The Killers-Fansite

The Killers - Academy, Glasgow
Scotsman.com by David Pollock Reports claiming to have identified The Killers as "the new U2" a while back may be have been amusingly misjudged, but there's no denying that the Las Vegas quartet are a hugely exciting and crowd-pleasing band. While their recent second album Sam's Town may not be as packed with readily identifiable hits as the debut Hot Fuss, it does consolidate their position as a band who are aware of just what makes a mainstream, genre-straddling guitar sound work. Sporting a newly grown and somewhat Musketeerish goatee beard, singer and keyboardist Brandon Flowers led his band through an exciting and, at times, rapturous set. It might be pedantic to point out all of the real highlights were culled from their first album, but the newer material didn't harm the quality of the set. For Reasons Unknown, for example, was a lively rocker marred, while My List exuded a more comfortable, country-rocking air. For all their pleasantness, however, it's the Hot Fuss fallbacks which truly set this gig alight, from the almost glam stamp of Indie Rock'n'Roll to the energising Mr Brightside (accompanied by a mosh from the crowd) and All These Things That I've Done - one of the decade's great anthems. Hopefully they'll produce a few more like that in future.