You know it’s a big deal when bassist Mark Stoermer pops up on stage.
Stoermer might be The Killers’ original bassist, but a combination of tinnitus and back issues means the prodigiously talented musician rarely tours with the band. Similarly, Dave Keuning’s luscious locks are barely seen when The Killers flirt around the word.
And yet they’re right there, joining Brandon Flowers and drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr in proudly looking over a sold-out, highly charged Qudos Bank Arena. Jake Blanton, the band’s usual touring bassist, leaves the guitar to Stoermer and can be seen running around the stage, assisting with synths and keys to help the legendary band celebrate 20 years of their mega-successful debut album, Hot Fuss.
This is a special show. The Killers have been touring Australia regularly for the past two decades, to the point where they can do special shows like this and not bat an eyelid. In 2022, the band performed a show at Qudos Bank Arena and followed it up a few hours later with a midnight show at the 1000-capacity Liberty Hall.
Having a band of this reputation so lovingly familiar with this city that they must find new ways to satisfy fans – which they always do – is a privilege. The Killers still love Australia, and Australia still loves them too.
You can see the adoration when each perfectly-timed fist rises into the air as if the distinctive drum hits on “Somebody Told Me” just wouldn’t sound the same without us pantomiming Vannucci Jr’s tireless sticks. You can hear it as people screech along to the face-slapping riff of “Jenny Was A Friend of Mine”. These songs are so close to people’s hearts that, looking around, I’m not just witnessing people dancing, I’m watching them express their life stories; watching them show each other just how much these songs have meant to them over the years.
And just how hopelessly in love with Brandon Flowers we all are.
There are thousands upon thousands of rock bands in the world. But only one has the good fortune of having a Vegas showman as its vocalist. Brandon is almost without equal (go see The Hives live and try to tell me Pelle Almqvist isn’t the most persuasive person in the world) in this industry. He is the frontman lesser rock bands dream of. Impossibly handsome with a wicked smile, possessing a booming, perfectly postured voice that can run around an entire stadium and inspire fans to give us as much energy to him as he does to us.
He doesn’t even need a few well-timed confetti blasts, nor does the band need streams of fireworks cascading down from the stage. But these things exist anyway. The Killers know how to have fun, and they know how to put on a show. Even when they get some of their biggest hits out of the way first, performing Hot Fuss in chronological order, which means we get five of their strongest songs one after another, starting from “Jenny” and stretching to the anthemic “All These Things That I’ve Done,” the latter blended with a smart interpolation of “Burning Love” by Elvis Presley.
Because it wouldn’t be The Killers live if the band didn’t remind you that they were from Las Vegas, Nevada almost every chance they get. But this isn’t a cynical shot at them. To understand The Killers is to understand Vegas. The slick, self-assured confidence that cannot be replicated in any other city in the world. Thank Vegas for that.
Brandon Flowers had an unremarkable childhood as far as stories go. He grew up in a Las Vegas trailer park to two blue-collar parents and hustled his way to the top. Considering who he is now, Flowers’ has had the type of journey that’d easily translate into a blockbuster biopic. Imagine that – a boy of little means grows up in the glitzy hospitality battleground of Las Vegas and channels the city’s bombastic showmanship into a full-blown rock & roll career, blending his slicked-back on-stage persona with genuine musical literacy, using his commanding voice to gently lead beautifully written rock tunes that fit perfectly into the pantheon of stadium rock. It’s a simple, well-groomed story, resulting in a simple, well-groomed band.
But Flowers’ command as a frontman wouldn’t be half as compelling if the songs weren’t good. And they very much are. From “Mr Brightside” to “Runaways”, “Read My Mind”, “The Man,” “When You Were Young,” “Human,” and “Indie Rock & Roll,” The Killers have given us the perfect example of what happens when you take indie rock and marry it with stadium-sized pop. And they’ve recreated it many times throughout their career, impressively unencumbered by debates on time and relevancy. They even recreated it with new song “Bright Lights,” which they performed after giving us the full Hot Fuss album mixed with choice cuts from most of their other projects.
Except for one song.
I attended both nights in Sydney and the same fan (standing in almost the exact same spot) help up the same sign across Friday and Saturday begging for the band to play “A Crippling Blow,” a B-Side from Day & Age. “Are you the same guy from the other night,” Flowers laughs.
“I don’t know what to tell you, man. We just haven’t prepared it. That’s like a really deep cut. I don’t want you to get tired holding that sign up all night, just put it down, man.”
The crowd laughs. The fan smiles. Brandon smiles. The Killers smile (like they mean it). “I can’t do anything for you tonight, but maybe we can, like, we can do something special on social media for you.”
The Killers proved they were so damn enamoured by their fans on both nights in Sydney that I wouldn’t be surprised if they follow through, just for that one fan.
FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
The Killers performed Hot Fuss in full at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Saturday 7th December, 2024.
Headline image by Chris Phelps.
