Review: The Killers

The Las Vegas rockers have inspired many cherished moments over the past decade – at one time or another, many of us have lovingly embraced a friend whilst listening to their timeless classic, Mr Brightside – so it seemed fitting for The Killers, usually found filling stadiums, to delight their fans with a rare intimate gig on Cookridge Street. It was one sure to send shivers down the spine of Brandon Flowers’s legion of devotees.

As they opened the show with new single, Runaways, from their latest album, Battle Born, the stage was illuminated with an LED lightning bolt (from the album cover), and as the band waltzed on donning black leather jackets, in came their enigmatic frontman sporting a new, sleeker haircut.

Other tracks from the new album followed, including Miss Atomic Bomb, which follows the basic principles of that ‘Killers sound’: big electronic build-ups, pumping 4x4 kick drums, and a riff strikingly similar to Mr Brightside. When older hits from the Hot Fuss album era reared their heads, euphoria overwhelmed the 02 Academy. Smile Like You Mean It and Somebody Told Me revved up the first round of lager splashing and fist pumping.

The definite magic moment was when ‘that’ guitar riff started to play and Mr Brightside arrived. You could almost feel the static in the air as an exceptionally sweaty audience jumped around, flinging their arms wrapped around each other in ecstasy. Another moment for fans to cherish.

All These Things I’ve Done closed the show raucously, as the words “I got soul but I’m not a soldier” bellowed throughout the auditorium.

Having Brandon and the boys so close-up was certainly exhilarating, but a bit more crowd interaction would have rounded off the night perfectly. Still, every note was perfectly delivered, and with so many epic anthems to power through, who can blame them for making it all about the music?