like most bands I see at Headhunters, this group was carrying the torch for some decades-old sound without even a touch of irony – I guess this is acceptable for certain sounds – this band was for all intents and purposes a Judas Priest cover band, i.e., not acceptable – the lead singer wore gray jeans with knee-high boots and a flame shirt and was moved by himself

Kings of Leon was so much background noise to the rest of my weekend. They supposedly graduated to arena rock on the strength of their latest album Only by the Night and the radio hit Sex on Fire. It’s a catchy song, and along with their other single Use Somebody, those got the crowd roaring. But in between, there was a lot of generic noise, formless and indistinct dirty guitars and pounding drum beats. The songs relied too heavily on lead singer Caleb Followill’s vocals (who by the way, is unbelievably hot) to the convey the tune and then each song dropped off abruptly, not so much ending but just over as if someone had turned off the radio.

The 5-song encore was more energized and performed with more finesse than any songs that came before it, showing hints of possible future rock star cred. To be fair, the crowd seemed into it. But that’s what a crowd of mostly college students will get you, unbridled enthusiasm in the face of mediocrity. The performance at its best was average. Good for the guys to score a radio hit or two, now they need to work on their showmanship.

The Indigo Girls came to Boston for a brisk two-hour set that covered their career of classic tracks and the full breadth of their new album Poseidon and the Bitter Bug. The Indigo Girls have polished their performance to the point that their songs stand as a testament in their own right, even stripped of all the flash of the full band performance like on the heavenly version of The Wood Song. Backed only by Julie Wolf on keyboards, accordion and vocals, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers scorched the stage with their trademark vocals and gospel harmonies. The crowd embraced old and new songs, lending their voices to Power of Two and an enthusiastic rendition of Closer to Fine (one verse of which was given to opener Lucy Roche who couldn’t compete in personality or stage presence with Ray or Saliers). The highlights included a jam on Shame on You that brought the crowd to their feet, and the live debut of the scorching ballad True Romantic to lead off the encore.

Indigo Girls setlist
Love of Our Lives
Sugar Tongue
Fill It Up Again
Dairy Queen
Power of Two
Driver Education
What Are You Like
Reunion
Run
Yield
Get Out the Map
Shame On You
Fleet of Hope
Moment of Forgiveness
Digging for Your Dream
Ghost of the Gang
The Wood Song
Second Time Around
I’ll Change
Land of Canaan
Closer to Fine (w/Lucy Roche)
Encore
True Romantic
Galileo