Kings of Leon perform at the Warfield in San Francisco on Oct. 18, 2008. Roman Gokhman/STAFF.

SAN FRANCISCO — Many bands that are successful in other parts of the world fail to make it big in America. What makes the Kings of Leon — a quartet that’s huge in Europe but is still trying to break into the mass market in the U.S. — unique is that the three brothers and cousin are homegrown.

The familial Tennessee southern rock troupe of Followills — brothers Caleb (singer), Jared (bassist), Nathan (drummer) and cousin Matthew (guitarist) — are as American South as moonshine and pecan pie.

If their San Francisco shows are any indication, their popularity at home may be on the rise. Touring in support of their fourth album, “Only by the Night,” with support from Montreal guitar rock band the Stills and SoCal post-punk troupe We Are Scientists, Kings of Leon sold out two straight nights at the Warfield.

Compared to just a few years ago, when the Followills were alternating between being shy and spazzing out on stage, Kings of Leon oozed confidence Saturday, puffing out their chests as they opened their set with “Sex On Fire,” the bluesy, attacking lead single off the new album.

In fact, the band attacked full-tilt until at least the ninth song of their set, the majority of which came from the new album and their second album, 2004’s “Aha Shake, Heartbreak.”

The older songs, such as “Razz,” “Taper Jean Girl,” “Milk ” and “The Bucket,” connected with fans the strongest, inciting multiple singalongs.

When the band started out, it had a vision but not all of the skills to realize it. The older songs have gotten better with age now that they have become better musicians.

On-stage antics and missed notes here and there have been replaced by a subtler intensity.

With their new songs, Kings of Leon are moving away from the sound that made them stand out in the first place. “Use Somebody” sounds more like an ‘80s Bruce Springsteen ballad than early Kings of Leon. Encore closer “Crawl,” has an industrial taste to it.

Because Caleb Followill’s voice stays the same throughout, the new stuff stays grounded and works.

Kings of Leon perform at the Warfield in San Francisco on Oct. 18, 2008.

We Are Scientists and the Stills bolstered the evening’s lineup, though it would have been better if the Montreal band played a little more and the SoCal band a little less.

The Stills performed a too-brief, mostly successful, 30-minute set that ranged from pop anthems to garage rock and to mid-‘90s alternative rock.

The sextet, who are buds with Kings of Leon, dedicated the anthemic “Being Here,” off their third and newest album, “Oceans Will Rise,” to their friends as a song about Tennessee and drinking moonshine.

That song, as well as the next one, the danceable “Don’t Talk Down,” were the highlights of their set.

We Are Scientists’ 45-minute set was filled angular post-punk and upbeat pop songs, swinging of guitars and on-stage banter/bad joke-telling. But they had fun and that showed.

“Night one in San Francisco, we follow the rules,” bassist Chris Cain said. “Night two is about passion.”

In between songs the band held a giveaway of a crumpled-up piece of paper and gave a virtual tour of California (“There’s beaches, mountains and maps of the stars’ homes, although that’s farther south of here”).

The highlights included the catchy “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt” and “After Hours.”

About 30 minutes in, the songs began sounding the same.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.