Anyone raised around all those neon signs and fancy suits has to soak up some flashy showmanship somewhere along the way. Just look at the guys from the Killers.

On Tuesday night, the New Wave revivalists brought plenty of glam to UCSD's RIMAC Arena for a sold-out concert. The simpler but very endearing Canadian sisters, Tegan & Sara, opened the show.

The well-suited guys, however, clearly know that any good show needs more than just a pretty voice and cool keyboard effects.

It takes things like lots of white lights to make a concert in a cavernous school gym feel more like a VIP event. Plus, it's totally awesome when a gigantic sign flashes your band's name in the background.

Effects like these will make an audience go crazy. So crazy that fans will crowd surf before the concert actually begins.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to dominate the radio waves with dance hit after dance hit. Or to sing those songs on TV. Or to pose for glossy magazines.

Because, as any seasoned Vegas performer would advise, style is equally important as talent.

Pick a look, say Duran Duran meets the Strokes, and stick with it. Even if guys like guitarist Dave Keuning and bassist Mark Stoermer don't want to wear ties like singer Brandon Flowers and drummer Ronnie Vannucci like to, at least make them wear a stylish blazer.

Still, all the designer labels in the world aren't going to make up for having a bland band. So frontman and keyboardist Flowers knows he needs to work overtime to keep an MTV-raised crowd's attention.

Looking part lounge lizard and part rock god, Flowers had total control of the microphone from the minute he opened the show with the moody "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" to the closing song an hour later, "All These Things That I Have Done."

In his pink jacket, he paced around the stage delivering peppy songs like a musical preacher. At times he extended his hands in the air. And during "Somebody Told Me," he even got on his knees as he sang the band's first breakout hit.

But Flowers, whose voice was more commanding than it was melodic, didn't completely steal the spotlight. The rest of the group was able to translate the heavily produced songs from "Hot Fuss" into a grittier, more rock 'n' roll sound.

So much guitar fuzz and bright lights mixed with pretty people created an explosive atmosphere at UCSD. Fans formed dancing mosh pits. People wouldn't stop crowd surfing, even during the new songs, which sounded very Police inspired.

With so much happening on and off stage, it wasn't such a problem when the middle of the Killers 14-song set got repetitive. Even when the music started to blend together, at least the rest of the package was there: lights, nice clothes and songs that make you dance. The perfect Vegas formula.