Review: Killers deliver raw intensity

Reno Gazette Journal

In what was perhaps an apology to fans for an aborted show back in May, Las Vegas rockers The Killers put on a show Friday at MontBleu that blew the doors off the showroom.

Fans had to wait a lengthy 40 minutes between opening act Louis XIV and The Killers, but when the band came on, it seemed like a display of home state pride: capacity crowd cheering wildly; check. Desert Nevada scenes; check. Dramatic confetti bursts for opener “Sam’s Town”; check. Intensity from the band that didn’t let up for the entire 90-minute show; check.

On a stage littered with flowers, tiny white Christmas lights and a Sam’s Town casino sign, The Killers plowed through 11 of 12 songs on its 2006 album, “Sam’s Town,” and another six from their multi-platinum debut “Hot Fuss.” Singer Brandon Flowers ruled the stage, moving from end to end, at times singing, playing keyboards, piano and bass during the four-song encore. Drummer Ronnie Vannucci, who made a cameo earlier in the night on guitar for Louis XIV’s “Finding Out True Love is Blind,” played with unrelenting ferocity and kept the audience going almost as much as front man Flowers.

It seemed a surprising display of dedication from the band, given that it’s been on the road touring for a large chunk of its short career, including much of this year. I went in expecting less, but the band delivered raw, serious intensity.

But it wasn’t just the effort the band put in that made for a great show. Both of the band’s albums simply are filled with great songs, from the faux British new wave of “Hot Fuss” to the more gritty Queen-esque sound of “Sam’s Town.” Flowers, originally dressed in a sparkly vest, with his skinny mustache, dark hair, slight build, and familiar posturing almost seemed to channel Queen’s Freddie Mercury at times.

After playing 13 songs and closing the main set with the band’s early hit, “Mr. Brightside,” The Killers returned for a five-song encore that began with “My List” and featured two of the members of Louis XIV on vocals, and ran through a cover of Joy Division’s “Shadow Play,” “For Reasons Unknown,” “All These Things That I’ve Done” and “Exitlude.” Flowers also took a moment to declare his Nevada pride, introducing the big horn sheep prop the band carries around on tour.

Still, fans weren’t ready to leave and clamored for a second encore, for which The Killers seemed unprepared. They returned, and Flowers said “there’s a right way and a wrong way to end this,” and the band struck up the climax of “When You Were Young,” which had already been played earlier in its entirety. It may actually have been the wrong way to end the show, but the crowd left seemingly with the feeling that the band delivered everything it could, and then some.

http://www.thekillersfansite.com