Tag: The Killers

The Killers 4/3/16

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(a) setlist

    1. Runaways
    2. Spaceman
    3. The Way It Was
    4. Smile Like You Mean It
    5. Bling (Confession of a King)
    6. Shadowplay (Joy Division cover)
    7. Somebody Told Me
    8. Human
    9. Glamorous Indie Rock ‘n’ Roll
    10. Uncle Jonny
    11. Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry cover)
    12. For Reasons Unknown
    13. A Dustland Fairytale
    14. Read My Mind
    15. All These Things That I’ve Done
    16. Mr. Brightside

Encore:

  1. Shot at the Night
  2. Change Your Mind
  3. When You Were Young

(b) highlights

  • Glamorous Indie Rock ‘n’ Roll (!!!!!!!!)
  • one of the best opening bands The Killers have ever had: The Struts. LOOK. THEM. UP. [They were so good that half of the Killers, their crew, and a bunch of others literally came out on the stage wings to watch. Like, WOW.]
  • Uncle Jonny – the way the band has extended the outro before the final verse = HEAVEN
  • Johnny B. Goode was so rad, especially with The Struts’ lead singer
  • “desert people”
  • Ronnie Vannucci Jr.
  • the entire damn show, as always

(c) lowlights

  • the band played On Top the night before – that would’ve been a cool addition here
  • every day I pray for Believe Me Natalie, my god, do I pray for that song live
  • pretty much nothing, to be honest

(d) overall thoughts

I’ve seen The Killers a lot. Like, a lot. They’re my favorite band of all time and I’ve been consistently seeing them live since 2005. I’ll never not love them and will defend them until the ends of the Earth, so hearing people say things like, “Hot Fuss is their only good album” and “‘Mr. Brightside’ is their only good song” makes me want to projectile vomit. My friends and I flew to Tempe, Arizona from NYC for their warm-up show in preparation of opening the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, their hometown.

It’s difficult to thoroughly talk about this band without getting emotional and blabbering, but this scrapbook is about the memories. And my memories were this: they were amazing. As always. They sounded perfect. As always. They looked perfect. As always. This was one of their first real shows in about 8 months; Brandon Flowers spent most of 2015 preoccupied with his second solo album, The Desired Effect, and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. kicked around a second album Straight In No Kissin’ with his side project bros Big Talk. Despite the time away, it appeared that nothing had been lost in term’s of performance quality. As always.

Bottom line: I waited in line for about 21 hours to see my favorite four guys and I would/probably will do the whole thing again. They were perfect, as always.

 

New Order 3/10/16

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(a) setlist

    1. Singularity
    2. Ceremony
    3. Academic (live debut!)
    4. Crystal
    5. 5 8 6
    6. Tutti Frutti
    7. Restless
    8. Your Silent Face
    9. People On The High Line
    10. Bizarre Love Triangle
    11. Waiting For The Sirens’ Call
    12. Plastic
    13. The Perfect Kiss
    14. True Faith
    15. Temptation

Encore:

  1. Atmosphere (Joy Division cover)
  2. Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division cover)

(b) highlights

  • basically the entire setlist
  • new material sounding just as resonant and memorable as the classics
  • Bernard Sumner wearing his own band’s shirt
  • crying during “Crystal”
  • seeing one of my all-time favorite bands ever for the second time
  • Radio City Music Hall bathrooms = phenomenal

(c) lowlights

  • Bernard made the crowd choose between hearing “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and “Blue Monday” cause the set ran over; everyone chose LWTUA, I wanted BM 😦
  • they didn’t play my faaaaaavorite song off their newest incredible album Music Complete, “Superheated”
  • the crowd was lame

(d) overall thoughts

I saw New Order for the first time at Lollapolooza in 2013 and their 2015 album Music Complete was one of my favorites of the whole year. I was psyched for this show. Musically, I wasn’t let down for the most part. My heart will never not implode upon hearing the first few notes of “Crystal” – a song whose music video forever immortalized my favorite band’s origin story. “Bizarre Love Triangle” will never not make me dance, “Ceremony” will never not make my heart race, and “True Faith” will never not transport me back to the summer of 2005 when I first really got into New Order. All Joy Division tracks live feel beautifully bittersweet live (though I always die a bit inside when those songs in particular are over-saturated with laser beams and flashing lights – is that an ironic homage to Ian Curtis??). Nobody could deny that newer tracks “Tutti Frutti” and “Restless” could remain setlist staples for the rest of the band’s career.

I was disappointed by the crowd, who was understandably older but confusingly refused to dance. Quit paying $$$ to sit down/stand still at concerts, people. Please stop. Would’ve love to hear the newer gem “Superheated” featuring The Killers’ Brandon Flowers and the classic “Blue Monday,” but curfews ruin everyone’s fun. The production and video graphics were top-notch, as always. New Order are truly unparalleled musicians in their ability to integrate visual art into their live performance. Would’ve been great to photograph from up-close, but I was further back in the orchestra.

Bottom line: The new material unarguably stands alongside the classics, Bernard Sumner feels like a teddy bear you want to hug, New Order should give their visual art designer a raise, and people need to start dancing more at shows.

 

Halloweentown / Romance Fantasy 4/8/16

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(a) setlist

The best part about seeing local Las Vegas bands led by local Las Vegas legends is that no one knows the setlist and no one cares.

(b) highlights

  • finally hearing songs I remember downloading off Myspace circa 2006
  • the Bunkhouse Saloon atmosphere: two parts broken-neon-cowboy, one part hip Downtown Vegas makes for a sweet spot
  • good ole fashion rock ‘n’ roll with a dusty country hint

(c) lowlights

  • taking photos in this venue feels impossible when the lighting is so fickle and makes every photo look exposed to UV rays; (ironic that lights were lowlights, yeah?)

(d) overall thoughts

I discovered both Halloweentown (fronted by the infamous Ryan Pardey aka the Captain aka Bad Santa [see: several different Killers’ Christmas music videos]) back in 2006 when Ryan spent his time touring with The Killers, and Romance Fantasy (fronted by Ryan’s brother Rod Pardey aka Michael Valentine [see: a wonderful b-side on an iconic Killers album]) through osmosis over the years. Romance Fantasy had a bit of a Southern California-beachy rock ‘n’ roll vibe with comforting vocals and catchy choruses – though I’m a Beach Boys fan, so I dig that. Halloweentown tapped into country soul; every song had heart and a story, if you know what I mean.

Bottom line: Loved the local cowboy vibe of the venue, the good ole fashioned rock ‘n’ roll tunes, and hope the Bunkhouse Saloon stays open for the foreseeable future.