Nashville’s hometown boys Kings of Leon closed out day-one of the 2025 Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival with a rock show that included well-known hits and deep cuts alike, capping off a beautiful afternoon of live music on one of Franklin, TN’s most beautiful farms.
After being sidelined for a few shows over the summer by lead singer Caleb Followill’s broken foot, the band was ready to once again take the stage, this time for their hometown show and the group’s first full-band performance at Pilgrimage.
“We wrote a pretty cool set list on the plane today, and we’re fired up,” Caleb Followill told The Tennessean just before their headlining Saturday night set. “We don’t have another concert for, like, three months, so we’re going to blow it out, play a lot of the harder songs, everything. My voice… I won’t be able to talk tomorrow, I imagine, but that’s okay.”
And he wasn’t kidding. The band came onstage just after sunset and played a 90-minute set, often letting the crowd sing choruses to some of their well-known songs such as “Use Somebody,” and “Back Down South,” a song Followill said they wrote while on the road and missing home.
“We had a concert last night in California,” he said to the crowd before pausing and finishing with, “It’s good to be back in Tennessee.”
The band dug deep into its catalog, pulling out early 2000s songs such as “Revelry” and “On Call,” along with “Beautiful War,” from 2013 and from their latest album, “Mustang.”
But the band would save their biggest song for the end of the night, wrapping their powerful set with “Sex on Fire.” Some might have expected the band to do an encore, but instead, band members left the stage, waving to the crowd to the tune of Elvis Presley’s “Make The World Go Away.”
Saturday was a near-perfect festival day with mostly sunny skies and highs hovering around 80 with temps dropping a bit as the sun did the same. Sunscreen turned to sweatshirts and the night air dipped into the 60s.
Festival-goers clustered under shade trees, took naps in the sun and commandeered good real estate at their favorite stages while noshing on food and sipping cold beverages throughout the afternoon. Several festival flags flew amid the crowd, ushering friends and families to the correct spot as the scents of pizza and barbeque filled the air.
Day-one musical highlights included Maggie Rose bringing Grace Potter on stage for a song during her afternoon set on the Midnight Sun stage, Turnpike Troubadours revving up the crowd and another Nashville-based band, Colony House, bringing their energy-packed set to the Golden Road Stage.
Indie rocker Father John Misty hit the stage with his band in the late afternoon. Clad in a black blazer and sunglasses, Misty delivered a set that showcased his understated, cool-guy demeanor, cynical lyrics and included hits “Real Love Baby” and “Chateau Lobby #4.”
Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival continues Sunday with performances by Grace Potter, Better Than Ezra, Young the Giant, Sam Fender and headliner John Mayer. Weather for Sunday is predicted to be just as lovely with mostly sunny skies and temperatures hovering in the 70s.
Melonee Hurt covers music and music business at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee. Reach Melonee at mhurt@tennessean.com or on Instagram at @MelHurtWrites. Audrey Gibbs contributed to this story.
Nashville rockers Kings of Leon wrap day one at Tennessee Pilgrimage Festival – The Tennessean
