I had the pleasure of seeing The Killers live for the first time last summer as they closed Leeds Festival. However, the experience was entirely different to their concert at the Co-op Live in Manchester. It was the end of a very damp day in Bramham Park and I was near the back of thousands of people after sticking around for the whole of The 1975’s set. I’m sure many of you know the feeling: squelching through the mud, a tall guy with a bucket hat is blocking your view and you’re going slightly delirious. And yet, it was unforgettable.
Even watching on the screens, Brandon Flowers put on such a show and it seemed as though he was made for the stage. He had the whole crowd in the palm of his hand for The Killers’ full set, but especially during their double rendition of ‘Mr Brightside’ which closed the festival.
When reviewing the festival in August, I said that I wasn’t an avid fan of The Killers. Unfortunately, I haven’t delved into their discography in the past ten months, but I was still blown away by their performance at Manchester’s Co-op Live this week, which felt somewhat of an intimate indoor venue despite having a crowd of over 23,000.
In true Metrolink fashion, the trams were rammed, so I unfortunately missed the first few songs from the support act, Travis. The Glaswegian rock band who formed in 1990 and are most well-known for their tracks ‘Flowers in the Window’ and ‘Why Does it Always Rain On Me?’. When I arrived, they were in the middle of ‘Alive’, so after finding my seat it was time to relax and enjoy.
Frontman Fran Healy, with his neon orange hair, went into a short story about the band’s earlier years and how (in true fairy-tale fashion) a long time ago in Las Vegas they met a little known band from Manchester…Oasis, and went on tour with them across America. Ending up back in Las Vegas, Brandon, Dave and Ronnie were at one of their shows and formed The Killers shortly after. They would cover Travis’ song ‘Side’ at bars, so they went into that next and dedicated it to the headliners.
Travis were a great opener to the night; they brought a varied energy to their set with new song ‘Closer’ making the entire arena glow up with phone flashlights. Before going into the song, Healy said “Everyone has someone who loved them into existence. They might be standing next to us or they might have left us. If they’ve left us that’s okay. Think about them and light your torch; it’s like lighting a candle.” Looking around Co-op Live as everyone thought about their loved ones was an extremely touching moment and it made me appreciate the recent release even more.
In comparison, they later started busking at the front of the stage while performing ‘Flowers in the Window’ which was followed by a huge celebration because Scotland were 1-0 up in the Euros! Travis closed their set by sharing that this night was going to be “the best concert this year, or in your life.” They joked that they were “coming back to Manchester and The Killers are opening for us”, then went into their final track ‘’Why Does it Always Rain On Me?’ Healy shouted for everyone to “get off your arses” and do the ‘pogo’ during the last chorus: “you’ve all danced in Student Union clubs in the ‘90s!” I would definitely go to see Travis again when they return to touring after they put out their tenth studio album, L.A. Times which comes out on 12 July.
It was a dramatic start to The Killers’ set, with a curtain drawn to cover the stage, and a light shining to cast Brandon Flowers’ shadow upon it. After a slower rendition of the start of ‘Your Own Soul’s Warning’, the curtain fell and a huge multi-coloured fountain of confetti rained on the crowd as the band picked up the pace of the song.
The energy was stripped back down soon enough as Flowers sat behind the piano to deliver ‘Enterlude’. The band use this song to greet listeners into their 2006 album Sam’s Town and it certainly has the same comforting impact on tour. Lines “We hope you enjoy your stay/Outside the sun is shining/It seems like heaven ain’t far away/It’s good to have you with us/Even if it’s just for the day,” on a sunny Wednesday night in Manchester welcomed us to the second night of their visit as a part of the Rebel Diamonds Tour.
Named after their newest album, Rebel Diamonds, a compilation of the band’s greatest hits, the tour sees The Killers reminisce on the past 20 years of their career since their debut release, Hot Fuss. It has an insane tracklist of modern classics, many of which would be recognisable to even those who are less avid fans of the band.
It seems that, for The Killers, more is more: the fiery entrance, the theatrical fall of the stage curtain and Flowers’ glittery suit; the setlist upheld this idea as they followed with several fan favourites ‘Human’, ‘Somebody Told Me’ and ‘Smile Like You Mean It’. The frontman had a chat with the crowd after this and used the moment to confess something:
“We’ve been seeing other audiences…in fact we saw another in this room! And yes, we had a good time but you’ve gotta believe me… it’s different with you. Tonight we’re gonna go all the way. We just need your enthusiastic consent. One more thing…outside it’s a Wednesday in Manchester but not in here it ain’t, in here it’s a Saturday night. Let’s do it”
The next song, ‘For Reasons Unknown’, saw a very special moment in the show which also occurred when I saw the band at Leeds Festival. After the previous song, Flowers had a moment of soliloquizing as he shared that there was something special about their second night at Co-op Live, and he couldn’t put his finger on what it was: the band, us, or the setlist? He looked out into the crowd and asked if anyone had been at the show the night before, then caught the eye of a fan, Ben, who had been and was holding a sign saying “Can I drum?” Ben took to the stage, understandably quite nervous, and did an incredible job drumming during ‘For Reasons Unknown’ while band drummer, Ronnie Vannucci, stood to the side and spurred him on.
After a quick selfie with Ben and the audience, the band moved on to “our song” of the night, ‘Dying Breed’, followed by ‘Bones’ and a tour debut of ‘From Here on Out’. The main set came to a close with a stripped version of ‘Your Side of Town’, with Flowers returning to his piano and some traffic lights slowly descending centre stage. The track, which is originally filled with robotic vocal distortions and ‘80s synths, took on a whole new meaning with lyrics “a broken heartbeat, barely alive”, sounding a lot more meaningful than the album version.
Theatricality continued in set and performance, as a white curtain fell and the frontman asked “Is there room for one more song?” to which we, of course, answered yes! Flowers’ ability to command the stage is immensely impressive, as he continually jumped up onto the speakers and pulled many classic rockstar poses. He ended with ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’, culminating in over 20,000 chanting “I got soul but I’m not a soldier” for a long time.
The encore started with ‘Pressure Machine’, which seemed like a peculiar choice as it was a slower start. However, the energy immediately picked up as The Killers performed their most popular hit, a song which has embedded itself into British culture and almost everyone you meet will know the words to, ‘Mr Brightside’. The atmosphere in the arena erupted and there was something remarkable about screaming the lyrics with so many other people.
You might be thinking “what better way to end the show than this?”, but this was not the end! They carried on with ‘When You Were Young’, a staple of The Killers’ discography, before ending the show in an emotionally cyclical manner with ‘Exitlude’:
“We hope you enjoyed your stay/Outside the sun is shining/It seems like heaven ain’t far away/It’s good to have you with us/Even if it’s just for the day.”
The frontman thanked the crowd while playing the piano before standing and throwing flowers into the audience in a reversal of a scene you’d expect to see on Broadway. While I was slightly disappointed by the absence of ‘The Man’, a song which was a standout at Leeds Festival, I really could not have asked for more from the night at Co-op Live. It is so evident that The Killers love what they do and new life is added to their songs when they take to the stage.
Reflecting upon Rebel Diamonds, Brandon Flowers said “see it’s been said that what’s remembered lives,” in reference to the memories of touring during the past two decades. I can confidently say that The Killers' music will be remembered and will live on as modern classics, and Flowers is the showman of his generation.
