See Kings of Leon Perform Arena-Sized ‘Reverend’ on ‘Kimmel’

Kings of Leon blazed through their arena-sized single “Reverend” Thursday on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Caleb Followill’s echoing rasp billowed over the wall of power chords and Matthew Followill’s spiraling lead guitar, while drummer Nathan Followill embellished his hi-hat-heavy groove with funky kick drum accents.

The band also performed “Waste a Moment,” the lead single from their recently released seventh LP, Walls. Nathan dominated the performance with his tumbling tom-tom fills, while Matthew’s bent-note leads added psychedelic twang.

Kings of Leon previously performed “Waste a Moment” on The Tonight Show and debuted the glossy “Around the World” on Later … With Jools Hooland. 

The quartet will kick off the first leg of their Walls tour on January 12th, with the 10-date run wrapping up January 28th in Los Angeles.

In October, Nathan Followill spoke to Rolling Stone about the band’s new album and how they manage internal pressures. “We learned our lesson early on after our really big record [2008’s Only by the Night and its hit ‘Use Somebody’],” the drummer said. “You put so much pressure on yourself after that – to at least maintain that momentum you’ve got going—and we really had a shitty time in the studio trying to do that. Trying to chase a hit or trying to recreate success you had on previous things. So going into this record we had the frame of mind of no pressure to recreate any success we’ve had prior to this.”