a more than adequate replacement for Lynott. The crowd were absorbed by Thin Lizzy who featured original drummer Brian Downey in their line-up and the first major hair-raising song along of the day came when the strains of the 1972 classic 'Whiskey In The Jar' were first belted out. Ironically, the majority of the 80,000 in attendance weren't even born when that song was first aired, but it was greeted with rapture nonetheless. Just as it was with Kings of Leon, Elbow weren't ideally suited to such an expansive rock venue, but they made a better job of pleasing the masses than the more illustrious headliners. Lead singer Guy Garvey was one of the few frontmen to exlore the huge stage set against the backdrop of the Boyne. He tried everything in his power to engage the crowd and, for the most part, they responded positively. It certainly helped the superb Manchester band to have such outstanding tunes like 'One Day Like This', 'Grounds for Divorce' and 'The Fix' from their Mercury Music Award-winning album 'Seldom Seen Kid' to call on and they didn't disappoint. Despite their early time slots, The Whigs, Mona and White Lies also worked hard and did a decent job in entertaining the early arrivals. They each provided plenty of energy and will certainly will have won a few new fans. As a whole, the 30th anniversary of this great world rock music venue can be quite pleased with its effort. There is no doubting the quality of the acts on the card, but sometimes the bands seem almost overwhelmed by the venue, and that was the case for Kings of Leon. They were still hugely entertaining, but while they are top of their class in the 10,000 to 20,000 capacity arena, Slane demands something more. Artists like U2, Robbie Williams, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bruce Springsteen and The Rolling Stones have proved that. Maybe next time, it'll be a mega-gig. Anyone for AC/DC, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Springsteen....or even U2, again?