The Killers Live Review by Ryan Beardsley
I see London, I see Sam’s Town.
I’ve seen a lot of rock n roll shows in my life but this was right up there, a night when The Killers joined the pantheon of genuine rock legends by putting on a performance that no one will ever forget.
But it wasn’t a one band show, 90s heroes Travis were on support duties and put on a set that would be best described as ‘lovely stuff’. With front man Fran Healy now resembling 90’s media brat Dennis Pennis it was a little disconcerting at times, but the Glaswegian band put on a delightful appetiser for main course, switching up between classics from mega hit The Man Who and a couple of newbies.
Highlights included an acoustic ‘busking’ version of Flowers In The Window with all four members hunched over a mic playing Healy’s guitar at the same time and of course Why Does It Always Rain On Me? rounding things off with an epic singalong. Healy was jocular on stage and pulled out a lovely little analogy for a band showcasing new songs at a gig being akin to showing off a newborn and hoping friends and family don’t think it’s ugly… I’ll be polite in this case and say all babies are beautiful.
On to the main event, with a stage resembling classic 90’s U2 extravagance, Brandon Flowers embarked on stage in a fetching scarlett blazer and introduced the band in a hail of streamers and lasers, now all we needed was the tunes, and we got them alright.
Their sophomore effort Sam’s Town is one of the most underrated rock albums of all time and it was a delight to hear a set that leaned heavily into it, When You Were Young sounds suitably epic tonight and was made for a night like this.
A double dose of Hot Fuss classics Somebody Told Me and Smile Like You Mean It, still hit home, with Flowers flying around the stage like a man possessed, determined that every last individual in the o2 has the night of their lives. A word for the frontman, Christ he’s a handsome lad, if I had to look like any other man, it would be he, even though his skin tight jeans are now out of fashion I’ve finally accepted, he still looks amazing.
We get a couple of unexpected treats, it’s a show after all, a lucky fan is plucked out of the crowd to play drums on For Reasons Unknown and does a sterling job, then in honour of July 4th, we get a cover of Tom Petty classic American Girl, a delight for the numerous yanks in attendance especially.
Runaways is an oft overlooked belter, one of their best hits supplying a massive chorus and displays Flowers underrated talents as a lyricist, before All These Things That I’ve Done gets the biggest singalong of all time, complete with another burst of confetti to douse the crowd who will be lucky enough to one day tell people they were here.
For the encore we hear a heartfelt story about growing up dirt poor in Las Vegas and it’s genuinely affecting, before inevitably the night closes with Mr Brightside. I’ll be honest, this song along with Wonderwall for me is probably at the height of being killed by its overplayedness, but just for tonight I’ll stop being a curmudgeon and wallow in the ecstasy of 20,000 wild fans singing along to every word.
All in all the best show I’ve seen in many a year, absolute rock and roll perfection from a band that always had it in them to be great, now they’ve achieved immortality.
Comments are closed.