The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers opening the show with "Mr. Brightside"

Kicking off their North American tour, and fresh off a European stint, The Killers played to a packed Roy Wilkins Auditorium Thursday night.  The Virgins and their brand of "post-punk"  opened up the show, but it was The Killers that dove head-first into getting the whole place riled up.  Dropping easily their most popular song and the radio favorite "Mr. Brightside" right out of the gate, with the lights on, it was like an invitation to the entire venue to be a part of the show, starting NOW.



As soon as the last note of "Mr. Brightside" left the speakers, the place went dark and the show started down a winding path through The Killers catalogue of songs.  From "Spaceman" to the Hot Fuss hit "Somebody Told Me" (a personal favorite) and ending with "All These Things I've Done", the bands diversity and eclectic style was on parade.  It kept you guessing as to what was coming next and gave an ebb and flow feel to the evening. 

It was a cover of Prince's "Purple Rain" that truly stole the show.  They ran right into it during an acoustic duet featuring lead guitarist Dave Keuning and Flowers, and no one saw it coming. It may have taken a few seconds for everyone to realize what was happening, but once they did the place nearly imploded.

There wasn't a ton of conversation from the stage, these guys were there to play, which I appreciate.  When Flowers did decide to speak to the audience it was entertaining.  Proud of their Las Vegas home Flowers insinuated that it may be inevitable that their "Sin City" heritage may corrupt us from Saint Paul, which he referred to as "The Saintly City".  No one in the audience thought a little corruption sounded so bad...  He did also make a special effort to highlight the other band members, letting each get a well deserved moment in the spotlight.


There was no question this was a seriously produced performance.  From Flower's giant lightning bolt keyboard stand to impressive use of lighting, pyrotechnics, and confetti blasters, everything screamed rock show.  When the lightning bolt confetti blew, at the very end of their set, it seemed to fall forever lasting threw the entire encore and was still raining down when the lights came on.  If you weren't having a good time at this point, it was your own fault. 


I hadn't been to The Roy in a while, and I had forgotten what a great venue it is.  Bigger than any club in town, but nothing like a stadium show, you get the large show feel without the echo and sub-par sound.  We caught the show from just about every possible spot in the house, and were unable to find a bad spot.  We ended up taking in the bulk of the show from the back of the floor, just in front of the sound board, the sightlines and sound were perfect.