Las Vegas rockers The Killers have been touring around ten years now and their live show has grown to perfection. It is more than just a performance for their fans; it’s a love letter.
Their current tour opens with the house lights still on as the band launches into one of its biggest hits and first ever songs: “Mr. Brightside.” No, the lights aren’t an accident. They’re on because this song is just as much about the audience as the band. Instead of just watching them on stage, you’re a part of this number, which is why the lights are on you. It’s exhilarating to begin this show in this manner — where we’re all equals in our joy, nostalgia and singing. It’s also fun to see how genuinely excited the band is to be on that stage and feeling the crowd’s glee. After “Mr. Brightside,” the lights go down and the rest of the night is a mix of laser lights, confetti and pyrotechnics; however, the glee and feeling of camaraderie doesn’t dissipate. Even on some of the newer, lesser known numbers, the band makes sure that everyone is having fun and feeling a part of this experience.
I joined the Killers for part of their recent stint in Texas. They had already played Houston & El Paso (which included a second surprise performance at a more intimate venue), so I caught their remaining Texas shows in Grand Prairie (Dallas) and Cedar Park (Austin). The Virgins opened for all these shows and performed a relaxed, throwback set of their songs. I loved the rhythms and the slick vocals, but I think I would have enjoyed this band more in an intimate venue. Though the audiences weren’t very familiar, the crowds were polite and anticipation for the Killers only grew during their set. After the Virgins played for roughly half an hour, the Killers’ crew swiftly got to work changing over the set. It was a 45-minute set change, which is a bit on the long side, but totally worth the wait. The audience cheered the roadies on in all their tasks whether checking mics, climbing a shaky rope ladder to the spotlights or bringing out the iconic, emblazoned synth for frontman Brandon Flowers.
The set list for both nights in Texas were fairly similar, but there were still plenty of surprises exclusive to each city. After the bright sing along of “Mr. Brightside,” the lights dimmed for another hit, “Spaceman.” During this number, Flowers danced around the stage and even fell back to to the floor on some of the slower parts of the song. The entire the time, the audience bounced up and down with the song’s “oh oh ohs.” Dallas had a few feedback issues, but those were handled adeptly by the band and completely absent by the time of the Austin show. The background LED screen flashed images of space and stars, giving the song an effective soaring vibe.
Next up was “The Way It Was,” a more ballad-like number that could have seen a bit of a lull in the set, but was instead turned into a big back and forth sing along as Flowers instructed the audience to follow his lead. When the final “Daaaaaaaaaaaaaarlinggggggggg” riff came up, it was dripping with emotion. The return to Hot Fuss for “Smile Like You Mean It” got the crowd dancing. The band switched things up next with a little treat that you can only get from their live shows. The lights dimmed and a spotlight found Flowers at an acoustic piano rather than his signature synths. In Dallas he played a reprise of “Spaceman” that was filled with a yearning. In Austin, the last night of the band’s Texas tour, he played “I Can’t Stay,” which also had a yearning to it — it felt like the band was genuinely sad to move on from the state and was remorseful that they couldn’t stay beyond this night.
From the haunting sounds of the acoustic piano, the band again turned things up with a crowd favorite: the big anthem of “Bling (Confessions of a King).” With its “Higher and higher” refrain, the crowd was fist pumping and jumping. This may not have ever been an official single of the band’s, but it got one of the biggest reactions and the band poured more energy into it than some of their other songs. Speaking of big and bombastic, “Miss Atomic Bomb” was the evening’s first appearance of pyrotechnics and judging by the grins on the band’s face cuing the flame, they were just as excited as the crowd was by the blasts. Though for me, the highlight of this song came not with the flames, but when a spotlight found guitarist Dave Keuning as the audience recognized the familiar notes echoing “Mr. Brightside,” leading to even more cheers. After the dust cloud settled on that roller coaster of a number, the band re-embraced some of their more new wave influences and broke out “Human.” To answer that song’s question, in that moment, everyone in the crowd was “dancer.” “Somebody Told Me” was a swirling rush of guitars and synths that kept the dancing going.
Speaking of dancing…”You all got your dancing shoes on? Ronnie, you got your dancing shoes on? Mark’s always got his dancing shoes on,” Flowers teased before the band played perhaps their folkiest number: “From Here On Out.” This Americana number isn’t quite what I would call a “dancing” song, but the band put up a pretty good argument in favor of it becoming one. The twangy guitar and the back and forth echoes of the “From Here on Out” phrase made this yet another fun interactive moment for the audience. Another song that really pandered to the audience was “For Reasons Unknown.” Though this was never a single, it’s become an audience single and it sees bassist Mark Stoermer picking up guitar and Flowers donning a bass — the only song on which he does this. “Any guesses what’s next,” he asked as he slung the bass around his chest and remarkably, most of the audience knew just from that gesture.
For a band with multiple albums under their belt, a cover song might seem unnecessary, but I kind of love that the Killers freshen things up for their audiences and for themselves by performing covers. “Tiffany stole this song from Tommy James & the Shondelles. Tonight, we’re stealing it back,” said Flowers as the band launched into “I Think We’re Alone Now.” It was a fun cover and showed off a bit of the band’s humor, dimming the lights and strobing them with the drummer’s “heart beat” rhythms. This wasn’t the only cover of the evening. In Austin, the band played their version of Joy Division’s “Shadowplay,” which featured in the Ian Curtis biopic, “Control.” Then, in each tour stop, the band’s been playing a city-centric cover song as a sort of coda to “A Dustland Fairytale.” In Dallas, it was Willie Nelson’s “Dallas,” which featured Keuning breaking out an acoustic guitar to join with Flowers’ singing. I think Flowers must have forgotten the words though because he chuckled and dashed off stage for a moment, leading a befuddled Keuning to keep looping the song’s intro. It was still an appreciated effort and the band’s humbleness in the moment just made the attempt more endearing. They found more success in Austin with “Always On My Mind.” In other cities, they’ve covered “Ring of Fire” for Nashville & “New York, New York” in none other than New York. These little cover snippets act as a lead-in to “Read My Mind,” a beautiful number that the band accompanied with blue skies and clouds on their LED screen.
The set ended like a firecracker with “Runaways” and a confetti-filled “All These Things That I’ve Done,” which is always a crowd pleaser. The band returned for an encore spanning their career with the wonderful bass lines of “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine,” “When You Were Young” and the newer “Battle Born.”
The only song that seemingly hit a lull in the otherwise highly charged and uplifting set was “Here with Me,” which the band played in Dallas, but not in Austin, perhaps because they thought the audience wasn’t feeling it enough. I personally really enjoyed the number and the variance in pace, but in the middle of the number at Dallas, Flowers looked up from the piano and said, “I can’t tell if you all don’t know it or if you’re just being polite.” I think it was the crowd just being polite because they kept up with every other Battle Born song and “Runaways” and encore closer “Battle Born” got two of the biggest reactions of the night. Of course, “Battle Born” had the benefit of some really epically big drumming, confetti raining down on the band, lots of pyrotechnics, and a barrier walk by Flowers that had the front few rows swooning. “Battle Born” has easily become one of my favorite songs for its uplifting message, but I really loved it live because the band’s personalities really came out for this song. I loved hearing Flowers introduce his band mates, “you might have felt a rumble during the course of this evening…nothing to be alarmed about…it must be Ronnie Vannucci on the drums!!!”
The guys even came together for a bow at the end of the show, which came across as a humble symbol of camaraderie and gratitude to their fans. It was the icing on the cake for an already memorable show and a great reminder that even as this band has grown over the last ten years, they’ve never lost sight of just how much support their fans give them. Heck, these guys will still come out after shows to meet with their fans (though you might have to wait for a while before they do). You want to know how to earn loyalty, respect and love from fans in the music world? The Killers know the secret and its an easy one. Simply respect and love your fans right back.
Grand Prairie (Dallas), TX Set List:
Mr. Brightside
Spaceman
The Way It Was
Smile Like You Mean It
Spaceman (piano reprise)
Bling (Confession of a King)
Miss Atomic Bomb
Human
Somebody Told Me
I Think We’re Alone Now (Tommy James & the Shondelles/Tiffany cover)
Here With Me
For Reasons Unknown
From Here On Out
A Dustland Fairytale
Dallas – Willie Nelson cover
Read My Mind
Runaways
All These Things That I’ve Done
//
Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
When You Were Young
Battle Born
Cedar Park (Austin), TX Set List:
Mr. Brightside
Spaceman
The Way It Was
Smile Like You Mean It
I Can’t Stay (piano intro)
Bling (Confession of a King)
Shadowplay (Joy Division cover)
Miss Atomic Bomb
Human
Somebody Told Me
I Think We’re Alone Now (Tommy James & the Shondelles/Tiffany cover)
For Reasons Unknown
From Here On Out
A Dustland Fairytale
Always on My Mind – (Willie Nelson/Brenda Lee cover)
Read My Mind
Runaways
All These Things That I’ve Done
//
Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
When You Were Young
Battle Born
*Photos taken via a Samsung Galaxy S3
