The Killers

Me again.

Saw Brandon again on Friday in Berlin.

We had a ball down in the front row. There were 11 of us in our "little group" and we all got barrier (and all next to each other) except one of us but she chose to stand behind us rather than be stuck out on the side on the barrier. Brandon greeted the audience with the words "Guten Abend meine Brüder und Schwestern" (good evening my brothers and sisters). He also introduced Hard Enough by saying this is one of the only love songs he's written because he "has trouble writing love songs" - resulting in a collective "awwwww" from the audience and Brandon getting a giggling fit. I hope someone has filmed it... It was lovely. He couldn't speak for a while, then managed to bring out the words "I don't want your sympathy, I just mean it's not easy for me" (or words to that effect). Resulting in another "Awwww" from the audience.

He seemed in a pretty happy mood and the audience and atmosphere was really good. I think having Crossfire near the beginning helped to warm the crowd up. Strangely enough, the best received song off Flamingo (other than Crossfire) was Swallow it. It got a massive cheer and was one big sing-along which quite honestly shocked me. I don't know why but I didn't find Playing with Fire quite as intense as it was in Cologne but I blame the lighting for that. It was pretty screwed during that song. Unfortunately, they left out The clock was ticking. A couple in our group had seen the setlist briefly when they put it out and we knew it was coming so when Brandon and Jake (one of the band) came out alone for the encore we were all like "Oh no, whyyyyy?" because we knew it meant they were just going to play acoustic When you were young.

After the show, we hung around for a while and met the whole band. Except Brandon who disappeared straight into the bus.

So, all in all, a brilliant day of queueing with lovely people and a great concert with a happy Brandon.

Setlist:


Photos:

Thanks so much for posting your reviews and for the pictures! Really appreciate that.
I know, you can't compare Brandon's solo gigs to the Killers - but anyway, I'm interested in your opinion, AreYouAwake: does it feel much different to the band's concerts? Do you miss the other guys?

songbird wrote:

Thanks so much for posting your reviews and for the pictures! Really appreciate that.
I know, you can't compare Brandon's solo gigs to the Killers - but anyway, I'm interested in your opinion, AreYouAwake: does it feel much different to the band's concerts? Do you miss the other guys?

I'm glad I'm on the Expatriate board because I'd never post what I'm about to post on the Killers board but...

It makes you realise how much of TK is Brandon. Sure, he's the front man so it's normal but in other bands, the other members seem more prominent. For example, I couldn't imagine Bon Jovi without Richie Sambora. I never saw Jon solo for that reason (coupled with the fact that I absolutely hated his second solo album and wasn't into BJ when the first one came out). Or Placebo without Stefan Olsdal.

I miss the other band members because of who they are and the experiences I've had with them but ultimately it is Brandon who commands that stage. Of the other three, it's probably Ronnie I miss the most. But I'll tell you something, I don't really realise it during the concert. A lot of people have said going to a Brandon concert makes them miss TK more. For me, it's the other way around. It doesn't make me want them back any less but it does fill the gap.

Does that make sense?

AreYouAwake wrote:

Does that make sense?

Totally does.
So you don't have the urgent need during a Brandon solo gig to shout "hey, play 'Mr Brightside' or 'Sam's Town'!"?

songbird wrote:

AreYouAwake wrote:

Does that make sense?

Totally does.
So you don't have the urgent need during a Brandon solo gig to shout "hey, play 'Mr Brightside' or 'Sam's Town'!"?

No, because I really don't want them to. That would be weird. It'd be like a cover band. That's why I'm pleased that the two Killers songs they do play are completely reworked versions of the original. WYWY is an acoustic version and Losing Touch is a bit funkier.

Madrid on Saturday..... My first gig in Spain, I'm quite excited.

I flew to Madrid for Saturday's show. As I was accompanied by my husband, I knew right from the start that I wasn't going to be anywhere near the front as he doesn't queue.

After a day's sightseeing in horrendous weather, we went to the venue about 8.00 pm. I really liked the location, the first thing I noticed were the palm trees at the main bar at the back of the auditorium. Of course, I'm sure they're always there but it was a nice touch.



We positioned ourselves at the bar, next to the sound desk where we had a pretty good view.

The concert was great. Brandon had so much energy and his smiles were obvious right from the back. The crowd was fantastic! Everyone seemed to know the words to every song, it was really impressive. Lots of jumping, dancing and clapping, even right at the back. The Only the Young "dance" got a BIG cheer and you could see quite a lot of people joining in.

My photos are crap so I'm not going to post them but here's the setlist. No surprises - although the poor girl next to me at the bar kept screaming out for Jacksonville, bless her. It was good to see The Clock was Tickin' again after Brandon took it off the setlist in Berlin.



Next up: London, Birmingham and London...

very nice review and pictures.

you are even more crazy than i am ^^

have fun at the rest of his tour!

I will! Last night in Liverpool, he finally changed the setlist and played Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas and a cover of Helter Skelter. Wish I'd been there.

Next up London-Birmingham-London.
Three days of Brandon in a row

Review London, 17.10.2010

I realised fairly early that it was going to be a relaxed affair for me with no queueing. Which it was, apart from a few logistical challenges throughout the day. I arrived at Stansted at 12.20, got to the venue about 1.30 and chatted to friends in the queue before I left to take my case to my parents' house. As a result of various public transport failures, I realised I wasn't going to get back before doors officially opened at 7. Which was a problem because I didn't actually have my ticket. Luckily some of my friends were in a pub nearby and kindly went to the queue to get my ticket off the lady who had it. When I finally arrived at the venue and met up with the others, I heard that the soundcheck was still going on and saw that the queue hadn't moved and was now 4 blocks long... We finally got in and had time buy drinks and settle ourselves to the very far left just before the support band Transfer started.

I didn't think the crowd was that great. I'm sure at the front the atmosphere was incredible but when you're further away with a view of the whole venue, you have a different impression. I also thought Brandon was a tiny bit on autopilot compared to other gigs I've been to. I still had a great time and it was lovely seeing so many familiar faces.

Review Birmingham, 18.10.2010

I thought the Birmingham concert was terrific. We got there about 1 pm and joined what became the o2 priority queue. I'm not going to go into all the mixed messages about being able to wait in that queue and the fact that we got held up when doors opened for whatever reason and saw the parallel queue streaming past us... At the end of the day, we still got barrier and I was right in front of the lovely Shaun from Transfer, so all was good.

We met Brandon when he arrived at the venue in the afternoon. He didn't take any pics but he did sign some people's stuff and shook our hands. It was my 15th Killers/ Brandon show and that made it extra special.

The concert was great, Brandon seemed in a really good mood and apart from the occasional high pitched scream and "I love you" shouts while Brandon was talking from a few fangirls who seemed to think they were at the Bruno Mars / Travie McCoy concert next door, the audience was excellent.

We waited outside after the show - at a different exit to everyone else as we were convinced he wouldn't come out with that many people there and thought he might make a quick getaway in a taxi (maybe to return later as I think he did in London the night before). When we heard the screams and saw the camera flashes we realised he had come out where the others were. We wandered up to take a look but he was inside the bus already.

We hung around chatting for a while a few metres away from the bus as the crowd gradually left. A few other people stayed outside the bus door in the hope that Brandon would come out again. Everytime someone went into or out of the bus they asked if they could ask Brandon to come out again. Everytime the answer was no. Then eventually they started knocking on the door of the bus, shouting Brandon, Brandon. That was our cue to leave. It was freezing and wet and we were tired and we didn't want to be associated with such behaviour if any of the crew saw what was going on. So we uttered a few choice words at the morons who were banging on the bus and left. Only to see them taking photos through the darkened windows of the bus when we reached the bottom of the street. Seriously, WTF?

Review London, 19.10.2010

Another rather disastrous doors policy meant that loads of people who had been queueing for ages missed out on front row. Basically at door time they split the queue into men and women and there were a lot more women there than men... I still managed to get barrier and save a spot for my friend Nicola who followed a few minutes later. The concert was great. There are actually no words to describe it. Brandon was on top form and the audience was totally up for it. He'd been soundchecking Human and Mr. Brightside during the afternoon but he'd done that before and nothing came of it so we took it with a pinch of salt. However, when Only the Young was left out of the main set list and he went straight from Swallow it to Playing with Fire, we thought something special might happen. During the break before the encore, a white keyboard got wheeled onto the stage and Nicola and I started to get even more excited. Brandon came back on stage and proceeded to introduce Stuart Price before launching into Human with Stuart playing acoustic guitar. They then played Only the Young (which Stuart had produced) and ended with the remix version of Mr. Brightside. That brought the house down as you can imagine.

Waited afterwards chatting to friends and saw Brandon leave the venue with Stuart in a taxi.

Amazing end to what has been a fabulous tour.

Wow, this all sounds too good! Thanks for posting all that stuff, dear AreYouAwake! Most of the times I'm too lazy to post concert reviews, so I really appreciate what you're doing.

slut tomorrow in cologne!
blood red shoes in the netherlands on friday and blood red shoes again on sunday in düsseldorf <3

but wont and never will make such reviews as are you awake did. i love them! but like jana already said: too lazy haha

but thank u so much for the insight! esp. for those who wanted to see brandon but couldnt!

So... 17 shows later and I FINALLY got a photo with Brandon Flowers. Happened in Stuttgart in April and was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. They were arriving for soundcheck just as I was walking past the back entrance to go to my car to get something...



And while I was about it, I asked these two gentleman for a photo too:



I've been lucky enough to see the Killers at every one of their European shows this year and they've all been special in their own way. Also caught a few Brandon solo shows as well

lovely pictures! after so many gigs, you totally deserve it =))
but they were quite busy and in a hurry or enough time for a tiny chat?

molkoqueen wrote:

lovely pictures! after so many gigs, you totally deserve it =))
but they were quite busy and in a hurry or enough time for a tiny chat?

They are always busy just before sound check but got a chance to say great to see you back and all that stuff.

I did however have a rather funny experience in Offenbach the other week after Brandon's solo gig. He came back to the bus after dinner much earlier than we expected (about midnight) and took pictures with everyone waiting (quite a big group) and signed everything people had, very gracious and patient (and he said to me "nice to see you again, how are you doing?" and I was like )...

Anyway, most people left after getting their photo and stuff signed but we were waiting for a friend to be picked up. After she'd been picked up safely, my friend and I started walking past the bus towards the back entrance to see if we could find Brandon's tour manager who I wanted to speak to for various reasons (he's also Transfer's manager btw). Brandon's band was still hanging around chatting. Anyway, as we walked past them, a voice from the group said "Goodnight" and we turned round and saw it was Brandon! So I said "Oh, you're still here then?" and we wanted to keep going because there was no sign of the tour manager (Jeremy). But then I thought, oh stuff it. And turned back to the group and said "Oh, Brandon, one thing. Is Jeremy about?" and he looked totally surprised that I wanted to see Jeremy! He said "Oh he's busy backstage. Why?" so I said what I wanted to speak to him about and he was like "Well, he'll be busy for a while but I'll pass on the message". I said thanks and then we left. Obviously I did not think that he'd pass on the message so I emailed Jeremy anyway. And of course he hadn't passed it on. But it was just really funny because a) Brandon spoke to us first b) he seemed rather surprised when I didn't want anything more from him but rather from Jeremy! A bit surreal.

those kinda experiences are great =))

shame about brandons mind tho.. or lazyness ;)