THE KILLERS ‘HOT FUSS’ 20 YEAR CELEBRATION – ROD LAVER ARENA MELBOURNE

Review: Greg Phillips. Photos: Chris Phelps.

Dealing us a winning hand, The Killers brought a taste of Vegas to Rod Laver Arena on night two of their 3 night residency, tonight celebrating 20 years since the release of their breakthrough debut album Hot Fuss.

The extravagant production offered an explosion of colour and light, featuring Vegas-style neon imagery and many nods and winks to sin city’s infamous history. Even the carpet they were performing on was casino variety gauche.

Decked out in a slick (let’s call it Tropicana Room Red) suit, frontman Brandon Flowers, in preacher mode, was totally in command from the get-go. Playing the Hot Fuss album in track order meant that the band had to play their cards as presented. Directly after the opener Jenny Was a Friend of Mine, we got Brightside. Needless to say the crowd was sufficiently pumped already with no turning back.

While the previous night at Rod Laver the band played their Greatest Hits album, Rebel Diamonds, there were so many hit singles on their debut album, the bangers just kept coming anyway. With the audience already going nuts to Smile Like You Mean It, followed by Somebody Told Me, it was difficult to fathom how the band could sustain this momentum. All These Things That I’ve Done, including audience singalong finished off with a Burning Love outro, a tip of the hat to Vegas’ king Elvis Presley.

Deeper cuts like Andy, You’re a Star, Change Your Mind and Believe Me Natalie were embellished by incredible lighting, lasers and confetti blasts. Continuing their hometown recognition, Midnight Show was preceded by a version of Luck Be A Lady Tonight, with Flowers singing in deep Sinatra mode.

Ending the Hot Fuss section of the night, Brandon tells us that the song Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll was written as a sarcastic dig at those who wouldn’t accept their brand of music in the early days. “Believe it or not, we were outsiders in our own town” he tells us. After all these years and the band’s success, he admits defeat and the mistaken lyrics of the song are now accepted by Brandon as a proud example of glamorous indie rock & roll. As the band left the stage to rehydrate, a vintage Vegas sign tells us ‘We’ll be back in five minutes’

Returning for a dramatic version of The Man from the Wonderful, Wonderful album, at the band’s heart you can see that they’re still just four very talented, energised friends, belting out songs together. For many of the more musically elaborate tracks, they’re joined on stage by an additional guitarist, keyboard player and three backing singers who together create a massive wall of sound.

Reflecting on the band’s pre-success struggles working as a hotel bell hop and his writing collaborations with Dave Keuning (who was working at Banana Republic), Brandon stops to tell us “Can you believe that at one point in time, only two people in the world knew Mr Brightside?”

Ronnie Vannucci Jr on drums and Mark Stoermer on bass are the backbone of the unit, working hard to keep the cogs turning, while rockstar guitarist Dave Keuning on his fabulous Ibanez Destroyer presents his legendary licks and riffs. Brandon in the meantime, adds colour to the mix with his occasional flourishes on keyboard hidden behind a lightbox ‘K’ at the front of stage.

A heartfelt Human prompts a mass singalong. These fans know every word of every song tonight. On This is Your Life Brandon goads us to sway our hands above our heads, as an impressive sea of hands is reflected back to us on the giant screen behind the band. The choir work continues with an extended Runaways and Read My Mind, both from their Imploding The Mirage album. Flowers again tells us that 20 years ago the Hot Fuss album started the ball rolling for the band as he picked out a young girl in the audience who was celebrating her 20th birthday tonight. Acknowledging the support of the fans, he says it’s hard to put into words how grateful the band is, so they wrote a song about it, as they launched into the Meatloafesque Bright Lights. All that was left to do was perform the band’s remaining huge hit When You Were Young to an enraptured audience.

This is what a modern day rock ’n’ roll show is all about, visually exciting, value for money, hit-laden fun from one of the world’s most entertaining bands.

(Note to Rod Laver Arena: The shouty lady barking orders to fans in the long queue to open their bags a mile out from the turnstile was unnecessary and annoying. Open your doors earlier if you want punters in quicker)

Set list:

Hot Fuss Album-
Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
Mr. Brightside
Smile Like You Mean It
Somebody Told Me
All These Things That I’ve Done
(with “Burning Love” by Elvis Presley outro)
Andy, You’re a Star
On Top
Change Your Mind
Believe Me Natalie
Midnight Show
(with “Luck Be a Lady” intro)
Everything Will Be Alright
Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll

Set 2:
The Man
Human
This Is Your Life
Caution
Runaways
(extended outro)
Read My Mind
Bright Lights
When You Were Young