And there you have The Killers. Months before the fall release of their sophomore album, Sam’s Town, lead singer Brandon Flowers told the press that it promised to be “one of the best albums in the past twenty years.” The sound of rock critics around the world collectively scoffing was palpable. How dare this four-year-old-band with only one other album under their belt make such a bold statement? They took a chance, and they were right. There is something truly refreshing about a band that believes in their music so much that they swear by it—sure, it inspires confidence (not to mention curiosity) in the listener but more than that, it speaks volumes about just how much work they have put into the songs. This comes through clearly on Sam’s Town (an album that was meant to be played from beginning to end) but even more so when The Killers play their music live, as they did September 11th at the Louisville Palace.


With a stage peppered with sunflowers, strings of white lights and their Sam’s Town logo emblazoned behind them, The Killers started off their two-hour set with their familiar “Enterlude” and quickly leapt into a roaring rendition of “Sam’s Town.” The band balanced their set list perfectly, playing every song off of their second album as well as the hits off of their best-selling first, Hot Fuss, including “Jenny Was A Friend of Mine,” whose bass line never fails to give me chills, “Mr. Brightside,” “Smile Like You Mean it,” “Somebody Told Me,” “Andy, You’re A Star” and the crowd-pleaser “All These Things That I’ve Done.”


Flowers is a natural onstage, with a tender sincerity that comes through in every inflection and gesture. When he sings “But my heart, it don’t beat, it don’t beat the way it used to” in “For Reasons Unknown,” Flowers places his hand across his heart with such conviction that it infuses the song with dramatic, almost theatrical emotion. You believe every word and note that comes out of his mouth simply because he believes it, because he is unafraid of being sentimental and wearing his heart on his sleeve, and the result both endears and inspires. The band never lagged too far behind Flowers: guitarist David Keuning (who looks like Robert Plant circa the early Zeppelin days) ripped through the opening chords of “When You Were Young”; stoic bassist Mark Stoermer brought explosive new life to “Uncle Johnny”; and charismatic drummer Ronnie Vannucci joyfully provided the pounding central backbone for classics such as “Bling (Confessions Of A King),” “Bones,” “This River Is Wild” and my favorite sing-along off of Sam’s Town, “Why Do I Keep Counting?”

Several times during the show, watching The Killers onstage, I felt like I was somewhere else—at times in a club in Manchester circa the 80s with New Order and Joy Division, bopping up and down to the pulsing rhythm; other times like I was at a Springsteen show, with tightly clenched fists pumping through the air. The Killers are that dynamic musically, and just that good. By the end of the show I was inspired. After their second encore of “When You Were Young,” I had almost convinced myself to drop everything, charge up the credit card and follow them for the remainder of the tour, Almost Famous band-aid style. My conscience set in soon enough but not without a pang of regret—with only five years under their belt, The Killers are only bound to get better and better…and if this one show in Louisville is any indication of what lies ahead, this is certainly a band worth believing in.

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