The Killers - 01/26/09. My Dream Concert...

Hi,

So, I've been thinking a lot about next Monday. What will it be like? My first concert...My first Killers concert. Being closer than I've ever been to the best band ever, not to mention being closer than ever to the hottest man ever. Finally getting the big rush of hearing "All These Things That I've Done" live, that everyone claims is out of this world. Going crazy to Somebody Told Me. Dancing to Mr. Brightside. Screaming along to Jenny Was a Friend Of Mine. And, the possiblity of meeting the guys face to face. Here's my representation of my perfect 01/26/09(And a test of my writing skills. Admittedly, I'm really bad at writing on saturday mornings...This also won't be very realistic at times). Enjoy my boring, long, song-by-song, Killer-obsessive story.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The car finally stops. "Finally" I think to myself. The car trip took no more than an hour - But it felt like forever. We park in the closest spot to the arena, and I step out. Looking ahead, I see the arena sign, lit up with "The Killers - Live Tonight!" and my heart starts beating at twice its normal pace. Not so far away now, Brandon, Dave, Mark, and Ronnie, are sitting around. And I'm closer to them than ever before. My Mom, Dad, and myself run towards the entrance, me in the lead.

We step in and move to our seat. I take off my jacket, and my Killers sweatashirt. I'm wearing my maroon Killers t-shirts, skinny gray jeans, and maroon Converse. As we begin to sit down, I realised I was sitting behind a particularly tall group of middle aged men. Great. A guy in a Killers t-shirt(A Killers t-shirt that I also own) runs up to us, looking at the group of men in front of us. Out of the blue telling us "Do you want my tickets instead?". I scream, and rudely snatch the tickets out of his hand. I could never have been happier. He said he knew I wouldn't be able to see in those seats, and gladly gives up his tickets.

I run forward, pushing past groups of giggling females, rigid with the anticipation of seeing Mr. Flower's face close up. My seat is 1st row, right in front of the microphone. Seriously, I want to hug that random guy at this point. We wait there for another twenty minutes, and begin to chat with some of the girls next to me.

Anticipation grows, and everyone around me grows silent, bored, and eager. The lights begin to dim, and screams rise at the same rate.



"Ladies and gentlemen...The Killers!" calls from above. Lights on the stage finally rise, revealing an elaborate set. They've used a bright green and black tiger striped backdrop. I was right in front of the giant "K" synthesizer that follows them around on tour. To the right, a black bass guitar is standing. To the left, various Fenders, Gibsons, and an accoustic guitar are set up on stands, and to the back, a large drum set, with "The Killers" written diagonally across the drum, and animal print lining the drums. There are various animal print and animal related stuff across the stage, not to mention countless amps and equipment.



A platform in the center of the stage rises, revealing...None other than, The Killers. Confetti falls from the ceiling, and screams block out all sound. Each member takes his place on the stage. Mark in a fairly simple grey suit and black Converse, Ronnie in a red t-shirt and skinny black jeans. Dave is dressed in an animal print t-shirt, with a large leather jacket that falls to his knees, and skinny black jeans. And Brandon, in his feathery-shoulder suit. I was so close, I could have touched his shoes, but I think better of it. I don't want to make a bad impression.



Brandon waits anxiously for the screams to do die down. He nods towards Dave, and the recognsisabe guitar riff to "Human" begings to play. The screams rise up again, washing out the guitar, drums, and bass completely.



And then come to opening lines "I did my best to notice, when the call came down the line..." and the whole crowd begins to sing along. Predictably, Brandon is singing slightly offtune, and his voice begins to quiver. He soon gets into the swing of things and starts to jump up and down to the bass line. As Brandon does "the punch" and the "salute to devotion" the crowd follows. Before long, every person in the crowd rises up from their seats and begins to dance. My parents look at me like I'm crazy, but I just smile and turn back to...going crazy. As the last few lines of "Human" end, Brandon looks down to his feet, slightly nervous still, and the other men put down their instruments.



My mind is whirling...I can't believe it. I just heard Human live. I gaze up longingly at the band as the readjust themselves for the next song -"Losing Touch". This song is a world away from the punchy pop-ish "Human" and moves between "dark" and "light" throughout the song, leaving the crowd oblivious as what to do. People sing along and, more commonly, just stare up to the band. I watch carefully as Brandon's fingers dance over the keys to his synthesizer, and I begin to scream to the "Impending doom, it must be true" lines. The band hit the last chorus full force and the crowd screams, before dying down to the end of the song.



Brandon begins to introduce the band, stopping every couple of seconds for shouts of "Brandon, I love you!!!" coming from every female in the audience. He smiles and giggles, in his girly way. Before introducing himself, he stops, saying "And I am the romance, and this is the kiss" in the very way he had down countless times before. The crowd screams, as the pretty synth line to "Read My Mind" begins. Stating off slow, the band picks up pace through every line, and the volume of the guitar is turned up loud. When the "guitar solo" is reached, the crowd jumps up and down like there's no tomorrow, as if we were listening to the Sweet Child O' Mine solo.



After the end of the song, Brandon continues with "How about another new song?" and immediatly enters into "The World We Live In". Everyone sings along, and Brandon bends down, singing into his mic, and wanders aimlessly around the stage. "The World We Live" in continues for quite some time, and Brandon makes weary comments into his mic as Dave swithces guitars. Mark steps forward and takes the stage for "Jenny Was A Fried Of Mine". This song truly is Mark's song. The bass washes out the crowd, and shakes the floor. Slighty less showman-y, Brandon walks around the stage, this time screaming into his mic, as the song intends. People around me begin to hum along to the bass line, absentmindedly. Others scream and jump up and down as the singing stops and the bass runs through for another minute to the end of the song.



Brandon picks up his bass, and the crowd shouts even louder still - We all know what's coming. The crowd sing along to "For Reasons Unknown" and Brandon's voice quivers again, under the stain of playing bass at the same time. All eyes are on Ronie as his smashes his cymbals at the end of the song like he's Neal Peart.


After a brief, more mellow(But amazing, nonetheless) accoustic versaion of "Sam's Town" the crowd around begins to sit down. But the band bring them back up for "Neon Tiger" feauting, quite posibly, Brandon's most amazing vocal performance today. He walks slowly around stage stage, carrying his mic with him, singing into the people in the first rows. He walks past me, and I lunge forward. Brandon smiles.

The "so-so single Bones" amazes me. I watch carefully again at Ronnie's drumming skill. During the chorus, my parents, again, stare at me oddly as I sing along. Every girl in the audience smiles at the end as Brandon runs his hands down his body during the final "Don't You Wanna Feel My Bones?" line. Then, comes the crowd pleaser - Somebody Told Me. Everybody dances, everybody goes crazy. We all follow Brandon as he punches in the heavy drum beats at the beginning of the chorus, and watch Dave as he rolls around the floor at the end. After this, the crowd realises this was just a warm up. Brandon smiles, saying "I think you're going to like this one" and Dave starts the guitar to "Mr. Brightside". The crowd screams, and jumps up and twice as much for any song previously. Everyone was expecting this one. And the band give the performance of a lifetime. Brandon runs around the stage, waving his mic stand in the air.

Before the energey can be calmed down, the band jump into "A Dustland Fairytale" my favorite song on Day and Age. I continue to sing and jump up and down, and Brandon looks at me. Smiling, again.

After this, the band continues with a great performance of "Glamarous Indie Rock And Roll", and into their cover of "Romeo And Juliet", originally by Dire Straights, Dave whipping out the accoustic guitar again. Brandon sings beautifully, placing his hand on his heart every now and then. And staring into the eyes of the first row seats - Including mine.

The Killers dive into another crowd favorite - Smile Like You Mean It. Mellow, but thrilling, the crowd continue to sing once more, and I hum along to the amazing synth in the chorus. Then, we enter into another song off Sawdust; Sweet Talk. Dark, mysterious, and powerful, the crowd sings along, but not as energetically as wth previous songs. Towards the end, Brandon stands on the tips of his toes, struggling to reach the high notes.

The band finish the set with a Spaceman, everyone up on their feet singing to the "Uh uh oh oh uh uh oh oh ohh"s every now and again.

For the encore, the band start with "Joy Ride", revealing their saxaphonist coming up from the rising platform during the sax solo. After this, a spectacular performance of "When You Were Young" leaves everyone breathless, with Dave falling to his knees in the solo.

The crowd knows whats coming. Everyone starts singing the famous "I got soul, but I'm not a solider" line before the song can begin. Then, the band give a mind-blowing performance of All These Things That I've Done...A perfect song, to end a perfect concert. Confetti fals from the ceiling again, Brandon looking into my eyes again. That rocked.
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How about we leave it there? I know, it was boring. But that's my dream concert right there. Everything I need in life. Of course, that night would end with meeting the band, autographs, pictures...All of that stuff. But, I would be going off to much there, and it might not be exactly family friendly, meeting them. But, I would meet them. And I would tell them that I love them. And I would hug Brandon if my parents weren't looking.

So, that's about it. Nine days left, nine days left, nine days left...