Tour Survival Guide: Kings of Leon

Our Tour Survival Guide checks in with rockers about life on the road. Here’s Kings of Leon’s Jared Followill on sweet vermouth, donkey noises and getting lei’d.

Worst Job On Tour: Tour Manager
We had a tour manager that we didn’t like, so every show I would make her give me a sweet vermouth on the rocks with a twist. And she would do it every night. And I never drank one of them, because it was so gross.

The Braying of Donkeys, or Kings of Leon
We do this weird extremely country retarded song [before every show]. It kind of sounds like a donkey. One of our uncles used to sing it -— I don’t know why we [started doing] it, but we were kind of superstitious, and now it’s something we do to embarrass ourselves during festival season where everyone can hear us. We say a prayer after, then we go play. [My band is] weird. They think we’re not going to wail unless we do it. And I think we would wail either way. I’m really superstitious, but if it causes me to be embarrassed I could do without it.

From the Mouths of Babes
The dumbest thing I’ve ever said or done on tour -– I always say dumb things. I speak before I think. I got banned from doing interviews for a little bit. I said something was "gay," and you’re not supposed to say that. I was 16 years old, I was supposed to be a junior in high school. The g word was still fresh in my vocabulary, straight out of sophomore year. But I didn’t mean it in a homophobic way.

They Love To Get Lei’d
My most favorite city that we’ve played is Waikiki. I would play there every day if I could. I like L.A. and New York, even though the shows there are usually pretty bad because the crowds are really pretentious. You feel like everybody there is in a band, and they could do better than you. In small towns, that’s where we blow minds and melt faces.

Tour Dates
May 5 - Ogden, Denver CO
May 6 - Vodoo Lounge @ Harrah’s, Kansas City, MO
May 7 - Cains, Tulsa, OK
May 9 - Stubbs, Austin, TX
May 11 - House of Blues, New Orleans, LA
May 12 - Warehouse Live, Houston, TX
May 13 - House of Blues, Dallas, TX
May 15 - Vogue, Indianapolis, IN
May 17 - Rave, Milwaukee, WI
May 18 - First Ave, Minneapolis, MN
May 19 - Riviera, Chicago, IL
May 21 - Headliners, ouisville, KY
May 22 - House of Blues, Cleveland, OH
May 24 - Bogarts, Cincinnati, OH
May 25 - Pageant, St. Louis, MO
June 1 - Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA
June 2 - Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
June 5 - Roseland, New York, NY
June 6 - Avalon, Boston, MA
June 7 - Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA
June 12 - Kool Haus, Toronto, ONT
June 13 - Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH
June 15 - Bonnaroo Festival, Manchester, TN
June 26 - Le Bataclan, Paris
July 4 - Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth
July 12 - Hammersmith Apollo, London
July 13 - Hammersmith Apollo, London

This entry was posted on Friday, May 4th, 2007 at 12:40 pm