After more than a year of preparation -- including studio time, summer festival gigs, an SNL appearance, and a SPIN cover shoot -- Kings of Leon welcomed the arrival of their new album, Only by the Night, by launching their North American tour last night with a sold out show at New York City's Webster Hall.

Arriving just 15 minutes before stepping onstage at Philadelphia's tattered Khyber club, Athens, Georgia-based rockers the Whigs find that their reputation has preceded them. "You guys are screamers, right?" asks the club's soundman, fiddling with singer/guitarist Parker Gispert's mic.