Saturday night, at the concert venue formerly known as Sandstone, Brandon Flowers and the rest of the Killers opened up the 2009 concert season with big ol' post-yacht-rock-frat-boy-arena-pop-Vegas-y-EXPLOSION!
I must admit the last time I went to Sandstone was in spring of 2004. The show? Blink-182 and Cypress Hill. I remember freely moving between the lawn, frozen drink stands and kiosks selling huge marijuana-leaf beads. I read on the venue Web site that the most of the reserved seats at the front had been removed to make room for a bigger GA section so one could get closer to the stage.
Of course, I completely missed out on this. I didn't realize that until I picked up my tickets that VIP wristbands were included. I was told by the event staff (95% of them were middle-aged women) that VIP ticket holders are let in the doors first. Alas, I was too late. I enjoyed the other VIP perks instead, like the private bathrooms and bar that still had cups for beer later on in the evening when the other vendors had run out.
After wrongly assuming I would be able to sit on the lawn, I found seats in the back, close to the barricaded grass. It wasn't long before a family of four sat in front of me, the youngest daughter with a tiger-striped Snuggie and mom snapping pictures of the older daughter with her new $30 Killers t-shirt on. Needless to say, it was hard to see openers Wild Light from so far back.
This is what I could see though: the keyboardist and harmonica player had on really tight white pants. Like tighty whities that went all the way down. It wouldn't have been so bad except that he kept on dancing and skipping around. It was, well, giggleworthy.
The music was mediocre. I suppose Wild Light is better served on a smaller stage, something like Crosstown Station. The cuts from their latest LP, Adult Nights, sounded slightly whiny ("New Hampshire," "Lawless River") but I liked how the lead singer dropped a few F-bombs. Like when he announced, "That beach ball is fucking distracting!" Nothing like a little profanity to keep the sizable mommy-and-daddy and hot-pink-nail-polish sets on their toes.
Finally, the stage lit up like a Las Vegas Strip casino facade and Brandon Flowers, dressed in all black asked us, "Are we human or are we dancer?"
I had to relocate to stage left. Standing on my fold-up seat wasn't an option. Down closer, I could see that there were more than the four band members of the Killers. Off in the wings, there was another guitar/keyboard player semi-hidden in the fake palm trees, a saxophone player and possibly a violinist. The crowd in front was thick with dancing girls (most with lit cigarettes) and Emery Road refugees, bobbing and dancing with their arms around each other, shouting lyrics at one another.
When I first heard the Killers' latest album, Day & Age, I was immediately taken with "I Can't Stay." The smooth, jazzy sax riffs carried me away with a cool breeze to a vacationland where everyone wears culottes and straw hats. It's not typical Killers fare, but I think simply adds a new mature dimension to the glitzy, glammy pop the group is known for.
Of course, the hits from Hot Fuss got the biggest response. Closing the main set with "Mr. Brightside" and "All These Things That I've Done" (the latter punctuated with a big poof of shredded bits of paper blasted into the air), the Killers made the crowd into willing victims of pop-rock decadence with their easily singable lyrics, punching bass lines and universal appeal.
Set list
Human
This Is Your Life
Somebody Told Me
For Reasons Unknown
I Can't Stay
Joy Ride
Bling (Confessions of a King)
Shadowplay
Smile Like You Mean It
Spaceman
Change Your Mind
A Dustland Fairytale
Sam's Town
Read My Mind
Mr. Brightside
All These Things That I've Done
Encore:
Bones
Jenny Was a Friend Of Mine
When You Were Young
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confeti is round and small, the shredded bits of parper where kind of square and big
loved the show it was incredible, i was right in the middle section, 4 girls infront of mee
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