Kings of Leon Poster Tampa 2017

Cherry Red on the Turntable

After completing three posters for Kings of Leon during their 2017 summer run, the band invited me back to take on a pair of fall dates across the southeast United States. At this point in the tour I had already stretched the cherry motif in every direction I could think of, since the band specifically wanted cherries woven into every poster in the series. Rather than dropping cherries in as a decorative afterthought, I wanted each design to let the motif steer the concept in a meaningful way.

A Cherry-Shaped 45 RPM Single

For the Tampa show, I imagined a seven inch single pressed on bright cherry red vinyl, die cut into the shape of a pair of cherries. The print layers the stylized record over a retro 45 picture sleeve, with the Tampa skyline forming the backdrop. The silhouettes of the band appear in halftone, giving the piece the warm and slightly imperfect charm of old promotional sleeves.

Meta Details for the Music Nerds

One of my favorite parts of working in a meta format like this is sneaking in the technical details. The mock RCA logo becomes KOL, the show date doubles as the track duration on the record label, and of course the classic yellow 45 adapter makes an appearance. These tiny elements help the poster feel like a convincing artifact from a vinyl collector’s shelf rather than a simple illustration referencing record culture.

A Fall-Tour Companion to West Palm Beach

This print was one of two fall-tour pieces created for this leg of the 2017 tour, produced again with Nakatomi Inc.. Together with the West Palm Beach poster, it let the series push further into playful, concept-driven territory while still staying connected to the earlier summer posters through the recurring cherry idea.