The Rolling Stone Blog

Kings of Leon Block Footage of Botched Show

By | The Rolling Stone Blog – Tue, Aug 2, 2011 8:15 PM EDT

Kings of Leon's management firm has attempted to remove YouTube clips of the band's show in Dallas last week. A handful of fan-shot videos from the show, in which lead singer Caleb Followill left the stage early after telling the audience "I'm gonna go backstage and I'm gonna vomit, I'm gonna drink a beer," have disappeared as the result of a copyright claim from Vector Management, who represent the band.

Vector was more vigilant in removing the clips earlier in the week, with many of the videos going down almost as quickly as they went up. Some clips have survived the purge, though, including this compilation of footage that follows the arc of the performance, from Caleb's initial complaints about being too hot to his departure from the stage and the band's subsequent apologies for not being able to complete the gig. The Kings subsequently canceled 29 dates on their summer tour through the United States following the fiasco in Dallas.

Photos: Kings of Leon at Home

The removal of these video clips, which have almost exclusively focused on stage banter rather than the band's music, is somewhat dubious since the firm is taking them down on copyright claims. Vector may have been attempting to stifle the story by erasing the footage - something that has clearly backfired as other news outlets have covered the removal of the clips and the footage has been quoted in print. More likely, the firm is attempting to obscure evidence that could lead insurers to believe that Followill was drunk rather than exhausted, which could land the band in hot water as they deal with the fallout of canceling their tour.

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Photo by Didier Messens/Redferns/Getty Images

 

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