MUSIC: THE KILLERS

Fans smile like they mean it as The Killers perform in San Diego.

By Carlin Nguyen

From the infamous city of Las Vegas, the band, The Killers, came and rocked the house at the Viejas Arena down in San Diego last Friday night. At a capacity of about 6,000 seats, the alternative rock band played to the packed crowd inside the arena. Most fans ranging from young high school kids to recent college graduates came to see the band’s first return to San Diego since their appearance at 2007 at San Diego’s Street Scene Music Festival.

From the get-go, the drum stomping of “Mr. Brightside” set the pace for the nearly-packed crowds inside the arena.

Frontman and lead vocals Brandon Flowers wasted no time as he saluted the fans before wooing them with “For Reasons Unknown.” He grabbed each and every member of the crowd’s attention. including me.

During the song “A Dustland Fairytale,” Flowers had no trouble playing alongside Dave Keuning (lead guitar) during the solos and melodies of the song. They apparently practiced their stage appearance beforehand.

Their familiarity to style and body language was also transparent from their infamous music videos straight onto the stage when playing “Read My Mind.” The individual performances from bass guitarist Mark Stoermer and drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr. made this song being my favorite sound twice as much better live as it is hearing it on the radio..

The last song they played “When You Were Young” gave the lasting impression to all that life’s still going on and that every moment can potentially count for many.

For myself, there’s nothing to complain when The Killers come and play in California.

By night’s end, the band played a total of a sixteen song setlist including an additional three songs as an encore. All songs played originated from albums Hot Fuss, Sam’s Town, Sawdust and Day & Age. Also, these four albums were written and developed by them.

The bands Halloween Town and The Nervous Wreckords were the opening acts.