The Killers final night (8 May) of their Australian ‘Wonderful Wonderful’ tour opened with the song that lent its name to the tour as well as their 2017 chart-topping album, amid a burst of colour and an energetic rumble from the 11,000 strong crowd.
“You gotta send us back across that Pacific Ocean with smiles on our faces; we can do it – tonight is the night!”
Frontman Brandon Flowers projected powerful lines effortlessly such as “If I go with you by my side, can it be the way it was [tonight],” from 2012 ‘Battle Born’ hit ‘The Way It Was’, all the while strutting around the stage in a tailored, metallic jacket like only he would know how.
“Pulling off a rock show ain’t easy; Evil Knievel used to say people spend their hard-earned money to see the attempt not the perfect landing, and we’re going to attempt to pull this off for you tonight,” Flowers said.
Of course, the show would not be complete without performances of ‘Somebody Told Me’ and ‘Smile Like You Mean It’. But it was the 2008 album ‘Day & Age’ that shone on the night with road-trip favourite ‘Human’ and a tribute to their home town Las Vegas, Nevada, with background images of the American desert during ‘A Dustland Fairytale’.
But their home town wasn’t the only one to be featured on the night. The crowd went wild when the band launched into the opening chords of an Australian national treasure. Their tribute to Australia with INXS’s ‘Don’t Change’ had the entire arena glowing under red lights.
Yet another exciting moment featured a local Adelaide man, now humbly known as Tim. 2006 track ‘For Reasons Unknown’ found Tim, from the audience, and his homemade sign coming up to play drums with the band.
Tim left the stage with the audience chanting his name. “You might be able to teach Ronnie a few things – please someone get this guy a t-shirt or something?!” Flowers chuckled.
A strong selection of songs from their newest and fifth consecutive studio album to top the UK albums chart were scattered throughout the show: ‘The Man’, ‘Run For Cover’ and ‘Tyson vs. Douglas’ were amazing additions.
“We started off with 300-odd people in the crowd all those years ago, but we had faith in this song and now here we are tonight with over 11,000 of you singing along,” Flowers said of ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’.
After leaving the stage to relentless screams, they returned to play a massive four-song encore; with Brandon sporting a gold-bedazzled suit.
‘Mr Brightside’ ended the show in spectacular fashion; one which none of us wanted to end. It was a phenomenal show and I feel privileged to have been able to witness it.
Each of the four ‘Wonderful Wonderful’ musicians definitely proved themselves to be ‘The Man’.
