With all the bad press The Killers have received, I get why someone would be apprehensive about seeing the band in concert, especially with the share of flack front man Brandon Flowers has seen. Perhaps the bird jacket or the past use of guyliner makes him appear ostentatious. Perhaps the squeals of fan girls seem unappealing. Perhaps the promise of producing the best album in 20 years makes him sound like an arrogant prick. Regardless of what you may have heard, I urge you to set aside those negative thoughts and check their live show out. In fact, I believe this is one of those bands that are better live than they are on recording.

Opening for the Killers on their winter tour are indie shoegazers M83. I must admit that I was quite apprehensive when I heard these indie darlings were opening for a band known for their top 40 hits like “Mr. Brightside” and “Human”. While I thought Saturdays = Youth was a genius release, I was worried that fans of the Killers who had discovered the band wedged between the likes of Fall Out Boy and Rihanna would not warmly receive the openers. In fact, I’ve been to several Killers shows where the opening act failed to get any reaction from the crowd except ennui.

Gladly, M83 fared better and their opening song, though instrumental received a roar of applause when it peaked in a big moment of musical tension from the build up. These guys are masters of build up and though they do sing, they reminded me a lot of instrumental rockers Explosions in the Sky. Now, as much as I like to think of Anthony Gonzales as the star, especially when his vocals are combined in a duet, I felt M83’s drummer dazzled and was the true entertainment to watch and without his contribution, the construction of the walls of sound would have been less impressive.

While M83 fared better than most groups I’ve seen open for the Killers, eventually the audience started getting anxious for their headliners, so by the time the group got to “Skin”, they started to lose their grip on the crowd. They wrapped their set with another instrumental number before leaving the stage. Perhaps if they had saved the more upbeat “Kim & Jessie” for last, they could have ended on a more memorable note. They have some great songs, but I think they should learn from the build-up they apply to their individual songs and apply the same build-up to the organization of their set list.

Set list:
*
Graveyard Girl
We Own the Sky
Teen Angst
Don’t Save Us
Kim & Jessie
Skin
Guitar

Now I’ve struggled over how to even begin reviewing the Killers. They are one of my favorite groups, but I don’t want to color my review with my personal bias, so I will try to be as fair as possible. The Killers put on a good live show, and that is the honest truth. However, while they do a lot of things right, they also have room for a lot of improvement.

Let’s start with the set. The Killers need to be commended for their set design, which can be almost as entertaining as the band’s music. On their Hot Fuss tour, the set was simple. The synth heavy album was glamorous, so the band accompanied their tour with a simple but glitzy set that had the members in tuxes with a backdrop of their name in big lights. For Sam’s Town, the album featured a dustier, rustic image of the people of Las Vegas, so the band donned some flannel and mustaches and the accompanying stage set up made it look like they were in a bar from an old western. So now that there is a new album, there is a new image.

Day and Age has a more of Sam’s Town in space theme, so the band has shaved their mustaches, bought some new jackets and the stage is decorated with palm trees and cacti. The white piano has been painted with a shooting star and some planets. My favorite piece is Flowers’ synth which simply has a big lit up “K.” This is one of their biggest sets, which was obvious by the inclusion of pyrotechnics, a video screen, lots of confetti and even some bubbles. What did not work about this set was the fact that while it took the roadies like ten minutes to get everything set up, the band did not come out for well over a half hour. It is almost pointless to have another band warm-up the crowd if you’re going to give that long for every body’s energy to wane. Fortunately, the band knows how to make an entrance and the music they use to come on stage to never disappoints as that little piece effortless enters their first song.

The second Flowers opened his mouth to sing the “Oh, oh, ohs” of current single “Spaceman”, the crowd was jumping. Though not quite as an impressive as when their shows started with “Sam’s Town”, this was a good start to the show and is just a ridiculously catchy song. The sound was tight and showed that the backing vocals of the other guys have considerably improved. Following “Spaceman” was “Losing Touch”, which was actually a bit of a letdown live, though the sax and guitar solos stunned, the entire song was a little dull. In fact, the new songs from Day and Age had the strange effect of impressing, but disappointing at the same time.

While songs like “Joy Ride”, which featured bubbles, was a blast, “The World We Live In” not only had a boring images to accompany on the screen, but was one of the more boring numbers to watch. Though “I Can’t Stay” was endearing and had a great jam tagged on, “Neon Tiger” took some time to get in to. I did think it was a nice touch that during the “I don’t want to be caged” line, Flowers paced the stage. Not surprisingly, the best number from Day and Age was “Human”, which reaches a new energy live. As the screen behind them showed pictures of amps pumping and read “Human”, Flowers moved around the stage and even took the prayer position as he looked for the answer. He seemed at ease in this song in a way that he didn’t appear in some of the others.

Now while people probably best know the band for their songs off of Hot Fuss and “Mr. Brightside” did get one of the warmest reactions from the confetti-covered crowd, the band was at their best when performing numbers off of sophomore album Sam’s Town. Performance-wise, the band was at their best during “Bling”, which I was pleased to hear in the set considering it was the only non-Day and Age song to never have been a radio single. They performed the title track from Sam’s Town as a completely acoustic number, which turns the bombastic version found on the album to a string-laced ballad. Touring musician Ray Suen has to be one of the most impressive musicians out there as he picked up a violin for a change from his previous coverage of extra keys, vocals and guitar. Though I would agree with my fellow Popwrecker, Joshua, that for such a talented and helpful man, perhaps the band should considering sharing a little more stage with him than the box the leave him in the far back corner.

Flowers is an odd front man. Though he has been painted as arrogant, he is probably one of the shyest musicians. He is kind of awkward and nervous, which helps explain why he talks little to the crowd and when he does, he kind of stumbles through what he’s saying, “So, uh, how did you like this, uh, band that we get to play with tonight? They’re, uh, we’re very honored to, it’s our first night with them, they’re M83 and we hope everybody liked them. We’re big fans of theirs and,” trails off Flowers as he wrings his hands before diving into the piano for an acoustic version of “Sam’s Town”.

I bring this up for several reasons: The Killers are at amphitheater level, but their front man is still uncomfortable with a large crowd. I personally find it endearing that he shies away from banter, but some might not read his lack of communication as such and view it as an indifference for his fans. I’m not really sure if it is necessary for band mate to take the helm and talk to the crowd more, but I’d rather them be flawed at speaking in between songs than the actual performance of the songs. I would say that it is quite clear that Flowers and company do care about the crowd. Though drummer Ronnie Vannucci and guitarist Dave Keuning, constantly are making hilarious facial expressions, Flowers can at times be stone-faced, so it is clear when he slips into a new expression that a show is going well, so it was pleasing to see the man chuckle on “For Reasons Unknown”.

As good as the Killers are at picking an opening for a show, they are masters of the closing. For an encore, the band played the gentle “Dustland Fairytale” giving Keuning a guitar solo before bassist Mark Stoermer showed why he is a bass god with the opening riff of “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine”. Some may find it dorky, but I love how into this song Flowers gets that he even sings a long during the instrumental part. They finally ended with their hit “When You Were Young”, which of course is the perfect closer for a generation of Guitar Hero fans.

Undoubtedly, the Killers are some of the best musicians on tour. And as I said at the beginning, I do understand why people are apprehensive to see them. But I think if you give them a chance, you will at least gain a new appreciation for the band if not fall in love with them for a reason other than Flowers’ looks. I have seen this band on tour for each of their albums and they have done nothing but improve each time I see them.

Set list:
Spaceman
Losing Touch
For Reasons Unknown
Somebody Told Me
Smile Like You Mean It
This Is Your Life
Joyride
I Can’t Stay
Bling
The World We Live In
Neon Tiger
Human
Sam’s Town (acoustic)
Read My Mind
Mr. Brightside
All These Things That I’ve Done
//
Dustland Fairytale
Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
When You Were Young

Bands:
M83: website | myspace
The Killers: website | myspace | Day and Age review

Written by: Bethany
Photos by: Joshua

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