HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
[SIMG]http://forum.interference.com/gallery/data//585/11265killers1-sml.jpg[/SIMG]
By Carrie Alison, Editor
2006.10
At least the little girls understand. That’s what I’ve been telling myself lately as I listen to “Sam’s Town,” wondering what happened to the young and exciting band from Sin City that I fell in love with only two short years ago. But what a fast and furious two years it’s been and like all boys, The Killers became men, they tried to live up to all that “Hot Fuss” but ended up taking a detour to “Sam’s Town” instead.
This wasn’t just any detour. It was a more informed, ambitious detour to “Sam’s Town” by way of Asbury Park. You know, The Boss’s Town. Shades of “Born to Run,” and hints of Bono, an admitted major influence to singer Brandon Flowers, are unmistakable here. Flowers is so fervent in his need to entertain, educate and perhaps save us all, that it makes me cringe. He wants it all so badly, you almost want to beg him to remember to drink his milk and take his vitamins, lest he strain himself on all of the overwhelming enthusiasm and desire.
At least Flowers is still humble enough to admit, “…if I only knew the answers, I wouldn’t be bothering you” during “Why Do I Keep Counting?” This show of fallibility is surprising, given his infamous boast to MTV earlier this year that “Sam’s Town” was, “one of the best albums in the past 20 years. There's nothing that touches this album." Such excessive sentiment is no surprise considering the town whence he came.
As concept albums go, you might as well go big or go home, and while “Sam’s Town” felt like it was just too much too soon for this young band on its sophomore sojourn on wax, the potential for a grand circus of a show was not lost on me. It’s an album of rock songs with big ideas, or rather big rock songs with ideas; thankfully Wednesday night proved to me the latter notion. A detour to “Sam’s Town” was indeed a trip worth taking; even it’s just for a day.
Having seen The Killers twice for their rounds with “Hot Fuss,” I was pleased to see how much thought went into bringing “Sam’s Town” to life on stage. It was straight out of what you would assume a grand show would be like in Tombstone. Complete with theatre curtains, all manner of spotlights and kitschy streamers, this was so much more than just a presentation, this was a band intent on announcing itself as being fully realized and fully alive. The shiny metallic backdrop of “Hot Fuss” is gone, paving the way for the arrival of grown, married men who have done their musical homework.
Strutting out last behind his bandmates, (guitarist Dave Keuning, drummer Ronnie Vanucci and bassist Mark Stoermer) Brandon Flowers, now 25, has become a dandy of a showman, with all the grandiosity of a seasoned professional. His nose high in the air as he surveyed the massive cheering crowd, not with a look of gratitude, but as confirmation that the band has lived up to exactly what he always thought it would.
Opening with “Sam’s Town” proved that Flowers now has full control of his vocals, eschewing the overextension of earlier tours. “Enterlude” although a tad silly on record, became a surprisingly sweet crowd sing-a-long. Hit single “When You Were Young,” a tune I feel is a perfect example of that line The Killers perfectly straddle— mixing Bruce Springsteen and Depeche Mode in tone and topic—was positively incandescent. Who cares what those jaded critics think? It’s the fans that matter, and they love this shimmery ode to adolescent puppy love more than you could imagine.
(Image courtesy of JCP for Interference.com)
The song that exposed The Killers to the world, “Somebody Told Me,” found Flowers gracefully gliding around the stage with the ease of a veteran rocker. You’d never know that this once was a guy who had a modest stage presence and was content to stick to the safety of his keyboard. Touring with U2 and observing Bono every night has paid off; there is no lack of confidence here, just warmth and sincerity and megalomania for days. He’s confrontational now, no longer awkward or too shy to look the audience in the eye.
A decadent “Smile Like You Mean It” gave way to new single “Bones” and its vocal acrobatics, a trademark touch of “Sam’s Town.” While cringe-worthy on record, the booming choral style worked well in concert, without feeling like a hack Queen redux.
“Jenny Was a Friend of Mine” was as stately as it comes, and I couldn’t help but wish that instead of the Wild West vibe of “Sam’s Town,” The Killers had followed the implied murder mystery vibe of this tune. That however would have called for them to delve deeper and deeper into an eyeliner and gothtastic teen spirit, and in light of current flavors My Chemical Romance and 30 Seconds to Mars, they’d only seem like a tasty side dish, instead of a band hell bent on forming its own identity as men with a mission.
If a thumping “Uncle Jonny” was the perfect example of the scope and vision of “Sam’s Town,” a lurching and punchy “Andy, You’re a Star” (a tune that has always felt like a distant cousin of Iggy Pop’s “Nightclubbing” to me) was the undeniable gateway to it. A deep album cut from “Hot Fuss,” “Midnight Show” was fantastically melodramatic leading to a soaring “Mr. Brightside,” a ditty that I contend is one of the best classic pop songs of the last quarter century. If the jumping and ecstatic audience was any indication, they unanimously agreed with me.
(Image courtesy of JCP for Interference.com)
It was, however, the grand finale of “All These Things That I’ve Done,” that sealed the deal for this writer and the exuberant audience. Despite the critique this one takes because of the delicate and revealing refrain “I got soul but I’m not a soldier,” this is a song that lets The Killers shine and run on all cylinders. Arguably a treatise on modern masculinity, the men in the audience were the loudest and most emotional here; arms reaching out, fists pumping, eyes closed as they sang in acknowledgement and acceptance of not being as tough as their steely and distant fathers and grandfathers, but still very much vital men.
“Exitlude” bid us a final farewell as “Sam’s Town” closed up shop for the day. I didn’t think I would say this, given my reaction to its inclusion on the record, but I get it now. When escapism is this delicious, you can’t deny that “outside the sun is shining, seems like heaven ain’t far away.”
For more information on The Killers, visit the official website. Read Interference.com’s review of “Sam’s Town” here. Carrie Alison can be reached at carrie@interference.com.
By Carrie Alison, Editor
2006.10
At least the little girls understand. That’s what I’ve been telling myself lately as I listen to “Sam’s Town,” wondering what happened to the young and exciting band from Sin City that I fell in love with only two short years ago. But what a fast and furious two years it’s been and like all boys, The Killers became men, they tried to live up to all that “Hot Fuss” but ended up taking a detour to “Sam’s Town” instead.
This wasn’t just any detour. It was a more informed, ambitious detour to “Sam’s Town” by way of Asbury Park. You know, The Boss’s Town. Shades of “Born to Run,” and hints of Bono, an admitted major influence to singer Brandon Flowers, are unmistakable here. Flowers is so fervent in his need to entertain, educate and perhaps save us all, that it makes me cringe. He wants it all so badly, you almost want to beg him to remember to drink his milk and take his vitamins, lest he strain himself on all of the overwhelming enthusiasm and desire.
At least Flowers is still humble enough to admit, “…if I only knew the answers, I wouldn’t be bothering you” during “Why Do I Keep Counting?” This show of fallibility is surprising, given his infamous boast to MTV earlier this year that “Sam’s Town” was, “one of the best albums in the past 20 years. There's nothing that touches this album." Such excessive sentiment is no surprise considering the town whence he came.
As concept albums go, you might as well go big or go home, and while “Sam’s Town” felt like it was just too much too soon for this young band on its sophomore sojourn on wax, the potential for a grand circus of a show was not lost on me. It’s an album of rock songs with big ideas, or rather big rock songs with ideas; thankfully Wednesday night proved to me the latter notion. A detour to “Sam’s Town” was indeed a trip worth taking; even it’s just for a day.
Having seen The Killers twice for their rounds with “Hot Fuss,” I was pleased to see how much thought went into bringing “Sam’s Town” to life on stage. It was straight out of what you would assume a grand show would be like in Tombstone. Complete with theatre curtains, all manner of spotlights and kitschy streamers, this was so much more than just a presentation, this was a band intent on announcing itself as being fully realized and fully alive. The shiny metallic backdrop of “Hot Fuss” is gone, paving the way for the arrival of grown, married men who have done their musical homework.
Strutting out last behind his bandmates, (guitarist Dave Keuning, drummer Ronnie Vanucci and bassist Mark Stoermer) Brandon Flowers, now 25, has become a dandy of a showman, with all the grandiosity of a seasoned professional. His nose high in the air as he surveyed the massive cheering crowd, not with a look of gratitude, but as confirmation that the band has lived up to exactly what he always thought it would.
Opening with “Sam’s Town” proved that Flowers now has full control of his vocals, eschewing the overextension of earlier tours. “Enterlude” although a tad silly on record, became a surprisingly sweet crowd sing-a-long. Hit single “When You Were Young,” a tune I feel is a perfect example of that line The Killers perfectly straddle— mixing Bruce Springsteen and Depeche Mode in tone and topic—was positively incandescent. Who cares what those jaded critics think? It’s the fans that matter, and they love this shimmery ode to adolescent puppy love more than you could imagine.
(Image courtesy of JCP for Interference.com)
The song that exposed The Killers to the world, “Somebody Told Me,” found Flowers gracefully gliding around the stage with the ease of a veteran rocker. You’d never know that this once was a guy who had a modest stage presence and was content to stick to the safety of his keyboard. Touring with U2 and observing Bono every night has paid off; there is no lack of confidence here, just warmth and sincerity and megalomania for days. He’s confrontational now, no longer awkward or too shy to look the audience in the eye.
A decadent “Smile Like You Mean It” gave way to new single “Bones” and its vocal acrobatics, a trademark touch of “Sam’s Town.” While cringe-worthy on record, the booming choral style worked well in concert, without feeling like a hack Queen redux.
“Jenny Was a Friend of Mine” was as stately as it comes, and I couldn’t help but wish that instead of the Wild West vibe of “Sam’s Town,” The Killers had followed the implied murder mystery vibe of this tune. That however would have called for them to delve deeper and deeper into an eyeliner and gothtastic teen spirit, and in light of current flavors My Chemical Romance and 30 Seconds to Mars, they’d only seem like a tasty side dish, instead of a band hell bent on forming its own identity as men with a mission.
If a thumping “Uncle Jonny” was the perfect example of the scope and vision of “Sam’s Town,” a lurching and punchy “Andy, You’re a Star” (a tune that has always felt like a distant cousin of Iggy Pop’s “Nightclubbing” to me) was the undeniable gateway to it. A deep album cut from “Hot Fuss,” “Midnight Show” was fantastically melodramatic leading to a soaring “Mr. Brightside,” a ditty that I contend is one of the best classic pop songs of the last quarter century. If the jumping and ecstatic audience was any indication, they unanimously agreed with me.
(Image courtesy of JCP for Interference.com)
It was, however, the grand finale of “All These Things That I’ve Done,” that sealed the deal for this writer and the exuberant audience. Despite the critique this one takes because of the delicate and revealing refrain “I got soul but I’m not a soldier,” this is a song that lets The Killers shine and run on all cylinders. Arguably a treatise on modern masculinity, the men in the audience were the loudest and most emotional here; arms reaching out, fists pumping, eyes closed as they sang in acknowledgement and acceptance of not being as tough as their steely and distant fathers and grandfathers, but still very much vital men.
“Exitlude” bid us a final farewell as “Sam’s Town” closed up shop for the day. I didn’t think I would say this, given my reaction to its inclusion on the record, but I get it now. When escapism is this delicious, you can’t deny that “outside the sun is shining, seems like heaven ain’t far away.”
For more information on The Killers, visit the official website. Read Interference.com’s review of “Sam’s Town” here. Carrie Alison can be reached at carrie@interference.com.
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Makes me want to see them live. 
