Sprkus

The Kings of Leon rocked a sold out Newport Music Hall last night.

And I was there.

It was great seeing a group I have supported since their highly-regarded debut album, “Youth & Young Manhood,” was released in 2003.

They seemed to have grown up a lot since I last saw them early in the year 2005, right before their release of sophomore album “Aha Shake Heartbreak.”

Not so much that they played more grown up, but that lead singer Caleb Followill is becoming a real rock star. He commanded more ownership of the stage and seemed as if he’d been there before. In 2005, though they still played well, the act seemed slightly more amateur. The last two years have really polished the band’s live performance.

The Newport show was the band’s last before a one-and-a-half-month break until they play again on Aug. 2 in Minneapolis, Minn. So they put more into last night’s show and admittedly let loose. They threw in a few extra songs and seemed to be really having fun up there.

More fun than the guys in a brawl that broke out 10 feet away from us anyway. Right in the middle of “Fans,” the song I was most anticipating off their new album, “Because of the Times,” four guys just started going at it for a good two minutes. No Newport staffers appeared to snuff it out and everyone around the fight parted into a circle pushing the already jam packed group of spectators even more tightly together.

With Tiffany being there, I got a little worried that it was going to spill over onto us, but it turned out OK. Nobody in the crowd seemed to readjust to fully refill the open circle after the fight though, so the remainder of the show was a little overly cramped.

Still, overall it was an amazing experience. I highly recommend seeing the band live if you ever get the chance.