At Rogers Arena on Sunday, March 30

A few songs into Kings of Leon’s headlining performance at Rogers Arena, frontman Caleb Followill told the crowd, “I think we should all bring the energy level up a bit.”

In other words, the singer-guitarist seemed to be aware that the Nashville band’s latest Vancouver appearance was a little lifeless. It was by no means a complete stinker, since the group was tight and professional while dutifully playing all of its best-known hits, but this was nevertheless a by-the-numbers show that offered little in the way of thrills.

As the crowd filed in at the beginning of the night, Local Natives opened with a selection of earnest, elegant indie rock songs. These were soaring and cinematic, but the melodies didn’t leave much of an impression. Fortunately, the group ended on a high note, as the uncharacteristically noisy “Sun Hands” earned enthusiastic roars of approval.

During the break between bands, a massive semitranslucent curtain was hung at the front of the stage. When the lights went down and Kings of Leon walked out, the band’s members initially appeared as silhouettes, lending a threatening air of mystery to the heavy opener, “Charmer”.

After this, the curtain dropped and the outfit eased into the breezy, southern-flavoured groove of “Rock City”. Caleb was joined by his brother Nathan on drums, his brother Jared on bass, and their cousin Matthew on lead guitar. Near the back of the stage, touring member Chris Coleman switched between keyboards, guitar, and auxiliary percussion. The musicians were clean-cut and mostly wore dark colours, with only Nathan deviating from the dress code with his long hair and white sleeveless shirt.

Behind them, a massive video screen alternated between on-the-fly live footage and flashy videos. This was particularly effective on “Family Tree”, as images of neon strip club signs set a seedy, sexy mood for the song’s funky blues feel. The visuals accompanying the recent single “Supersoaker” were even more risqué and featured vintage footage of exotic dancers.

The group played a wide cross section of material from its catalogue, interspersing cuts from 2013’s Mechanical Bull with older favourites like “The Bucket” and “Molly’s Chambers”. Such numbers were all proficiently executed and seldom deviated from the studio versions. All the while, the Followills were subdued, doing little more than nodding their heads and staring down at their hands. They rarely interacted, typically remaining in their designated positions on the stage, which was cluttered with amps and gear.

Between songs, Caleb told the audience—which contained a large percentage of couples in their 20s and 30s—that his brother Jared was feeling under the weather. Later in the set, he revealed that it was Coleman’s birthday, adding that the band had gone out to celebrate the night before. “Needless to say, my voice is a little hoarse,” he confessed.

The frontman switched over to an acoustic guitar for the tambourine-powered “Back Down South”, at which point the middle part of the set dragged. The mood eventually lifted thanks to a string of hard-hitting alt-rock scorchers, with “Don’t Matter” punctuated by jets of white smoke that billowed from large fans at either end of the stage.

Caleb then encouraged fans to hold their illuminated cellphones aloft for the atmospheric megaballad “Cold Desert” as as a white, snow-like substance drifted down in flakes from the rafters. Kings of Leon are hardly the first arena band to pull off this stunt, but it was exceptionally cool-looking regardless.

As the last few flakes were falling, the band wrapped up the main portion of the nearly two-hour performance with the crowd-pleasing “Use Somebody”. Predictably, the climactic “woah-oh” hook sparked a massive sing-along.

After a brief break, Kings of Leon returned for an encore, and lasers shot across the room during the swaggering “Crawl” and “Black Thumbnail”. They ended the night with the signature hit “Sex on Fire”, which was beefed up with an undercurrent of dance-rock muscle that inspired onlookers to throw their arms up into the air and howl along with the chorus.

This finale doubtless sent plenty of folks home happy, although it was difficult to shake the feeling that, on this night, the Followills were simply going through the motions.