“We hope you enjoy your stay. It’s good to have you with us, even if it’s just for a day”

Rod Laver Arena was transformed into Sam’s Town for two nights as The Killers swept by with their stadium spectacular on board for the 175th performance on their tour.

Rod Laver Arena has never been a personal favourite for concerts, as the sound is often lacking for a potentially grand venue. Despite the numerous sound restructuring programs implemented to improve the venue, there was still work to be done.

Louis XIV were a great opening support – they were entertaining, chose a setlist that the crowd could rock out to, with lyrics so sexy some were wishing Killers frontman Brandon Flowers would jump on stage right then so we could “feel his bones.” That aside, everything was working perfectly (except sound). The lighting was complementary; the crowd was slowly getting into the tunes and the bar had been set to high for performances tonight.

Local support The Howling Bells didn’t disappoint, working their way through their half hour set to an unresponsive crowd – who could blame them? The Killers were but less than an hour away! Full credit, however to the band, as they strove to carry their music up to the fans seated in the rafters (Row UU and above) and were very impressive in their own right.

A white veil (reminiscent of Sigur Ros’ Takk tour) obscured the stage, which was decked out in flowers, and a retro-script Sam’s Town sign suspended on a background of black drapes. Anticipation was at fever pitch as fans awaited the entrance of Flowers and the band, letting out a deafening cheer as the lights were dimmed.

The show opened with projected images of Sam’s Town juxtaposed with silhouettes of the band members played onto the white veil. The veil was torn down as soon as the boys took to stage, Flowers resplendent in his now-trademark white shirt, black pants and vest, finished with a gold glitter jacket, dreamily spinning on stage as glitter confetti was sprayed out to the capacity crowd.

Appropriate to the tour, the band opened with ‘Sam’s Town’, which sent the floor into a frenzy of dancing and singing, seated crowd following suit very shortly with little encouragement. Following track was ‘Enterlude’, of which Flowers was rapidly drowned out by the audience, to the point where he just sat back and let everyone sing to him.

A grand entrance and a great opening – it seemed as if nothing could go wrong, but it did. Five songs in, the band appeared to lack the flair and finesse that their live performances are renowned from. Whether it was from nerves or tiredness, we’ll never know, but the lapse in the performance was noticed by the band as well – the dancing on the floor had come to an almost complete standstill.

Flowers at times appeared to be overwhelmed by the stadium, and at times, the message never quite seemed to reach the audience, despite a well chosen opening set list. All was redeemed when the band launched into ‘Hot Fuss’ favourite ‘Jenny was a Friend of Mine’ and followed with ‘Uncle Johnny’, ‘On Top (Can You Read my Mind Outro)’, ‘Bling (Confessions of a King)’ and second most popular number of the night ‘Mr. Brightside’ to close the set.

The performance was able to improve throughout the night due to great lighting, slowly improving sound quality and an all-out effort assault from the band, who returned to stage for the encore with Louis XIV for ‘My List’, which was well received. In a completely unanticipated move, covers of ‘Can’t Take my Eyes off You’ and ‘Wait for You’ were welcome additions which allowed the crowd to rest their voices and call up energy reserves for the two closing numbers ‘For Reasons Unknown’ and [my all time favourite] ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’. Flowers jumped on top of his piano and directed the audience as they sang their hearts out to the now-coined line ”I’ve got soul but I’m not a Soldier!” Deafening cheers and a standing ovation accompanied the band as they left the stage for the evening, surprising some, who had clearly expected them to close with ‘Exitlude’

We sure hoped they enjoyed their stay. Once again, despite the momentary lapse, it was great to have them with us, even if it was just for a day.