His rusty razor of a Southern growl launches from wired squall one moment to conspiratorial whisper the next. The 17-year-old Jared plays his bass like the meanest lead guitarist in rock, bursting with confidence – you half-expect him to lie back on his knees like Marty McFly in Back to the Future.The Kings expertly rein in their whirlpool of noise before letting rip. After the ferocious blues-drenched set-opener, “Molly’s Chambers”, it’s clear they’re intent on doing the same here.Kings of Leon’s playing is so tight, they seem telepathically connected. The young brothers (aged between 17 and 23) are sons of a preacher man (now defrocked for alcoholism) and carry themselves with an assured swagger. They blew the lid off the New Bands tent at this year’s Glastonbury with their raw Southern swamp rock – and that was before the release of their excellent debut, Youth & Young Manhood, last Monday.

The Electric Ballroom, in Camden, north London, must be the world’s most inappropriately named venue. The slick neon sign above its door gives off the Eighties vibe its name suggests, but inside, it’s a spit-and-sawdust dive – all wooden floors and blackened walls – primed for rock’n'roll action. Tonight, the sold-out sweat-box hosts the hottest ticket in town: Kings of Leon, the biggest US import since The White Stripes.
With their shoulder-skimming hair, tight flares and vintage T-shirts, the Tennessee quartet, the Followill brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared and their cousin Matthew, look as though they have come straight from supporting Hendrix at Woodstock. “We know we’ve got something absolutely fantastic at the end of the process, something that absolutely anybody who comes to a Prom can enjoy – but we’ve got to draw them in. They get a taste for the atmosphere of the Proms, and even if they don’t come back immediately, they will know that a Prom is not a threatening, elite, exclusive experience.” Well, it has worked for the Queen, who is expected to turn up for an evening of Walton, Elgar, Bax and others on 30 July – her first Prom since 1994.Martin AndersonRoyal Albert Hall, London SW7 (020-7589 8212; ). There’s a “Nation’s Favourite” Prom on 19 July, with the programme chosen by the audience; a Blue Peter Prom at 11 in the morning a week later; and a Late Junction Prom on 2 August.”We have to address the young generation in their own terms,” Kenyon says. Granted, Paul Watkins plays William Schuman’s rarely heard A Song of Orpheus for cello and orchestra on 23 July, and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra brings the ninth symphony by fellow-Finn Kalevi Aho on 18 August – some interesting repertoire is bound to make it through, after all.

That came out of deciding to do The Trojans for the Berlioz bicentenary.” Oddly, though Greek myth was a staple of Baroque opera (and Kenyon has an “early music” background), all we get is a splash of Rameau: a suite from Hippolyte et Aricie (12 August) and a handful of dances (10 September).Kenyon is also happy with the number of new and recent pieces he’s managed to get into the season. “If you take just the violin concertos, with the Tuur, Knussen and Pintscher [1 and 14 August, 2 September], that’s a very good selection.” Other new music highlights include the European premieres of James MacMillan’s Third Symphony on 24 July, Elliott Carter’s Boston Concerto on 14 August, and the UK premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Insomnia on 3 September.Despite Kenyon’s assurances, the season could be more adventurous: with an audience more faithful than other London concerts enjoy, the Proms could take a risk. It is the king of instruments.” The emperor has spoken.’Lang Lang: Tchaikovsky/ Mendelsssohn’ is on Deutsche Grammophon (474 291-2)’WE HAVE TO ADDRESS THE YOUNG GENERATION’Nicholas Kenyon has been director of the Proms since 1996. Greek myth is the main theme for this season, starting with Tippett’s opera King Priam on Sunday, Mendelssohn’s rarely heard incidental music to Sophocles’ Antigone in a late-night Prom three days later, Strauss’s opera Elektra on 29 July and Berlioz’s The Trojans on 25 August. Just as the violin was the Korean and Japanese thing, the piano is the Chinese instrument. Asked about the future for indigenous Chinese music, he replies: “It’s very bright, with Yo-Yo Ma building bridges between East and West, and with Tan Dun, whose work will be on my next recording.” But he doesn’t like facile fusions.

He still plays chamber music with his father, whose instrument is the Chinese erhu (bowed like a cello, and more piercingly sweet than the violin), and he makes a point of including contemporary Chinese works in his recitals. These performances reflect his extraordinary amalgam of technique plus impeccable artistry: he may not be able to raise the Mendelssohn above its second division status, but he finds startling new beauties in Tchaikovsky’s much-played work.But the most refreshing thing about Lang Lang is that he’s stayed true to his roots in a completely unpretentious way. On a CD just out this week, Lang Lang plays Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn concertos under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, who has been, he says, another of his formative influences. “I made the big mistake of not listening to his recording before I did mine – if I’d heard it, my performance would have been more inspired.” So how does he see the difference? “His performance is so lyrical, and expresses such strong tragedy, such suffering, as though he lives in such a hard world. When I ask if he has made a comparison between Horowitz’s recording of Rachmaninov’s Third Concerto and his own, he suddenly looks apologetic.