The Killers

Somebody Told Me… The Killers were in town, so I thought it was about time I go and check out the Las Vegas rock outfit in the flesh for myself. Following a recent trend of bands who want to make their fans feel like we did ‘When We Were Young’, the band have embarked on a tour to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the release of their chart-topping debut album, Hot Fuss. This is an anniversary tour with a twist, however, as the band are touring with 2 different shows on alternating nights. One show celebrates Hot Fuss and they play it in its entirety, whereas the alternate Rebel Diamonds show offers fans a variety of their monster hits across all 7 of their studio albums. Both shows are bound to be as brilliant as one another, but I was lucky enough to catch them on a Rebel Diamonds night.

I was breaking my back just to get in there, so after the Melbourne summer heat called for refreshments at the brewery next door, it was time to join the hordes shuffling into Rod Laver Arena to settle into their positions for the night. Kicking the night off was Australian band Radio Free Alice, and whilst I hadn’t personally heard of them, they certainly had some hardcore fans around me who were singing and dancing along to their upbeat tracks. By this stage the arena was packed wall to wall, and whilst the crowd was predominately millennial and older, it was refreshing to see people bringing their young children along to ensure they were receiving a well-rounded musical education. School was now in as the lights went down, the music fired up, and The Killers appeared on stage with frontman Brandon Flowers appearing in all his messiah-like glory, strutting around the stage adorned in a black sequinned pin stripe suit asking us, can you ‘Read My Mind’.

The distinct fiery intro of ‘Somebody Told Me’ had the crowd going mental, and I was transported back to my 16 year old self as I screamed along the lyrics with the 10,000 others around me. Flowers was on absolute fire with his smooth and powerful vocals blessing my ears, and his intoxicating energy that infiltrated every single cell in my body. ‘Spaceman’, ‘Jenny Was A Friend of Mine’ and ‘Smile Like You Mean It’ had the whole place jumping, and the confetti guns and visually spectacular laser light show that accompanied the entire set could only be described as seizure inducing but was incredibly mesmerising and just really topped off the vibe in the place. One lucky audience member had incidentally bumped into the band at breakfast that morning, and after chatting they discovered it was this guy’s birthday and that he’d be at the show. So that all being said, Flowers kindly dedicated ‘My God’ to the birthday boy who seemed bloody stoked with his 5 minutes of fame.

It was refreshing to look around the arena to see only a handful of mobile phones out during the show in comparison to a Gen Z-heavy gig I went to a few weeks ago where the number of phone screens in hands lit up the entire place up. Each generation thinks they are the most superior generation, but sorry I think us millennials win this round in terms of losing ourselves in the moment of a brilliant live show and not worrying about the little handheld devices that rule our life.

At times during the night, Flowers took on the persona of a passionate gospel preacher at a tent revival trying to ‘devil be gone’ his patrons (you know the ones), demanding responses to questions like “Did you order a good time tonight”? You bet your ageless rock star arse we did, and that’s exactly what was being delivered. Now, I’m not a religious woman by any means, but I would do anything and everything that this man with the gorgeous face and knee weakening smile told me to do. ‘A Dustland Fairytale’ with its intimate piano in the opening verse was just another on the setlist the crowd gobbled up as quickly as the band could dish it out. The emotive melody of ‘Be Still’ temporarily brought the mood to a sombre tone and had everyone’s emotions running high, whilst also showcasing Flowers’ vocal ability as his pipes effortlessly soared over the music. The crowd took over lead vocals for the first verse of ‘Runaways’, before one of my personal favourites from the Hot Fuss album, ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’. Flowers jokingly pointed out that they’ve just been ripping off U2 this whole time, and the gospel chords in ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ inspired this track from their debut album. During the bridge the crowd once again took over and were singing the chant, “I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier”, and it was honestly one of those spine-tingling moments that nearly gave me an outer body experience and had the goosebumps popping up on every inch of my skin.

Just to tease us the band looked like they were going to leave us in the lurch as they bowed and thanked us, but they didn’t depart the stage and instead flew straight into another hit from Hot Fuss, ‘When You Were Young’. Whilst Flowers was trying to convince us that “he doesn’t look a thing like Jesus”, I was thinking to myself “Mr Brandon Flowers looks pretty bloody god-like to me”. We were now in for a treat as Flowers introduced Australian rock royalty to the stage, Iva Davies from Icehouse, and the pair did a cracking rendition of ‘Electric Blue’ which once again had the crowd utterly thrilled and singing along. Everyone then left the stage and talk about leave us hanging! Every single person in that arena was frothing at the mouth for more Killers goodness, and after what felt like an absolute eternity waiting for them, they finally hit the stage again, firing up with ‘Your Side Of Town’. ‘Boy’ saw the confetti guns going off once again, before we were asked the big question in life, “are we ‘Human’, or are we dancer?” Well, I can tell you now that given the way everyone’s bodies seemed to moving for the whole night – consciously or not – it’s fair to say we were all the latter.

 I’d had a bet with my friend earlier in the night on whether Richmond player Jack Riewoldt would make an appearance on stage during a certain song (IYKYK), but sadly it was a bet I lost. The song in question, (which if you haven’t screamed it on a dance floor at the pub in your youth in between drinks and random pashes, then have you even lived?) was of course their global hit ‘Mr. Brightside’. This is what everyone was waiting for and once again had the whole arena bouncing and passionately screaming along to every word. After one hell of shit-hot set, The Killers bid us a sad good night, but not before drummer Ronnie Vannucci hung back by himself to throw his remaining drum sticks into the crowd and hilariously scull the remains of his bottle of wine which was met with an encouraging reception.

I’ve always loved Killers’ The music and went in expecting a great show, but my expectations were blown right out of the water at what an absolutely incredible live band they are. The charisma that Brandon Flowers exudes is hypnotising, as a collective they are one musically tight band, and the entire stage show manages to bring the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas but without the tacky. The force of this band is undeniable, and they have well and truly served their time in the industry to prove they are a continuous hit making machine that will continue to do just that for at least the next 20+ years. It’s been a while since I’ve come home that wired after a gig, and it’s such a euphoric feeling that you never want to leave you. If I was a fan before, then the band better get a restraining order out against me now, because I am OBSESSED. This is one band I never want to miss live again, and this was honestly up there with one of the best gigs I’ve ever been too. Open up your eager eyes and put them on your ‘must see live bucket list’, because you will regret it for the rest of your days if you don’t see them live at least once on your lifetime.