It can be tough for a concert to live up the level of excitement you’ve expected for it with the one band you’ve likely listened to the most over the past two years, like I have with Kings of Leon. You’ve heard the music so many times that you’ve already created a fantasy for what it’s supposed to sound like live and how the crowd is going to respond to it. You have it set in your mind exactly what you want and expect to see, making it virtually impossible for the band to live up to your expectations.

This didn’t pose as a problem for these Tennessee boys.

They took the stage with quiet confidence and executed their contemporary southern rock to perfection. If you’re somebody who has spent the last two years listening to Aha Shake Heartbreak incessantly and have had numerous day dreams about what the album and the band would sound like live, well, this was it. At times fierce, at times loose, at times catchy … and on spot throughout.

Lead singer Caleb Followill didn’t say much to excite the crowd. Throughout the entire night I bet he uttered under five sentences, and what he did say was so hushed you could barely hear him. Everything they had to say on this night they said through their music.

Once the dense bass line and deep guitar chords kicked it everybody knew the opener was “Charmer,” and the crowd chimed in immediately. It was impressive to see a crowd for this band singing along, which they did throughout most of the evening. Normally that type of activity is reserved for guys like Tom Petty, Bono and Mic Jagger. Equally impressive was that the crowd had already memorized the chorus of the second song off the band’s new album that came out roughly a month ago. Hell, “Charmer,” isn’t even the album’s pre-released single.

To give a little perspective here, The Kings are huge in Europe: Recent release Because of the Times opened at No. 1 on the British charts, yet only topped out at No. 25 in the states. Normally standard fare for a band you don’t hear on the radio or see on MTV, but strange when taking into account new albums by fellow “indies” Modest Mouse, The Shins and Bright Eyes all spent their opening weeks in the top five. Judging by the enthusiasm of the sold out crowd at the Riviera, you’d think this band was one of the most popular in the country. It’s a shame and a mystery they’re not, but that’s a whole other essay.

This band, despite its member’s relative youth (bassist Jared Followill just turned 21) has churned out three full-length albums in four years. Which means they have enough material these days to exclusively play their up-tempo, concert-friendly material at shows, which they did. You heard all the rollicking tracks from Because of the Times (“My Party,” “Black Thumbnail,” and “McFearless”) and all the high points off Aha Shake Heartbreak (“Soft,” “Taper Jean Girl” and “Four Kicks”). They even threw in foot stomper “Molly’s Chamber’s” from debut Youth and Young Manhood.

“On Call,” the single off Because of the Times that I wasn’t initially sold on, took had much more of an epic feel live. So did “Knocked Up,” which kicked off the encore. The only downside of the night sonically was that things are almost too uptempo at times. The jangly hook on “Soft” was hurried and never quite achieved its groove quality. The same could be said about the chorus on “The Bucket.”

While the songs were performed live just about the way you’d hope for them to be (which is to say they sounded like they did on record) what really separated this show from the others I’ve seen lately was how much the crowd was into it. Lets be honest, sometimes the enthusiasm of a crowd can dictate how much fun a show is as much as the band on the stage. Lily Allen played her heart out when I saw her at the Metro a couple months ago, but since nobody bothered to do anything but stand and stare at her (which can, admittedly, be easy to do) the show was largely boring. The crowd at the Black Keys show I saw this winter acted like they were there because somebody told them to be, which is never a good thing.

Sure, a lot of the guys were wearing backwards hats, had their polo shirt collars popped and were fist pumping and spilling each other’s beers like obnoxious college buddies. At 28, I’m beginning to find such shows of youthful debauchery a little tiresome, but on this night it made me smile. For once I was standing with people that were letting their inhibitions go and actually enjoying themselves at a concert, instead of just standing there with their arms crossed. I enjoyed it so much that I got into the fist-pumping, beer spilling action myself. It was a fucking rock concert.