Review Kings of Leon and Manchester Orchestra 9th December

To sell out the 17,500 capacity Manchester Central is an achievement for any band, but for the Kings of Leon to sell out the venue when their last appearance in the city was at the 3,500 capacity Manchester Apollo is nothing short of astounding.

Walking into the huge, cavernous space an hour after the doors open, it is easy to feel a little trepidation about the show. Will they pull it off? Despite there being a good few thousand people milling around, the sheer size of the place swallows the audience up - along with any atmosphere the typical hum of anticipation may have been building up.

Support band Manchester Orchestra takes to the stage quietly in front of a small and largely inattentive crowd. The five-piece, hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, made quite a stir on the festival circuit this summer, notably playing to rave reviews at the Reading / Leeds festival, but for the first few songs of this set the audience seemed to be, by and large, uninterested.

This is a great injustice to a band who, in a smaller venue, would have been electrifying. Manchester Orchestra's sound combines country rock and emo with a fat slice of British indie and some massive dynamics. Andy Hull's vocals are alternately layered gently over a deep drum beat or a single guitar track and roared over heavy drums and chunky, crunchy guitars.

Happily, as the venue fills up the crowd before the stage swells and by the end of their set Manchester Orchestra have clearly picked up plenty of new fans to stand them in good stead for their Academy 3 show in February.

However, it is Kings of Leon who really have the power to work a venue this size. Long gone are the days when the band were a taciturn, bearded foursome - these days it is spray-on jeans and chiselled jawlines all the way, and they strut onto the stage like they own it.

And for the next hour and a quarter, they do. Hit after hit keeps the audience in a dancing, jumping, cheering frenzy. Songs such as Taper Jean Girl and My Party bring the audience surging towards the stage while hearing the 17,500-strong crowd singing On Call back at the band provides the most moving moment of the night.

There are no gimmicks with the band, save a couple of glitterballs which turn the roof of Manchester Central into a spangly delight for the odd track. Nor is there much banter, but when lead singer Nathan calls out that it's a priviledge to play for audiences like this, it seems he really means it.

The final stretch of songs (including Molly's Chambers,The Bucket, Knocked Up and Charmer) leaves the crowd exhaustated from dancing, hoarse from cheering and completely elated.