Dear reader, I lost myself at The Killers show in the Bell Centre. I usually take copious notes for reviews. I couldn’t do that on Saturday night. So my review is not, or maybe more accurately, could never describe what The Killers do fully. Make no mistake, they are a level up. At one point, I was able to write down, ‘All this dancing I’ve done has not helped me review.’
Johnny Marr
Johnny cracks open Bell Centre like a muscular Brooklyn act circa 2004 or so. His tone is superb, shimmery and wet, growly and threatening to bite. Like a Shakespearean actor, he stalks and circles his tight mark on the stage. Occasionally raising his guitar fretting hand high and strumming hand soothing us. Drama, spectacle, and swagger in a compact package. The mix is well balanced, and the backing vocals cut like chemtrails (take a listen to Armaotopua and google image chemtrails, it makes sense).
During Panic, four guys with grey scruff beards are losing their minds in general admission. I think the rest of G.A. is in a coma which stinks. Hopefully, they warm up.
The floor begins to fill up, and the heat and smoke are rising just in time for new track Spirit Power and Soul. The house vibes are strong in this song, and a little ‘Blue Monday’ esque drum drop excites the people. And a new gear is engaged.
Getting away with it, “this is a disco song from Manchester” an insistent loose groove sets up a cracking riff that can only originate in the heavens. Hands are clapping on the 2 and 4, and we are officially away.
Johnny asks for requests, he says no to Stairway and launches into There is a Light… Johnny’s support guys seem to love playing the songs. Who wouldn’t?
He thanks us for being friendly and not flinging excrement (I’m paraphrasing, he used more colourful language). How could we not be? Even those of us who didn’t know he was the musical architect of the Smiths were won over. Of course, there would be a moment when it would dawn on many in the crowd; that moment came with How Soon Is Now. It was amazing, a big rock ending of big rock endings.
The Killers
The band, fronted by Brandon Flowers open with the invitational My Own Soul’s Warning. Even on a song that’s not explicitly written for an arena or a stadium- here’s your Elvis, here’s your Bono, here’s your Sinatra, folks. He bounces with jittery energy, he punches invisible boxers and locks eyes with the audience. Directing us like a restless cowboy herding the horses.
It’s so nice to see original guitarist Dave Keuning in the lineup, his performance is inspired and the crowd roars appreciatively when he comes on screen. Only three songs in, and his solo on When You Were Young lights us up. How can they maintain such a pace?
Again during Read My Mind the guitar solo is outstanding. Dave’s Gibson Explorer is a beautiful piece of gear, and when the screen focuses on his hands, you can see which notes are getting the dotted 8th note delay. As a giant U2 fan, I love seeing these pieces show up in real life.
“Saturday night with The Killers ain’t so bad,” Brandon proclaims. Smile Like You Mean It and Shot at the Night prove it true. My original notes for this period are ‘BORDERLINE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE’, a repeatable theme in my review notes. ‘How am I supposed to write anything when I’m screaming my voice raw and sweating my pants a size tighter?’ and ‘lifted us up off the floor’ I even shed my self-seriousness to put my phone lighter up and do the fireflies in the crowd thing.
The Killers also remind us they are weird too. I think part of the fun of this band is that, yeah, sometimes the lyrics are a little off. But are they off on purpose? These guys are big fans of New Order, after all…
I loved the playful “Nous Somme Humaine?” on the incredibly well-produced background display during Human. Wink wink and finger guns boys, great job!
We are in the palm of Brandon’s hand! Just a synth chord holds down the packed Bell Center for what felt like a glorious minute, and Brandon literally extends his hand and releases us like a spring with the immortal opening line: “when there’s nowhere else to run.”
Moments of stagecraft like this are aplenty. Four different times fireworks, or sparks, or confetti blasted out at us and we reacted like sugar-high children. The incredible 8k, 16k, 32k visuals I don’t even know what the technology standards are, but this show had the absolute best video wall I’ve seen since my last U2 show. Michaelangelos ‘David’ frenetically lit up from
all angles. Terran/Alien landscapes. Dancing human/robot hybrids. I feel like Stefon could have described this club to Seth on weekend update.
For the encore… wow, well they brought back Johnny Marr and did a Smiths song which was awesome. Come on.
My favourite aspect of the encore was the clever misdirect on Mr. Brightside. For some wonderful reason, someone had the idea to perform it with the remix from Jacques Lu Cont, which is awesome in itself.
But for this crowd, the original is embedded like shrapnel in their bodies. It seemed like it was a bit of a letdown. Of course, all fell silent after that, and the jangly eternal arpeggio of Mr Brightside signalled a rebirth. We let the last bit of adrenaline carry us through the end of the song.
Voices were red and raw. Faces were rosy-cheeked. Shirts were sweaty.
Now for the criticisms… Downsides; they did not play Boy, which is the new single, and it’s brilliant. Perhaps The Killers got a cease and desist letter from Erasure for ripping that amazing synth part from A Little Respect. Or maybe the melody tag from U2’s Promenade.
Although, the songs they didn’t play being a downside is kind of like saying your greatest weakness is you get too invested in your job, or you work too hard at the expense of your personal life.
Another sticky part for me was that, while lovingly intended First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Brandon’s voice was pitching all over the place. This is the one spot in the show where it feels like he’s missing things. But it does no harm. In fact, it time-machined us all to a place where we were with the perfect person at the perfect moment swaying in awkwardness. Every touch tantalizing.
Overall, this was a top-five show. I actually overheard that from an audience member just behind me. I had to stop and think, and yes I agree. 12/10 Clementines, will see again.
Review – Mike Rogers
Photos – Chris Phelps
www.chrisphelps.com
