Tampa,FL August 21,2005
Published August 22, 2005
St. Petersburg Times

4-star

TAMPA - Think Duran Duran with esteem issues - or maybe the Cure with cuter cheekbones - and you'll get a good mental picture of the Killers, the pretty and pretty popular Las Vegas-born quartet who glammed up a packed USF Sun Dome on Sunday.

Arguably the hottest band on the planet, the Killers are responsible for kickstarting a highly profitable New Wave revival - let's call it Neo Wave - which blends the dandified elements of '80s-born synth pop (performed by fancy boys in fancy eyeliner, natch) with modern-day teen angst. Hot Fuss , the Killers' 2004 multiplatinu m debu t disc, is a hit-packed lesson in Neo Wave, with a whole lot of style trumping just a smidge of substance.

A big reason for the band's megaselling success is dreamboat frontman Brandon Flowers, an MTV pin-up who sings, plays sequin-covered keyboards and channels his inner-Wayne Newton in small silly doses.

Of course, you couldn't hear much of Flowers during opening tune Jenny Was a Friend of Mine . Like I said, he's a pretty pretty man (in a blinding white suit, no less), and the pretty pretty college crowd, 6,512 hotties strong, shrieked their approval of his hubba-hubbaness until it was time to take another sip of beer.

(Oh, and all you hopeful ladies take note: Flowers is married. Sorry.)

The Killers aren't the most overtly enthusiastic band. Aloofness is as big a part of New Wave as smoldering looks and sexual ambiguity. And Flowers, who likes to sing in a vaguely accented baritone, still has moments when he looks like he's not sure what pose to strike. But there's no denying the catchiness of the band's small but strong songbook.

Backed by a Sin City-style sign flashing their name in bright lights, the group kept the stage patter to a minimum and instead spent their hourlong gig efficiently working through almost the entirety of Hot Fuss : the synth-geeky On Top , the ironically chilly Smile Like You Mean It , the full fan sing-along Somebody Told Me ("Somebody told me that you had a boyfriend that looked like a girlfriend that I had in February of last year"). And don't you know that each song came equipped with a wickedly infectious chorus.

The Killers rock harder in a live setting than they do on their deliberately slick album, but the extra oomph (courtesy of drummer Ronnie Vannucci) didn't mean these guys were any less tight or effective onstage. Such epic anthems as Mr. Brightside and the closing All These Things That I've Done - each swollen with glorious crescendoes and crashing choruses - proved that these guys know their U2 and Coldplay as well as their Modern English.

Oh, and speaking of Mr. Brightside : A member of frisky opening act Louis XIV scampered onstage during the Killers' hit song wearing nothing but, ahem, whipped cream over his naughty bits. The Killers should have seen the flash-and-run coming, of course. Louis XIV is made up of four randy guys from San Diego who pretend that they are four randy guys from London's 1970s glam-rock scene. Their swaggering below-the-belt schtick is an R-rated affair - heck, it's a wonder they didn't perform their set in Redi-Whip undies - but let it be known that their whiz-bang musicianship shines through the innuendo. Watch out for these guys - literally.

By SEAN DALY