The Killers in concert

Well, way back in the beginning of this blogging adventure, I devoted a whole blog to the fact that I had actually bought a CD. I had bought 'Hot Fuss' by The Killers. So I was sooo excited when I heard they were coming to Edmonton for a concert. The first round of tickets sold out long before I ever had the chance to get at them, but a major venue change from Red's to the Shaw Conference Centre meant redemption, and this time I made good.

Tonight's adventure started with a 20 minute wait outside of the Shaw in the freezing rain/hale storm blowing over us. Oh lovely, it's now an all-ages show, meaning the city's teenagers, a group that already drives me nuts, are out in full force and are making me wish desperately that I could have my tubes tied right now.

We got in, and right off the bat headed for the merchandise booth. Huge error. They didn't organize anything for the merch booth, so 200 people were pushing, shoving, cramped, and squished. Scores of teenagers were eagerly thrusting forward to get their hands on hot pink t-shirts and studded belts with "The Killers" belt buckles, regardless of the fact that they were actually pushing the booth into the wall behind it.

We managed to get our t-shirts and escape relatively unscathed, though the fact was not lost on me that that crowd waiting around the souvenirs would be like a pedophile's wet dream...all that grabbing and rubbing in the name of "tight quarters", and I silently thanked my lucky stars that I was not a teenager anymore. We made our way into the hall to catch most of the set by Tegan and Sarah, the opening act. They are talented girls, but they suffer the same problem most opening acts do...shitty sound. Tegan's mic levels were too low, and I swear the girls were almost eating the mics sometimes instead of singing into them. It was nearly impossible to understand the lyrics, but all the same, they were an excellent choice to open the show.

I was quite ready for The Killers when they took the stage at 8:40, and they started with 'Jenny was a friend of mine', so I'm thinking all's cool. By the fourth song in, I realized that the band wasn't interacting at all with the audience. The set was fantastic, the lineup of songs was well-choosen, but Brandon (lead vocals/synthesizers) said almost nothing to the audience outside of occasionally announcing a song title. Now, I'm still a huge fan because they've got a sound that works for me, but I was truly unimpressed with this behaviour. At one point, I leaned over to Rod and shouted to him that I likened this concert to "Married Couple Sex"--brief, perfunctory, and very much the sense of 'Just get it over with'. If I was their label manager, I'd be worried because their showmanship skills are lacking. The concert ended just minutes before 10 pm.

Now, here's my quandry...how do I rate the show? The fact that they just played and buggered off is a huge mistake in my book, but the part that I pay to see...the real substance, the reason I go to shows, is to see talent. I measure the real abilities of a performer/band by their ability to sound similar to their album. To me, that means that they can actually carry a tune outside of a studio where they can be "fixed up." I have very little respect for so-called artists who use backup tracks during a show...I didn't pay my money to hear something I could have played at home on my stereo for free. And don't hand me any bullshit about needing them during heavy dance routines...if I wanted to see dance routines, I'd buy tickets to the ballet instead. Also, if broadway performers can master the duality of singing and dancing at the same time without the use of backup tracks, get off your millionaire lazyasses and learn already.

But I digress.

As I was saying, it's the sound that I base my judgements on, and The Killers sounded fantastic. Very similar to the album, but subtle enough changes in concert to show that it's a real voice, not tinned, piped-tracks.

I guess all I can say is that I eagerly await the next album, as they were performing tracks that aren't on the debut album, but I'll beware for the next time. Read the concert reviews, see if other shows are the same, or maybe this was just a really off night.