The Killers - Gig Review 28th August @ Coliseum, Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas NV

The Killers - 20 Years of Hot Fuss
Coliseum, Caesar’s Palace
August 28, 2024

When The Killers announced they would be celebrating the twentieth anniversary of their debut album Hot Fuss with a residency at Caesar’s Palace, my wife and I started planning a trip to Las Vegas. While we waited in the general admission line we kept looking at each other and saying out loud: “We are seeing The Killers in Las Vegas”. We weren’t the only travellers in line, with fans coming from Europe, Asia and South America + all around Canada and the United States. It was eclectic and electric with people buzzing as we entered the Coliseum venue. 

The venue itself is impressive, with three tiers of seating but a relatively small GA area. The stage is so wide though that everyone has a good view. The moment the intro track (a synth version of ‘Mr Brightside’) ends, the band appears in silhouette on the stage and 4,000 people erupt in joyous applause with all of the seated patrons on their feet. 

The first five tracks of Hot Fuss are among the best pop-rock songs of the millennium and seeing them in sequence live is a thrilling experience. It’s just absurd. Opener ‘Jenny Was a Friend of Mine’ is still delivered with drama by frontman Brandon Flowers, who commands the stage. Mark Stoermer’s bass work remains captivating, giving the song a pulsating rhythm. Part of the thrill is seeing the original four members on stage together (Dave Keuning and Mark have largely been absent from touring for several years). There’s a warmth of the banter between them, genuinely enjoying playing together after time apart. 

Flowers paused to reflect on his move from Utah to Nevada in 2001, how he “bet on three guys [he] hardly knew”. Cue the iconic intro riff to ‘Mr Brightside’ and the first of many loud singalongs. The crowd energy is relentless as the band power through ‘Smile Like You Mean It’ and ‘Somebody Told Me’. The original members are joined by touring musicians and backing vocalists for an incredible rendition of ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’. There’s a lengthy audience contribution to the “I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier” refrain, with Flowers serving as conductor. As the song finishes, the band erupts into the chorus of Elvis’ ‘Burning Love’, with Flowers kneeing and mimicking the Priestley arm spins. 

So the first five songs leave most bands in the dust but the crowd’s enthusiasm doesn’t wane as they groove to album tracks ‘Andy, You’re a Star’ and fan favourite ‘On Top’. There’s a bit of a lull during ‘Change Your Mind’ but that’s quickly forgotten when Ronnie Vannucci does a short drum solo as an intro to ‘Believe Me Natalie’, which is accompanied by lasers. There’s a snippet of the Vegas standard ‘Luck Be a Lady’ before the band open the throttle on the high energy ‘Midnight Show’.

There’s a reason the album’s closing tune, ‘Everything Will Be Alright’, hadn’t been performed for nearly two decades prior to this residency. Despite Flower’s introducing it as “the first song I wrote for my now wife”, it’s slow and plodding. It’s a wise decision to end the first set with cult bonus track, ‘Glamorous Indie Rock n Roll’. Flower’s explained: “I wrote a scathing satirical song. Some people heard a joyful celebration of indie rock and roll. It took me 20 years to realise they were right.” It’s met with an appropriately glorious singalong. Stoermer’s bass line is again the highlight. 

The band leave the stage for five minutes with punters hardly heading to the bar in anticipation of their return. 

The second set is pretty much a validation of exactly how great the band have been since their debut. The deep cut ‘This is Your Life’ fits well among the wall-to-wall hits: ‘The Man’, ‘Human’, ‘Caution’. These songs are FM radio staples by arguably the most consistent pop-rock band of the last two decades. Bands like The Black Keys and Kings of Leon had their share of hits, but not like The Killers. At 43, Flowers is at his performance peak, with his energetic rendition of ‘Runaways’ a highlight of the whole night, and the now traditional bridge singalong segueing into one of the best songs of the last twenty years: ‘Read My Mind’ from Sam’s Town. No fan is left wanting from the set’s twenty tracks, despite the fact they’ve overlooked popular songs like ‘Spaceman’, fan favourite ‘A Dustland Fairytale’ and played nothing from the brilliant concept album Pressure Machine. 

It’s not entirely nostalgic though with new single ‘Bright Lights’ getting a rousing crowd roar for each chorus. Written to celebrate the residency, it’s heavy on the Vegas club vibes and suits the atmosphere perfectly. Vannucci counts in Keuning’s riff for ‘When You Were Young’ and it’s a blast of confetti, pyro and smiles all over the stage and in the audience. 

As the band left the stage for a final time, we waited around to score a guitar pick from a security guard (there was absolutely no handing out of setlists). A road manager mentioned the band "would be down under again in December" [Update Aus Tour Announced]. We departed, both of us still grinning ear to ear and kept repeating, “We just saw The Killers in Las Vegas.”

Setlist

Set 1: Hot Fuss

Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
Mr Brightside
Smile Like You Mean It
Somebody Told Me
All These Things That I’ve Done (Elvis Burning Love outro)
Andy, You’re a Star
On Top
Change Your Mind
Believe Me Natalie 
Midnight Show (Luck Be a Lady intro)
Everything Will Be Alright
Glamorous Indie Rock n Roll

Set 2

The Man
Human
The Is Your Life
Caution
Runaways
Read My Mind
Bright Lights
When You Were Young

Review and Photos by KJ Draven (Twitter X and Instagram). 

The Killers in Australia 2024

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