Tuesday night Manchester Orchestra, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Kings Of Leon played the Fabulous Fox Theatre. We had good seats so we went early and caught all three acts. The boys in Manchester Orchestra played alternately soft then loud southern emo to a half-full house. For an opening band, they were surprisingly confident (they LOVE to podcast!) and appeared to put every ounce of misunderstood, suburban-youth blood, sweat and Tevas into the set. It’s an interesting combo, Built To Spill and Bright Eyes, filtered through Chris Carraba’s faux-vintage ringer tee. To some, however, it probably sounded like Greg Allman announcing to the Fillmore West crowd that he’s gay. Black Rebel, a grossly underrated band, came on next and played dense and smoky fuzz-sludge blues. The general impression is that their shows don’t vary much, though. like Oasis. The worst part was the mix; they went 3/4 of their set without bass. The soundboard was a disaster the entire night, but we’ll come back to that in three sentences. This was the fifth time seeing Kings Of Leon in four years (the only time not hammered off our porch-swing) and there was a looming fear that this show would not cut the Durkees. And it didn’t. But first the positives: “You know all those completely overrated bands like The Decemberists, Beirut, effing Sufjan, Band of Horses, The New Pornographers, Animal Collective, M.I.A. and the like? You can have them. Go ahead and take ‘em. Just give us the KOL.” These guys are already seasoned pros in their early twenties. Air tight, efficient, and smooth. HA, HA, HA. Now, onto the problems: 1. The mix. We’re no engineers but apparently the guys behind the boards weren’t either. The Fox is a big room, but Bjork’s people nailed it a few weeks back. 2. Heavy on the new material, some of which comes across as a bit simple in a live setting. 3. Sober.

• Manchester Orchestra: “Wolves At Night” (I’m Like a Virgin…) http://www.themanchesterorchestra.com/

• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: “Devil’s Waitin’” (live on KEXP) http://www.blackrebelmotorcycleclub.com/

• Kings Of Leon: “Live In Berlin” (full show, highly recommended) http://www.kingsofleon.com/