This past week Kings of Leon played at Place Bell supported by Phantogram. This combination of 2010s all stars was really reminiscent of the indie sleaze revival trending right now. However, I was pretty disappointed in the setlist and visuals of the show.

During their set, they played Beautiful War off their 2013 album Mechanical Bull. To accompany the track, they had “It’s a Beautiful War” as a visual on all the screens in the venue. This felt extremely insensitive given the recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon and the ongoing genocide in Palestine as well as the Russia/Ukraine war.

As an avid concert goer, I felt they should have not played the song given their expansive discography, and especially remove those visuals from their show. Many shows I attended in the past year have used their platform to show clear support to the Palestinian people. I was disappointed to attend a concert so tone deaf and inconsiderate to the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.