THE Kings of Leon brought the first day of the V Festival in Hylands Park to a close, headlining with a hit-laden set.

The Tennessee rockers had unsurprisingly drawn the biggest crowd of the day at Hylands Park, Chelmsford, and didn’t disappoint.

Opening with Closer, the slow-burner from Only by the Night, followed by the snarling Crawl, it took some time before they really hit their stride.

With only a few screens projecting black and white video of their set, this was a no-frills set-up - and there was little crowd interaction until four songs in when Caleb Followill declaed “We are the Kings of Leon”.

But the quality of the songs was left to shine through - and they did.

By the time Fans, from breakthrough album Because of the Times, and a new song introduced as their new single were played, the set really started to take off.

Fan favourites On Call, Knocked Up and Use Somebody all followed, although it was Sex on Fire which received the biggest singalong, proving a highlight for the first day for festival-goers.

Caleb Followill thanked the British fans for their support, but it’s no surprise why this band is so popular.

This show proved what the Kings are all about - no gimmicks, no showmanship, just an amazing collection of songs performed brilliantly.