Live Review: The Killers at Bill Graham Civic, 04/07/07
Las Vegas synth-rock heroes go in for the, ahem, kill: Aidin Vaziri | It's incredible to think that just last year The Killers launched their latest album, Sam's Town, with an intimate Popscene show at 330 Ritch in front of a few hundred kids in the know.
On Saturday, the stubbly Las Vegas outfit graduated into a proper arena band with an extremely sold out show at the Bill Graham Civic that left no grand rock 'n' roll cliche unturned: Confetti cannons? Check. Massive audience singalongs? Check. A big gong, silver-shirted guitarist and wind machines? Check, check and check.
Even it felt a bit like seeing Bon Jovi in 1987, it was still an awesome show. The quartet played every song from Sam's Town and most of the good bits from its synth-heavy 2004 debut, Hot Fuss, plus some b-sides and covers. The highlights were obvious - gargantuan teen drama anthems like "Somebody Told Me," "Mr. Brightside" and "Bones. "
A couple of the more ponderous songs from the new disc, like "This River Is Wild" and the truly dreadful "Uncle Jonny" (sample lyric: "When everybody else refrained/ My uncle Johnny did cocaine"), temporarily cleared the floor in the middle of the set but, like a block of brie, the tunes from Sam's Town have only gotten better with age. In fact, "Read My Mind" is one of the best things they've done.
But even as The Killers become the domain of backwards cap-wearing, beer-swilling dudes that high-five each other after every drum roll, singer Brandon Flowers still looks completely out of his league as the band's frontman.
With stiff shoulders and darting eyes, he had no problem delivering the words with the arch theatricality that they require but seemed at a complete loss whenever the music stopped. Unlike his heroes Bono and Morrissey, there were no flashes of wit, no filthy jokes, not even a smile to suggest he wouldn't rather be at home with his wife watching "You've Got Mail."
Then again, he was probably the only person in the room that didn't have a good time.
posted by Aidin at Sunday, April 08, 2007
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