When The Killers blasted into the music charts some 10 plus years ago I was initially intrigued based purely on their name. At the time, I could not help but think to myself what a great name for a band, but I was somewhat surprised on my first listen to their debut album, Hot Fuss as, I had conjured up an expectation of something much heavier. However, after a few listens I was hooked and completely taken with the track ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’, particularly the hypnotic lyrics “I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier”, Hot Fuss became a bit of staple in my CD player at the time and whilst I thought the band would struggle to top their debut, I was again pleasantly surprised when The Killers released their follow-up (and, for me, best album to date), Sam’s Town.
Lead single ‘When You Were Young’ set the tone for a somewhat darker sounding, rockier album that I loved even more than the first, and like many at the time I genuinely believed The Killers were about to establish themselves as being one of the biggest bands on the planet. Unfortunately for my liking, The Killers took a somewhat downward spiral after catching them live on the Sam’s Town Tour, where I was left wondering if the band could actually deliver the songs live or whether my whole perspective of the performance had been devalued by the unique and terrible hall set up in the SECC that night. For me, Day and Age and most recently Battle Born have fallen somewhat short of the dizzy heights of the first two albums, but have continued to do just enough to keep me interested. When I heard The Killers would be playing a greatest hits tour decided it was the perfect time to catch them live again and pass judgment.
Having caught the fantastic Miles Kane live at Kendal Calling a few weeks before, I was bitterly disappointed not to make it to Bellahouston Park until after his set had finished. Despite this set-back, fellow support artist The Courteeners proved a winner with many in the crowd as they belted into their guitar driven rock tracks. As someone who has listened to their material on occasion, I was impressed with their catchy songs and as The Courteeners belted out ‘Cavorting’, ‘Take Over The World’, ‘Lose Control’ and ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ there were many of the younger crowd going mental with enjoyment. Hearing The Courteeners live it is evident the band have been influenced by many of the great Manchester bands, and the set closer included a small tribute to James in the form of ‘Tomorrow’.
So onto the headliner and as the crowd waited on The Killers to take the stage. The threat of rain thankfully passed and when frontman Brandon Flowers pranced onto the stage wearing a pink glitter rhinestone jacket the crowd were instantly taken into oblivion. ‘Somebody Told Me’ and ‘Spaceman’ got the proceedings underway as the band took their fans through their 10 year career of killer tracks over the course of the next two hours. ‘Smile Like You Mean It’ reminded me of the early Killers days, whilst ‘For Reasons Unknown’ and ‘Read My Mind’ from Sam’s Town also featured.
Despite the questionable lyrics, the popular ‘Human’ and ‘A Dustland Fairytale’ featured from Day and Age whilst ‘Miss Atomic Bomb’ and the fantastic ‘Runaways’ from Battle Born were notable highlights reminding cynics of The Killers that the band can still deliver some top tunes. Within the set there were a couple of covers, with ‘Bad Moon Rising’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival sounding decent and ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ by Scottish band Simple Minds also featuring. Personally, I felt the covers were a bit lost on the crowd, although I was relatively close to the action and surrounded by a posse of beer throwing idiots at times, and perhaps those more mature listeners further back recognised and enjoyed these two versions.
The set was closed out with ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’ with the crowd continuing to chant repeatedly, “I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier”, after the band had left the stage. The crowd demanded more and The Killers did not disappoint, returning to the stage for an encore consisting of ‘Shot At The Night’ before Brandon temporarily brought things to a halt as security struggled to break-up a fight in the crowd. Fittingly, Brandon and band brought the night to a close with “two of their best songs” with ‘When You Were Young’ and finally ‘Mr. Brightside’ assisted by many a bright light in a pulsating laser light-show finale.
As I left the park and chatted to my mate, I reflected to myself on my previous Killers live experience and determined The Killers can indeed deliver live, but would question if they are capable of reaching the skyscraper heights of those first two albums.
Bazza Mills
@bazzamills
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