Is this real life?: something to chew on: concert review

The killers: Battle Born tour

Alpharetta, GA 8/15/2013

To many it's no secret that the Vegas native band THE KILLERS are known for their over the top performances, but who could blame them? Wouldn't the fact that they are from sin city have something to do with this? Showmanship is in their blood and with that comes a passionate fire that hits you like a raging bull as you watch Brandon Flowers pour his heart and soul out of his lungs, Ronnie Vannucci play the drums with force of a lightning bolt, Dave Keuning embark on epic guitar solos as if he was the long lost child of Robert Plant and finally Mark Stoermer, the gentle giant, let him self go in his powerful bass lines. If you are to go to one of their shows you are sure to have your mind blown. Confetti, Lasers, powerful Sing alongs, fireworks and even a little bit of a mosh pit that is what you are in for. This show is not for the faint of heart. The georgia show has been said to have been one of their best shows on this final leg of their US Battle Born tour. With a crowd of almost 7000 people and an array of fans crying their hearts out to beautiful sing alongs like that of "All these things that I've done" and "When you were young" I put myself in an emotional roller coaster that you are bound to ride if you attend one of their upcoming shows.

It started out with a kiss as all four appear on stage to the beat of Eminence front by The Who. A very clean cut Flowers wearing his famous leather moto jacket and all in black in his Americana 50's style. Same goes for Ronnie, Dave and mark all in black and a minimalistic look. As soon as they hit the stage no further introductions are made just a couple of waves and they cut to the chase going on to play their hit Mr.Brightside. The crowd goes wild as they jump around to the rythm of the 2004 single. As soon as that is over They proceed to a small and brief introduction of themselves quickly moving on to the heart pounding spaceman and pumping the crowd up for whats to come in the next 2 hours.

Things cool down after the first two songs as they move on to The way it was and Smile like you mean it. Brandon sings the line "change your ways while you're young" as he points to a young man in the crowd ironically smoking a joint. Coincidence? I think not.

A small part of Human is played acoustically on the piano by Flowers then once again the crowd gets fired up as they move on to Bling and Shadowplay, Their joy division cover featured in Sawdust. Once there a holographic laser show beyond your wildest dreams begins. It went from a killers concert to a full on rave in a matter of seconds. Truly worthy of the song and their fans pennies. Something that will leave you speechless and that you will want to repeat over and over again.

Things take another turn for the unexpected as they go on to Miss Atomic Bomb. That is where the pyro starts and the smoke goes off leaving you startled yet full of an unbearable excitement that you wished never ended. Afterwards they go on to play Human and one of their classics Somebody told me.

Once again things cool down, most likely to prevent the heart attacks of screaming fangirls. Be still Is next. A soft and melodic song that brandon wrote for his son. Continued by the very popular For reasons unknown. The one and only song where flowers plays something other than the piano or synth. As He grabs his black and white fender bass, Mark Stoermer quickly switches to second guitar. moving on to From here on out, a western themed tune from Battle born, where the crowd goes insane as brandon proceeds to this next statement "It's a thursday night here in georgia but it seems like a saturday night."

Moving on to Dustland Fairytale (Flowers's favorite masterpiece) and to a crowd favorite, Read my mind. They move on to one of their latest singles Runaways, finally going on to play All these things that I've done (a personal favorite) a song that is sure to leave a cathartic effect as you chant "I got soul, but i'm not a soldier" There is no larger moment in the night than this one, definitely a crowd favorite as everyone is sure to sing along, but the most epic part begins when the confetti canons blast full force into the fans leaving a rain of bolts and k's above them that make a great memento afterwards.

The killers leave the stage for a brief moment only to come back with a surprise. They are accompanied by The virgins (their opening band) to perform a cover of Neil Young's Albuquerque. It's a heart felt moment that ends with hugs and handshakes from all band members. They move to Jenny was a friend of mine, a classic of their so called murder trilogy. Finally left to perform Battle Born. Filled with once again pyro and smoke, it leaves you speechless as flowers does the next thing. He goes on to introduce all band members including the touring musicians (Ted Sablay and Jake Blanton) who go on to perform a solo with their instruments, but the best is yet to come. As one thinks the song is over Flower's walks to the left edge of the stage and proceeds to put his wedding ring in his pocket then he suddenly walks off and down to the barrier. Accompanied by a set of 3 bodyguards who hold hem back, he walks across the barrier shaking his "victims" hands as he is groped and basically pulled apart by everyone. He quickly gets back on stage after the massive amount of hands that were laid on him. Once again he cuts to the chase, as if he was used to these kinds of situations, and goes on to ask the crowd if something was missing. "I feel like something is missing, do you know what it is?" Suddenly you are struck by the power chords of When you were young where the crowd goes in a frenzy of joy. That quickly becomes a goodbye with all members and musicians moving forward to the stage, bowing and saying their final words to their fans and Ronnie Vannucci throwing about 4 drumsticks into the crowd. Just like that in the blink of an eye the concert was over, leaving a memorable moment in the heart of all of its spectators.

So if yo have not had the pleasure to attend a Killers show, I strongly suggest that you do now, it'll be the experience of a lifetime! Though they only have 3 North America dates left (Canada, Missouri and Las Vegas) Then several Asia and Middle East shows, if it's not the Battle Born tour that you get to see there is always a next time, with rumors of a new album dropping in by 2014.