REVIEW: The Killers Rock Liverpool’s 02 Academy Before V Festival
On Friday 15th August, The Killers performed a very special intimate gig at Liverpool's 02 Academy and it was definitely a night to remember!
We were lucky enough to get tickets to the show and it's something we'll certainly treasure for the rest of our lives. The concert was a one-off warm-up show before the band's headline slot at V Festival over the weekend.It's very rare to see such a huge band play a gig at such a small venue and that's what made it so special; it was a real treat for fans. Just over 1,000 tickets were made available and they literally sold out within a minute.
Whilst we were queing, the people behind us told us just how much they'd spent to be there. As they were unable to get tickets on the day of release, they spent £250 for two tickets which is more than double the amount of face value. Tickets originally went on sale at £45 each but we're sure the fans were just glad they got some in the end.
Anyway, we headed into the tiny venue and the room soon filled up. Fans of The Killers, or Victims as they're otherwise known, were out in force and most of them sported t-shirts from the band's previous tours.
The atmosphere was electric and it really was incredible to be surrounded by so many fellow loyal supporters. Before the The Killers even came on, there were massive cheers when event staff removed the cover from the band's trademark lightning bolt microphone. The stand lit-up and changed colour throughout the concert.
It was gig time! The clock hit 8:30pm and The Killers marched onto stage singing 'All You Need Is Love' by The Beatles. It was a lovely tribute to Liverpool as a city which was followed by 'Under The Gun'; an awesome tribute to the fans. The track featured on 'Sawdust', the band's album of b-sides and bonus tracks, and Brandon changed the song's lyrics from 'stupid on the streets of London' to 'stupid on the streets of Liverpool.'
Brandon, Dave, Mark and Ronnie certainly had the crowd in the palm of their hands. The playful 'Spaceman' and anthemic 'The Way It Was' were next on the set list but it was 'Smile Like You Mean It' that really raised the roof. Everyone couldn't help but rock out and sing along to the 'Hot Fuss' single when the Las Vegas group played it.
Aside from their own tracks, The Killers also performed their own rendition of 'Bad Moon Rising' by Creedance Clearwater Revival. We didn't recognise the cover at first but as soon as it kicked in, we realised it was the track played during the season one finale of Supernatural; one of our favourite TV programmes. That's probably not something everyone in the crowd thought about but it sure made us even more excited.
Other highlights from the main section of the show were the: infectiously catchy 'Human', guitar-driven 'For Reasons Unknown', feel-good 'From Here On Out' and the band's greatest hits single 'Shot at the Night.'
For 'From Here On Out', Brandon told everyone to put on their best dancing shoes and that's exactly what we did. The track has a killer country vibe to it worthy of the number one spot in the charts and it's completely different to any other songs The Killers. It never fails to make us smile and we reckon it'd have made a great single.
A special mention has to go to 'A Dustland Fairytale' which was without a doubt our favourite performance of the night. The beautiful ballad means a lot personally to Brandon as he wrote it about: how his parents met, how his dad suffered from alcoholism and how his mum sadly passed away from cancer. Hearing it with such emotion live gave us goosebumps from head to toe. To make it extra special, Brandon sang the 'out here the good girls die' lyrics acapella at the end. It was utterly heartbreaking but phenomenal in every sense of the word.
The final two songs of the main section were: 2012 comeback single 'Runaways' and indie hit 'All These Things That I've Done'. As you can imagine, we and the rest of the audience went crazy when the song got to the 'I got soul, but I'm not a soldier' part. So much, in fact, that we all sang it when we were waiting for The Killers to come back on stage for the encore. There's something about fans all singing in unison that will always give us chills.
For the encore, the band sung four songs. The first two, 'On Top' and 'This Is Your Life', were again treats for the fans as it's not often they're sung live nowadays. But what were the final tracks going to be? The band made sure they went out with a bang by performing two of their biggest hits: 'When You Were Young' and 'Mr Brightside.'
In total, The Killers performed a set which was nearly two hours long and they only spent five minutes of that off stage before the encore. It was an incredible gig but in a perfect world, we'd have made a slight few changes to the set list. We'd have loved to hear their new track 'Just Another Girl' live and more songs from their album 'Sam's Town' would have been great too as it's our favourite The Killers record. In particular, we'd have loved to hear: the title track from the album, 'Bones', 'This River Is Wild' and 'Why Do I Keep Counting?'
It wasn't just us who thoroughly enjoyed the gig either, you could genuinely tell that The Killers had an amazing time performing to the smaller crowd too. As always, Brandon proved that he's a top showman by running around the stage and jumping onto podiums all night long whilst maintaining his flawless and faultless vocals.
One thing we will say though; it got far too hot and sweaty in the venue. With so many people jumping around in such a small place, the temperature soon rose and it wasn't just us in the crowd feeling the heat; Brandon soon removed his jacket a few songs in. Still, we suppose it's another sign that a really good night was had by all.
All in all, we're definitely glad we went to see The Killers again. It was completely different to their last tour which we saw at the Manchester Arena but we'll definitely be going to see them again next time they're here.
We may have to wait a while though because their current gigs are being dubbed as 'The Hiatus' tour which means they'll be taking a break soon. There's also rumours that Brandon Flowers is working on his second solo album so it'll be interesting to see what happens; we just hope The Killers don't disappear for too long.
