Toronto – Through the annals of time, many great philosophers, intellects and scholars have looked into our lives and asked many important questions
“what’s the meaning of life?”
“nature or nurture?”
“is there a higher being?”
however, in 2008, one Brandon Flowers pondered a question so deep, so profound, it blew everyone’s mind. The question being:
“Are we human, or are we dancer?”
In pure awe of this exercise in lyrical brilliance, I had no choice but to attend the Killers concert Sunday night at the Molson Amphitheater. I also attended because my friend D was able to score Pizza Pizza tickets for the show, which were 11 bucks and included tickets to the CNE, where i was able to sample bacon with chocolate on it. YUM!
I’ll be honest, I have not really paid much attention to the Killers since the release of Hot Fuss. I have heard some of the singles off Sam’s Town and I have heard one or two tunes off the new one, but if you asked me to name more then five songs since Hot Fuss, I would not be able to. However, I do quite like the first album quite a bit.
The Molson Amphitheater was packed when we arrived. It was an absolutely beautiful night and I assume most people had spent most of the day at the Ex digesting corn dogs, funnel cakes and other cholesterol delights. We had lawn tickets, so naturally, we found empty spots in the 400 and made our way there. I would say the place was 95% full. At around 9:30, The Killers strutted onto the stage, decorated in Tron-esque lighting and began with the aforementioned “Human”, much to the delight of the crowd.
What can you say about a Killers show? I think if you are a fan of their material (as most people at the Amp was), this was probably a great show. The stage setup was fantastic, there was confetti, they played all the hits and Brandon Flowers went to all sides of the stage so that the girls in the ga section can get a good look at his church boy meets preppy hipster look. For me, I thought the vocals were a bit loud (and grating at times) and frankly, very little of the new material appeals to me. I liked the fact that they covered Joy Division and even made it COMPLETELY OBVIOUS to the fans that they were doing that by playing control in the background during the cover. They also brought out Wolfmother for an Animals cover.
In conclusion, like Coldplay before them, and Kings of Leons after them, The Killers have made the successful transition from indie (and I use this term very loosely) buzz band to very successful “mainstream” band. They have a big stage, a big production and big songs. I got exactly the show I was expecting, and it wasn’t overly bad, and it wasn’t terribly great, but I got to hear the songs that I like, and that made me happy. I’m sure everyone in the crowd felt the same way.