On Sunday April 19th, 2009, those in attendance at San Jose State’s Event Center were treated to a concert by The Killers. The natives of Las Vegas, Nevada played before a sold-out crowd of 4,000 people. The Killers first achieved success in 2004 with their hit singles “Somebody Told Me” & “Mr. Brightside.”Before the main attraction could take the stage, an up and coming band by the name of Wild Nights performed a ten song set from their debut album. After their performance, the opening band thanked the Killers for bringing them on their world wide tour, and their front man asked the crowd if “they were ready for a F**ing great rock show,” which of course brought great approval from the crowd. The eager crowd had to wait approximately 15 to 20 minutes for The Killers to start their performance. Stage hands or “Roadies” took to the stage, tuning guitars, finishing setting up the stage, and getting everything else ready for The Killers.
Soon after the preparations were completed, the lights dropped and the band took the stage, lead by front man Brandon Flowers. Too the roar and thunder of the capacity crowd, the band began the night playing their current hit single “Human” off of their album “Day & Age.” I was in the front of the crowd in the middle of the mosh pit, and could tell from the start that this was going to be a fun show as you could feel the drum beats bang in your chest.
Flowers did a great job of getting the crowd excited, as he would fall to his knees as if to imply how much pain was behind his lyrics, getting screams of approval from the ladies in attendance. He also would jump onto the large speakers set up in the front of the stage and point the microphone at the crowd, as they would chant the choruses to the bands songs. Behind the band, a large screen was set up which played video to accompany the music, as well as a massive array of lights that glided across the stage like a composers hand before an orchestra.
Although the band primarily played songs from the “Day & Age” album, they also play some of their hit singles that have brought then to worldwide recognition. Songs like “All the Things That I’ve Done,” “Smile Like You Mean It,” “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine,” and “When We Were Young” were performed, with Flowers dedicating the last song to the crowd of predominantly college students and teens.
After their 10th song ended, two giant balls of fire shooting from the back of the stage, and the band went backstage for a break. The crowd still roaring began to chant for the band to return, as they did to the sound of even more screaming and applause. After their final song, confetti shot out of mini canons set in front of the stage, and sparks poured from behind the stage like rain, making a huge wall of fire. The lights came on, and people began to poor out. The crowd was clearly content as they were still cheering as the masses left the Event Center.
Personally I had a great time at the show. I’ve been a fan of the band ever since their breakout in 2004, which was my senior year of high school. When the band played those two songs, “Somebody Told Me,” and “Mr. Brightside,” I was transported back in time to where I was in my life five years ago, a naïve seventeen year old about to graduate high school and just discovering himself and the real world, feeling a massive sense of nostalgia in the process.
It was the complete concert experience; Good music, a ruckus audience, crowd surfing, mosh pits, and that hint of marijuana smoke in the air. I had left the concert with a lost voice, a ringing in my ears that lasted three days, and happiness for just having seen one of my favorite rock bands.
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