Kings of Leon are infamous for playing deep set lists full of rarities … and hating you for only wanting to hear “Sex on Fire.” During a recent interview with Shortlist.com just before the release of their sixth studio album “Mechanical Bull,” the band waxed poetic on how they’ve come to accept fans shelling out good money just to hear the hits:
“We’d play some of our deeper-cut songs — all sorts of rarities — and people would all go get a beer or take a piss,” frontman Caleb Followill told Shortlist. “Then ‘Sex on Fire’ would happen and we were just like, ‘Aargh!’ [But] I’ve come to terms with it.”
With their tour in full swing, the Grammy-winning Tennessee quartet swings into Madison Square Garden on Valentine’s Day and amNewYork wants to make sure you stay in their good graces.
Here are five deep cuts Caleb and the boys would rather you wanted to hear than just their hits:
‘California Waiting’
The fourth single from the band’s debut album, “Youth & Young Manhood,” is a fast-paced head bopper of a song, packed with the same kind of energy later the masses would later discover.
‘The Bucket’
Voted by NME.com readers as their favorite KOL jam back in 2010, the song reached No. 16 on the U.K. singles chart back in 2004.
‘Slow Night, So Long’
The opening track on 2005’s “Aha Shake Heartbreak,” this song is a favorite of Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, who regularly joined the band onstage when KOL opened for them in 2006.
‘Knocked Up’
This six minute-plus track off 2007’s “Because of the Times” is a delight for Followill, who says he always marvels when fans sing the lyrics back at him.
‘Fans’
The second single off “Because of the Times,” the song pays homage to the band’s U.K. fan base, who, up to that point, provided more support than they were receiving back home.
