Rewind back to my 16 year old self who had just started sixth-form and had asked her mam to try and get her and her friends tickets for her favourite band and imagine the heartbreak of failing to get them. Fast forward to the 10th November 2017 and that same girl has just come home from seeing said band after waiting to see them for so long. Elated. That is probably the best word I can use to describe my experience of seeing The Killers live in my home city.
I will begin by first apologising for the terrible quality of the images, when you are 5ft tall and at a standing concert with an insane amount of people around you, getting decent photos was hard! However, my lack of photos doesn't make the concert any less exciting; if anything I was enjoying the moment and not enjoying the gig through a camera. I will start by discussing the fitting support act which was Alex Cameron, an Australian musician who was supported with "friend and business partner" Roy Molloy on the Horn (it was a saxophone). Cameron's songs had a very indie and alternative vibe to them which made for a very relevant support act, he explained how Brandon Flowers (The Killers front man) had been in touch with them to offer them the supporting position on their tour; very humble indeed. After a good 40 minute warm up set, which seemed to fly by, we were all ready for the main event!
We were first introduced to the triangular staging which would then later project further images, graphics and projected footage of the event for people at the back of the arena. The staging is really fitting with their album artwork for Wonderful Wonderful, with sea shells and nortocal features being a part of their set design. This is including their lighthouse which had Newcastle painted on it, I thought that this was a very nice touch to the set. This is in addition to Flowers' keyboard with the male symbol on it and the female symbols under each of the backing singers, fitting with their theme of angles and semiotics.
When the band went off stage and the house lights went up, drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr came up to the central mic and finished the evening with "It is like a dream" which summed up the evening very well. The whole production was just incredible and I'm sure the whole sold out crowd though the same. A thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining evening and I would happily pay to see the show again tomorrow if I could. They absolutely smashed it!
We were first introduced to the triangular staging which would then later project further images, graphics and projected footage of the event for people at the back of the arena. The staging is really fitting with their album artwork for Wonderful Wonderful, with sea shells and nortocal features being a part of their set design. This is including their lighthouse which had Newcastle painted on it, I thought that this was a very nice touch to the set. This is in addition to Flowers' keyboard with the male symbol on it and the female symbols under each of the backing singers, fitting with their theme of angles and semiotics.
The show opened up with their album title son 'Wonderful Wonderful' which set the tone for the show, shortly followed by an energetic performance of The Man which I don't think anybody anticipated to be played so early in the show. They provided a good mix of songs; from their new album, the hits and to a lot older works which they wanted to incorporate back into their shows, including This River Is Wild which was received very well by the Geordie crowd. However, it was the hits which got everybody excited; including Somebody Told Me, Human, All These Things That I've Done and ending with the famous Mr. Brightside where the whole arena just went insane! It was a very apt song to finish the show on such a high note.
I want to take a moment to discuss Brandon Flowers as a frontman of The Killers. Oh does he know how to put on a show! Sporting a black blazer with colourful, sparkly lapels; he has such charm and charisma in his performance style, this really shone during Run For Cover, where at one point I'm sure I saw him mouth 'wow' which I think shows how much he values his crowds and his love of performing. He values his fans and wants to give back a fulfilling performance which is exactly what he did. For the encore, he changed to a gold, sparkly number but some how had an extra burst of energy which really got the crowd excited for the final few numbers which really tied the show together.
Elisa x
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