Earlier this month, a publicist invited me to see The Killers play a theater in St. Paul, Minnesota, close to the place I stay. I instantly had questions. The first was: Why had been The Killers — one of many few remaining American rock bands that performs arenas and headlines festivals — doing at a 2,500-capacity venue? Apparently, they had been being paid by a financial institution to play an unique live performance for bank card holders. Not very rock ‘n’ roll, clearly, but in addition not my drawback. Someway, I had by no means seen The Killers play stay earlier than, regardless of listening to them, on and off, for greater than twenty years. This appeared like a singular alternative.
However I had different lingering questions. Who’s even in The Killers at this level? You’ve Brandon Flowers, the flamboyant and besuited frontman, and Ronnie Vannucci Jr., the powerhouse and charismatic drummer. After which you may have the opposite two guys, who transfer freely out and in of the band. (As I ultimately found, this live performance did embody founding guitarist Dave Keuning, however not the bass participant Mark Stoermer.) This prompted one other pertinent query: Is that this band nonetheless value seeing? After they put out Sizzling Fuss in 2004, they had been referred to as a sorta lame stay act. However over time, as they stopped having “Mr. Brightside”-sized hits, they advanced (I was instructed) right into a galvanizing pressure on stage. A U2 for the on line casino flooring, an E Avenue Band for appreciators of sparkly jackets.
Lastly, probably the most vital query of all: What’s the state of The Killers? Regardless of every part, I was curious. I’ve all the time favored writing about them. They’ve a top quality that a lot of my favourite artists share: Their failures and missteps are sometimes extra entertaining than their triumphs. It’s nice fodder for a music critic. I may not all the time like their information, however I actually take pleasure in riffing on them. There’s a roller-coaster side to their catalog. Sizzling Fuss is without doubt one of the finest debut albums of the twenty first century, however I have a particular place in my coronary heart for the critically reviled (although considerably rehabilitated) follow-up, Sam’s City. The information after which might be extra checkered, however there’s normally not less than two or three completely bombastic rock anthems, like “A Dustland Fairtyale” or “Runaways.” In the 2020s, they made a frankly unimaginable comeback with 2020’s rousing Imploding The Mirage after which one way or the other topped it with Stress Machine, a tune cycle that gave the impression of Flowers’ try and make his personal model of L.A. Garage Sessions ’83.
However that was 4 years in the past now. And The Killers are once more wandering in an unsure wilderness. Flowers has introduced two solo information and insists his band received’t put out one other file “unless it is the best.” In 2024, they did a run of Sizzling Fuss anniversary exhibits of their hometown of Las Vegas. And now, right here they had been, taking part in a present for Center American financial institution prospects. Oh, and me, too. I instructed the publicist I was in.
Let me simply say up entrance: The present was final evening and I liked it. In the event you ever get the possibility to see The Killers play a particular present for bank card holders in a theater, I heartily advocate it. Getting in, I was a little bit apprehensive that they may do some form of “intimate” unplugged present, given the setting. Which is exactly what I didn’t need from this band. Your appreciation of The Killers hinges fully on whether or not you want musical melodrama of the very best order. For a lot of of my music-crit friends, Brandon Flowers singing about using on the again of a hurricane in “When You Had been Younger” is just too a lot. However not for me. The Killers nonetheless have their lane as a result of exterior of some choose icons (the aforementioned U2 and Bruce), few are keen and in a position to go to that place anymore.
Fortunately, The Killers went there once more at this present. They performed like they had been at Madison Sq. Backyard. (That included turning the amount as much as ranges that could possibly be felt within the Twin Cities suburbs.) Their rock-star posturing was under no circumstances tempered. They struck energy stances, stood on amplifiers throughout guitar solos, and tossed drumsticks into the viewers. They shot confetti into the air not as soon as, however twice. And that suited the songs, so a lot of them recognizable hits, which sounded as immense and simple as ever.
Springsteen recently called Flowers “some of the lovely, pure voices in all of rock ‘n’ roll.” Earlier than this live performance, I thought that was hyperbole. I nonetheless assume it’s hyperbole, although I discover that the bole is considerably much less hyper now. Flowers is, on the very least, a part of a tiny fraternity of really elite lively lead singers. If Bruce is the Boss, then Flowers is the Host. That’s what he known as himself a number of songs into the set. “In spite of everything, we’re The Killers,” he declared, “and we’re within the service business.” The performative humility was pure Vegas lounge singer, as was Flowers’ powder-blue go well with. However his vocals are the other of lounge-y hackery. They’re a testomony to scrub Mormon residing — they aren’t simply preserved in Sizzling Fuss amber, they’ve really gotten higher over time. So, rating one for Bruce the music critic on that.
As for Vannucci, it’s uncommon for the drummer to be the second most magnetic presence on stage. (By my rely, that is true for The Killers, The Eagles, The Who, Nirvana, and Black Midi.) And Keuning had his moments as effectively, significantly on the solo originated by Lindsey Buckingham for “Warning.” However the star of The Killers stays the tunes. They’ve what I prefer to name “the Tom Petty set,” which is a group of songs (between 14 and 18) you can line up in live performance and completely annihilate an viewers. It doesn’t matter the place you’re taking part in, or how your final album carried out, or whether or not the viewers solely has informal familiarity with the work. When you’ve got “the Tom Petty set,” you may have songs that everyone is aware of. They usually simply work in areas the place a lot of persons are gathered. The Killers have that: “Any person Informed Me,” “Smile Like You Imply It,” “All These Issues That I’ve Performed,” “When You Had been Younger,” “Spaceman,” “Human,” and so forth. They’re known as The Killers for a purpose.
After which there’s “Mr. Brightside,” probably the most deadly certainly one of all. When I interviewed Flowers in 2021, I requested if he will get sick of taking part in this tune. It’s a inventory rock-critic query, and Flowers naturally mentioned no. “I’m in a position to hear it via the hearts of the individuals within the venue,” he mentioned. “A few of them, that is their first time seeing this tune stay, and so I nonetheless am in a position to harness some pleasure for it.”
A part of me assumed that he was simply saying that, as a result of saying “Sure, I am sick of ‘Mr. Brightside’” can be dangerous for enterprise. However then The Killers ended this live performance with “Mr. Brightside,” and it instantly appeared unattainable that anybody might ever get sick of taking part in a tune that will get this form of response. It wasn’t simply that folks sang alongside. They sang alongside like they had been six beers deep at karaoke evening. Or sitting alone within the automotive after a horrible day. It was an orgasm of adulation for some of the fashionable rock anthems of the twenty first century. And in that second, all my questions had been answered. I realized that The Killers are, certainly, unkillable.
