Earlier this month, a publicist invited me to see The Killers play a theater in St. Paul, Minnesota, close to the place I reside. I instantly had questions. The first was: Why have been The Killers — one of many few remaining American rock bands that performs arenas and headlines festivals — doing at a 2,500-capacity venue? Apparently, they have been being paid by a financial institution to play an unique live performance for bank card holders. Not very rock ‘n’ roll, clearly, but in addition not my downside. One way or the other, I had by no means seen The Killers play reside earlier than, regardless of listening to them, on and off, for greater than 20 years. This appeared like a singular alternative.
However I had different lingering questions. Who’s even in The Killers at this level? You will have Brandon Flowers, the flamboyant and besuited frontman, and Ronnie Vannucci Jr., the powerhouse and charismatic drummer. After which you might have the opposite two guys, who transfer freely out and in of the band. (As I finally found, this live performance did embrace founding guitarist Dave Keuning, however not the bass participant Mark Stoermer.) This prompted one other pertinent query: Is that this band nonetheless price seeing? After they put out Sizzling Fuss in 2004, they have been generally known as a sorta lame reside act. However over time, as they stopped having “Mr. Brightside”-sized hits, they advanced (I was informed) right into a galvanizing drive on stage. A U2 for the on line casino flooring, an E Road Band for appreciators of sparkly jackets.
Lastly, essentially the most crucial query of all: What’s the state of The Killers? Regardless of every little thing, I was curious. I’ve at all times favored writing about them. They’ve a top quality that a lot of my favourite artists share: Their failures and missteps are sometimes extra entertaining than their triumphs. It’s nice fodder for a music critic. I may not at all times like their data, however I actually take pleasure in riffing on them. There’s a roller-coaster side to their catalog. Sizzling Fuss is likely one of the finest debut albums of the twenty first century, however I have a particular place in my coronary heart for the critically reviled (although considerably rehabilitated) follow-up, Sam’s City. The data after which might be extra checkered, however there’s normally at the very least two or three completely bombastic rock anthems, like “A Dustland Fairtyale” or “Runaways.” In the 2020s, they made a frankly unimaginable comeback with 2020’s rousing Imploding The Mirage after which someway topped it with Strain Machine, a track cycle that appeared like Flowers’ try to make his personal model of L.A. Garage Sessions ’83.
However that was 4 years in the past now. And The Killers are once more wandering in an unsure wilderness. Flowers has introduced two solo data and insists his band gained’t put out one other document “unless it is the best.” In 2024, they did a run of Sizzling Fuss anniversary reveals of their hometown of Las Vegas. And now, right here they have been, enjoying a present for Center American financial institution clients. Oh, and me, too. I informed the publicist I was in.
Let me simply say up entrance: The present was final evening and I liked it. For those who ever get the prospect to see The Killers play a particular present for bank card holders in a theater, I heartily suggest it. Entering into, I was a bit of fearful that they may do some sort of “intimate” unplugged present, given the setting. Which is exactly what I didn’t need from this band. Your appreciation of The Killers hinges fully on whether or not you want musical melodrama of the very best order. For a lot of of my music-crit friends, Brandon Flowers singing about using on the again of a hurricane in “When You Have been Younger” is just too a lot. However not for me. The Killers nonetheless have their lane as a result of outdoors of some choose icons (the aforementioned U2 and Bruce), few are prepared and capable of go to that place anymore.
Fortunately, The Killers went there once more at this present. They performed like they have been at Madison Sq. Backyard. (That included turning the quantity as much as ranges that might be felt within the Twin Cities suburbs.) Their rock-star posturing was in no way tempered. They struck energy stances, stood on amplifiers throughout guitar solos, and tossed drumsticks into the viewers. They shot confetti into the air not as soon as, however twice. And that suited the songs, so a lot of them recognizable hits, which sounded as immense and plain as ever.
Springsteen recently called Flowers “one of the crucial lovely, pure voices in all of rock ‘n’ roll.” Earlier than this live performance, I thought that was hyperbole. I nonetheless assume it’s hyperbole, although I discover that the bole is considerably much less hyper now. Flowers is, on the very least, a part of a tiny fraternity of actually elite lively lead singers. If Bruce is the Boss, then Flowers is the Host. That’s what he known as himself a couple of songs into the set. “In any case, we’re The Killers,” he declared, “and we’re within the service business.” The performative humility was pure Vegas lounge singer, as was Flowers’ powder-blue go well with. However his vocals are the alternative of lounge-y hackery. They’re a testomony to scrub Mormon dwelling — they aren’t simply preserved in Sizzling Fuss amber, they’ve truly gotten higher over time. So, rating one for Bruce the music critic on that.
As for Vannucci, it’s uncommon for the drummer to be the second most magnetic presence on stage. (By my depend, that is true for The Killers, The Eagles, The Who, Nirvana, and Black Midi.) And Keuning had his moments as nicely, significantly on the solo originated by Lindsey Buckingham for “Warning.” However the star of The Killers stays the tunes. They’ve what I wish to name “the Tom Petty set,” which is a group of songs (between 14 and 18) you could line up in live performance and completely annihilate an viewers. It doesn’t matter the place you’re enjoying, or how your final album carried out, or whether or not the viewers solely has informal familiarity with the work. When you have “the Tom Petty set,” you might have songs that everyone is aware of. They usually simply work in areas the place a lot of persons are gathered. The Killers have that: “Someone Advised Me,” “Smile Like You Imply It,” “All These Issues That I’ve Performed,” “When You Have been Younger,” “Spaceman,” “Human,” and so forth. They’re known as The Killers for a cause.
After which there’s “Mr. Brightside,” essentially the most deadly certainly one of all. When I interviewed Flowers in 2021, I requested if he will get sick of enjoying this track. It’s a inventory rock-critic query, and Flowers naturally stated no. “I’m capable of hear it by way of the hearts of the individuals within the venue,” he stated. “A few of them, that is their first time seeing this track reside, and so I nonetheless am capable of harness some pleasure for it.”
A part of me assumed that he was simply saying that, as a result of saying “Sure, I am sick of ‘Mr. Brightside’” could be unhealthy for enterprise. However then The Killers ended this live performance with “Mr. Brightside,” and it all of a sudden appeared inconceivable that anybody might ever get sick of enjoying a track that will get this sort of response. It wasn’t simply that individuals sang alongside. They sang alongside like they have been six beers deep at karaoke evening. Or sitting alone within the automotive after a horrible day. It was an orgasm of adulation for one of the crucial standard rock anthems of the twenty first century. And in that second, all my questions have been answered. I realized that The Killers are, certainly, unkillable.
