The Killers returned home to Las Vegas on Friday to play an outdoor concert at the Hard Rock Hotel's parking lot. The crowd not only included fans and casino hi-rollers but also a bunch of celebrities including Paris Hilton and Simpson protégé Ryan Crabera. I watched the show together with the fun and fabulous Perez Hilton who had the most amazing weekend ever in Vegas. (Nice to finally meet you!)
"Some call Las Vegas the city of sin, but we like to call it home," Brandon Flowers said after kicking off the show with "Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine" (which had a nice solo part for bassist Mark). Strong renditions of other songs followed, including "Smile Like You Mean It," "Andy, You’re A Star," "On Top" and "Mr. Brightside," which included the much talked about boylove between Brandon and Dave. [watch a video clip]
The concert showed that the tremendous success of their debut "Hot Fuss," is also becoming the group's biggest pitfall. While the band did a terrific job playing the album's songs, almost two years of touring and playing the same songs over and over again has made their live show rather formulaic and stale. The rare performances of "Believe Me Natalie" and "Everything Will Be Alright," plus the homage to their rock idol David Bowie with the cover of "Moonage Daydream" were welcome surprises to the set list.
One act of spontaneity was a palmtree that caught fire just outside of the stadium scaffolding. Part of the audience was temporarily removed while the fire was contained. Brandon inquired if everybody was okay and the foursome continued playing their set.
After seeing the band perform in April and June, I notice that the group's stage show is steadily maturing. Particularly, Brandon is turning into a more confident show man. He often held on to his keyboard to deal with his stage fright, but now he appears a lot more relaxed and even skips some of his synth work to walk around the stage with the mic stand. I can't wait for Brandon to rock out a little. Lose the couture and show us some moves!
There are a few more concert dates left for the band before they will get a much-needed break to deflate and work on their second record.
(Photos and video via the amazing fans over at the Killers Network. A special thanks to my peeps Lauren and Anhil at Island for getting me those great tix!)
