The Killers take to the stage for their double stint in Scotland
The indie-rock icons were duly electrified for a pair of shows in Scotland's Falkirk Stadium earlier this month.
Photo: Press
After a long, unprecedented two-year global pandemic and inevitable covid-delays pushed back The Killers sixth major world tour, first announced all the way back in 2020, the band embarked on their long-awaited Imploding the Mirage tour earlier this year and it finally reached Scotland this month.
The anticipation for these shows was insurmountable among fans. While the vast majority of fans would have lapped up a new Killers concert tour regardless, the material that the tour supports is some of the strongest of their career since their debut with Hot Fuss in 2004.
Landing in Falkirk on the Monday evening, The Killers prepared for their first Scottish show since their famed TRNSMT festival set in 2018 and the following King Tut’s show on the same night (the former having over 8 million views on YouTube, between videos of the full set and other clips). The show is legendary among Scottish fans so, naturally, many would have had high expectations going into the event.
After excellent sets from Blossoms and Supergrass on Monday and Tuesday night respectively, the crew got to work preparing the stage as the monitors blared the most dramatic of instrumental and choral music as the crowd waited patiently.
The tension ramped up after some time, as members of the crowd began whooping and cheering, clearly seeing something the rest of the crowd couldn’t see. Just when, signalled by wafts of smoke, the quiet pad of My Own Souls Warning eased the nerves.
The band entered, Brandon Flowers singing the first verse going down the stairs in the middle of the stage and the first blast of confetti of the night showered down around as the band kicked into full swing.
It was a very strong start to the show, My Own Souls Warning took advantage of the building energy of the crowd and opened everyone up to the earnestness of Enterlude leading perfectly (as it does on Sam’s Town) into The Killers’ greatest distillation of heartland rock for When You Were Young. This was followed by two of Hot Fuss’s most revered tracks, many screaming the bassline of Jenny as if it were its own lyrical statement. Then it was time for mid-career favourite, the wide-eyed Shot at the Night. The first stretch of the show was mostly the same on both nights, with Jenny being replaced with The Way It Was on night two.
The mid-section of the show was what changed most between both nights. Both followed the opening with some high-energy, fan favourite songs, and while on night one the band opted to play Human not even halfway into the set, night two offered Spaceman.
Somebody Told Me was followed by some more lowkey tracks on both nights, Fire in Bone was great to hear live, as well as the bands’ cover of Joy Division’s Shadowplay, as were Miss Atomic Bomb and personal favourite Quiet Town on the last night.
Both nights struck a very good balance of old and new, fast and slow; however, personally, I think night two carried the momentum better in this middle section, especially with it being followed by For Reasons Unknown. For which the band, in now longstanding tradition, scouted the audience for a fan drummer. The audience was in the palm of Flowers’ hand, with groups near the front screaming, vying for attention whenever he approached a sign.
On night one, Brandon gave one of the only fans with a sign a hard time for not being persistent in holding up his sign, only for the fan to return on night two with a sign declaring ‘Tonight I mean business’ and, despite the greater presence of signs, Brandon couldn’t say no and the crowd loved it, cheering the fan on for every beat.
This made for a good moment of interaction between the band and audience, which was sadly only experienced on night two, however, the playing of “Doctor” Ronnie ‘The Unstoppable’ Vanucci Jr. is nothing to ever be disappointed about.
A Dustland Fairytale was then followed by a stripped-back cover on both nights. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face on the first night was gorgeous, however replacing it with 500 Miles the next day was a wise choice, with the audience easily joining in and giving the Las Vegas band a Scottish serenade.
The final stretch of the show was nearly identical on both nights with My God being a welcome addition on night two.
This stretch of songs at the end of the show was flawless, the offbeat rhythms and huge vocals of Runaways had the audience moving and singing along before segueing into Read My Mind to a rapturous reception. Dying Breed rallied (and raised up) the audience before Caution, the guitar solo of which truly was one of the highlights of the show, with blazes of sparks pouring down and firing upwards at the back of the stage.
The energy and release of the songs here were perfect and built to a cathartic conclusion for All These Things That I’ve Done. “I’ve got soul / but I’m not a soldier” was sung for well over a minute in turns by Brandon and the audience, before the climax of the song with a confetti saltire exploding out over the audience on the floor.
Of course, on neither night had the show really ended by this point, as no good night does before the playing of Mr Brightside.
The band came back out on night one to Spaceman, one of the most energetic songs of both nights and, as such, it was no wonder they felt it fitting to leave it to the end. As it was also the eve of the 18th Anniversary of Hot Fuss, the band gave a rendition of Midnight Show which was greatly appreciated, before ending on Mr Brightside.
On night two, the band reintroduced themselves to the tune of The Man, Brandon swaggering around the stage fully embodying the character before giving the audience the one-two of Human, which they had saved for the encore.
It’s well documented that Britain at large has a great affinity for The Killers and championed them in their earlier years, with them often being confused for being a British band. It is clear to see why. Whether it be from Brandon’s faux-English accent on the majority of Hot Fuss, to the influence that British bands like The Smiths had on them early in their career.
It is equally true that any crowd at a Killers show on the British Isles can be turned into giddy children once the first notes of a certain iconic guitar riff inhabit the venue. The band played what has come to be known as the 50/50 version (Part of the Jacques Lu Cont Mix serving as an introduction, followed by the full original song) and the energy was ecstatic. The crowd hung on every word and, when the slow tempo introduction faded and the riff was heard, the crowd went feral. Look no further than The Killers at TRNSMT (2018) to witness the passion of a Scottish crowd singing Mr Brightside.
I’ll never forget the experience of seeing the song live: looking around me to see every emotion in sight; there were tears of joy and sadness at memories shared, there were bonds between close friends and families of all ages, memories of wedding nights, birthdays and celebrations where Mr Brightside had capped the night off, and most of all there was jealousy. 20,000 cases of jealousy.
Overall, Brandon couldn’t have put it any better in his thick Las Vegas drawl, it was “Pure dead brilliant.” Across the two nights, there was such an excellent selection of songs played, it’s only a shame it couldn’t go on for longer, so many songs were done great justice and received their well-loved, extended live versions complete with crowd chants, segues and audience interactions.
Brandon banded around with swagger and confidence, he crooned with earnestness and cried out in jubilation. Many laughs were elicited on Ronnie’s part from behind the drum kit, where dreams were made and equally so many words were screamed that must have been incomprehensible to the Las Vegas ear.
The band were tight, the songs were perfectly chosen and well varied, with a mostly very equal number of songs played from each album, the crowd were swept up and the nights were outstanding. To any fan of the band, a Killers show very well might turn out to be your favourite show for many years to come and I can’t recommend jumping at the chance.
Although there might be years between Killers tours, and other concert experiences are to be had in the meanwhile, it is hard to escape the feeling deep down… that all roads lead back to Sam’s Town.
Catch The Killers on tour:
