Kings of Leon have announced two more dates next summer around the UK to continue their status as one of our biggest and most popular bands.

I’m guessing they may add a few more dates to make it worth their while, or play a few European festivals around the festival times… we’ll see in due course.

Tickets go on sale at 9am this Friday 14th November with all tickets priced at £32.50 each. Catch them at:

Monday 15th June 2009 - The O2 Arena, London.
Monday 22nd June 2009 - Manchester Evening News Arena.

(Some tickets go on presale from here from 9am tomorrow, 12th November by the way)

Fresh of headlining a host of UK festivals, the Followill clan release their latest effort; “Only By The Night.” Since the release of their last album, a lot’s changed, they’ve become one of the biggest acts in the world today and some would argue they are one of the defining bands of their generation.

This album takes a strong turn from previous efforts, the tracks are still stadium-friendly, but aside from the leading single “Sex on Fire” and the infectious “Crawl” the rest of the album is slower paced and at times synth-clad (”Closer”).

The ever distorted effects and guitar solos are still in full force, and Jared Followill’s bass is yet again a pleasure. A particular highlight is “Manhattan” which is the best display of the band in tune both lyrically and musically throughout the album.

Now that I’ve gotten over the heavy southern accent which at first put me off this band, I can pay more attention to the lyrics, which are one of the points on which Only By The Night progresses from previous efforts. There is stability throughout the album and the vocals are done with a sense of passion similar to no other.

Whilst the album is one of the finest releases of the year and will no doubt let the Southern rockers continue indulging in their newly found status, there are not enough typically garage rock tracks as one has come to expect from this band. A listen to “17″ will leave a listener extremely satisfied yet craving for more, which is unfortunately a running theme throughout the album.

7.5/10

MP3: Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire

Kings of Leon have announced a string of massive UK shows for December following on from their massively successful Glastonbury headlining shows a couple of weeks back.

Tickets go on sale on Friday (18th July) at 9am, priced at £25 a pop.

Monday 1st December - Brighton, Centre
Tuesday 2nd December - Nottingham, Trent FM Arena
Thursday 4th December - Newcastle, Metro Arena
Friday 5th December - Sheffield, Arena
Sunday 7th December - Glasgow, SECC
Monday 8th December - Liverpool, Echo Arena
Wednesday 10th December - Birmingham, NIA
Thursday 11th December - London, O2 Arena
Sunday 14th December - Bournemouth, BIC
Tuesday 16th December - Manchester, Evening News Arena
Wednesday 17th December - Cardiff, International Arena

This week it seems lots of bands are on tour, but not many BIG bands, which gives you lots of choice. If I’ve missed anything out, or anyone has any spare tickets for anything in London on Tuesday night let me know and we can sort something out!

First up, Bloc Party continue their week long tour of the UK that they began last night in Cambridge, moving on to play Wolverhampton tonight, Plymouth Pavillions on Monday, Blackpool Empress Ballroom on Wednesday, and finally London’s Brixton Academy on Thursday and Friday. Tickets available from See Tickets for some dates, as well as some of the venue box offices.

On some dates Bloc Party will be supported by Biffy Clyro, who also play a date at Stoke Sugarmill on Tuesday as a warm up for their Bloc Party warm up dates and their May tour. Tickets on sale here.

The 2007 Camden Crawl takes place on Thursday and Friday in London, including all the best up and coming talent from accross London at some of the best Camden venues.

Zane Lowe favourites Cold War Kids embark on the start of their tour on Wednesday in Bristol, before moving on to Nottingham and Manchester. They then tour the rest of the country in the following two weeks. Tickets available from See Tickets again.

Teenage girl favourites Hanson embark on a short UK tour covering Newcastle, Birmingham and Manchester this week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday respectively. They also play Koko in London on Sunday. Tickets from here and venue box offices.

Jamie T embarks on a full UK tour in Southampton next Saturday, before Norwich on Sunday and the rest of the UK in the coming two weeks. Tickets from here.

Kings of Leon embark on a full UK tour tonight in Plymouth, covering just about everywhere. Tickets from here.

Lostprophets UK Arena tour kicks off this week, covering Manchester, Birmingham and London’s Wembley Arena this week. Tickets from here.

Crazily moustached Luke Toms embarks on his own tour on Wednesday in Liverpool. He’s been the support band of choice for a fair few bands in recent months: Keane, Thirteen Senses and The Feeling. Tickets here.

Paulo Nutini starts his UK tour of larger theatres on Tuesday, playing just about everywhere, including a four night home town stand in early May. Tickets here.

Other Zane Lowe favourites The Enemy continue their UK tour on Monday night, taking in most mid-sized venues in the UK. Tickets here.

I was hoping to be able to see Switches at London’s 100 Club on Tuesday, however tickets have now sold out, so I won’t be. Tickets for their UK tour here.

Dundee favourites The View play a variety of venues out and about this week, mostly sold out, however there are still a few tickets for the Forum date in London next Saturday. Tickets here.

Last but not least, girl band The Pipettes play their largest tour to date, all over the UK playing mid-size venues. Tickets here.