The Killers

[DeanoL]

On 7/9/2019 at 1:13 PM, Hugh Jass said:

WTF was that Jimmy Carr business all about?

Dodgy phone-line the first time they tried to book Johnny Marr?

[sisco]

1 hour ago, Ddiamondd said:

Re-watching this in full for the first time – rocket fuel from start to end.

I love that the band have their own redemption arc with the farm: turned down replacing Kylie in 2005, were victims of fortune in 2007, blew the roof off the JP in 2017 with a set they more or less called their best to that point, and then go better that two years later. It's a great story and clearly means the world to Brandon. Good on 'em

 

They were amazing.  Loved every second of it.

[Hugh Jass]

Absolutely smashed it.

Made a few on here look very silly indeed.

[JSmurphy]

It was very good.

[nikkic]

Missing this over Chems was one of my poorer decisions.

They were great and all, but I’d seen them at APE weeks before. 

Pyramid was the place to be Friday and Saturday night. 

[kingcrawler]

27 minutes ago, nikkic said:

Missing this over Chems was one of my poorer decisions.

They were great and all, but I’d seen them at APE weeks before. 

Pyramid was the place to be Friday and Saturday night. 

I’m struggling to think of another year where all three Pyramid headliners were as well received as last year. When they were announced it was probably considered a fairly weak set of headliners compared to the previous few years but all three of them undoubtedly nailed it.

[lighthouse]

Interesting how the Glasto performance was received so good. 

Their Rock Werchter performance in 2018 was garbage. The most disappointing headliner set I've seen in recent years. 

[Crazyfool01]

1 hour ago, nikkic said:

Missing this over Chems was one of my poorer decisions.

They were great and all, but I’d seen them at APE weeks before. 

Pyramid was the place to be Friday and Saturday night. 

My error too although I caught the first two songs before heading to Chems ... vibe was ruined by some idiot ... was going to be my highlight too ... toughest choice in my many festivals 

[dotdash79]

On 7/9/2019 at 1:13 PM, Hugh Jass said:

WTF was that Jimmy Carr business all about?

If you look at the start of the 2017 set he’s on stage then as well. Must be the booking agent in the U.K.  

[incident]

Just now, Ddiamondd said:

also avoid babying the audience with "special" bonuses or overdoing the fuss. You could say that Dave's woah-oahing, Gorillaz resting on a crutch of guest performances, U2 constantly hamming up the fact they had finally made it, Arctics bringing on Dizzee in 07 during an otherwise standard set and so on all were drags in unintended ways. (I enjoyed a lot of those sets but they were far from flawless)

I'm not sure that's correct.

Aside the cringeworthy act of writing a song about a festival they'd never been to (and then leaving it off the set list because they realised it was shit), I don't think U2 did that much different for Glastonbury. Most of the hamming up you could point to - the space shuttle thing comes straight to mind - was all part of their normal tour at the time that they did every night. Gorillaz weren't slated because of all the guests, it's because the set as a whole was a mess - if anything the guests were the one thing people actually liked about it.

Meanwhile, "overdoing the fuss" has worked very well for quite a few acts - Coldplay definitely, especially the last time they played with Gibb, Eavis, and the Viola Beach thing. Stevie Wonder before that as well, with one of the highest regarded Pyramid headline sets I can remember.

[MEGABOWL]

Wish I’d gone to them instead of the Chems. The latter were good but nothing out of the ordinary. This looked a bit special.

[Diamond24]

This was my first Pyramid headliner at my first Glastonbury! It was such a great gig, very special.

[dotdash79]

Having saw them the year before in Bolton we watched the first half hour, then headed over to hot chip via the chems. 
 

watching it back they were quite special 

[Hugh Jass]

It was really nice of them to dedicate that song to @CaledonianGonzo

[dentalplan]

53 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

It was really nice of them to dedicate that song to @CaledonianGonzo

“This one’s for all the haters and fornicators” 

[Madyaker]

On 5/13/2020 at 9:27 PM, Ddiamondd said:

Re-watching this in full for the first time – rocket fuel from start to end.

I love that the band have their own redemption arc with the farm: turned down replacing Kylie in 2005, were victims of fortune in 2007, blew the roof off the JP in 2017 with a set they more or less called their best to that point, and then go better that two years later. It's a great story and clearly means the world to Brandon. Good on 'em

 

Watched a bit of it there and while it’s great I just can’t understand how everyone in the uk and Ireland hasn’t had their fill by now. Set lists are largely the same for the last ten years. I skipped them last year, I enjoyed the gig in JP in 17, amazing atmosphere but 40 mins in I was thinking to myself this is the same gig I saw in 08, 10, 13 etc etc. They don’t seem to evolve and after over a decade singing the chorus to “when you were young” for the umpteenth time becomes a bit of a drag. 
 

I do love how he’s maintaining his voice over the years though. When he sings stuff from hot fuss even these days it sounds better than the record. 

[Tranquility of Solitude]

55 minutes ago, Madyaker said:

Watched a bit of it there and while it’s great I just can’t understand how everyone in the uk and Ireland hasn’t had their fill by now. Set lists are largely the same for the last ten years. I skipped them last year, I enjoyed the gig in JP in 17, amazing atmosphere but 40 mins in I was thinking to myself this is the same gig I saw in 08, 10, 13 etc etc. They don’t seem to evolve and after over a decade singing the chorus to “when you were young” for the umpteenth time becomes a bit of a drag. 
 

I do love how he’s maintaining his voice over the years though. When he sings stuff from hot fuss even these days it sounds better than the record. 

Funnily enough, I loved The Killers, but had never been able to catch them live, so in 2017, when rumours flew around that they were playing John Peel..... I ditched the clash finder, and made my way there, very early. Had to endure Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes beforehand (who were surprisingly brilliant.... that’s Glastonbury!). Was in a great spot inside the tent, and it will forever remain a Glastonbury highlight for me.
Anyway... following year, was only slightly torn between them and The Chems.... thinking was, surely I’d seen the same set the year before? Decision was to go to Pyramid, never regretted it. They were excellent once again, and the different stage, and company.... (was alone in John Peel, had family at Pyramid) made it unforgettable. Again.
 

 

 

[scaryclaireyfairy]

I watched it in full a few weeks ago and I had entirely forgotten about the big sing along to 'Human' mid-set. Not going to lie, it took me right back and made me bawl my eyes out.

Aside from my first festival ('03), last year was the only year that I saw and thoroughly enjoyed all 3 Pyramid headers. It was a cracker.

[zero000]

I'll own up to being one of the detractors when The Killers were booked, for what looked like a very MOR booking for Saturday night. As a compromise with my girlfriend I went along to watch them reluctantly, as she (rightly) argued that I'd seen Hot Chip 10,000 times before and we had tickets for The Chems in December. 

I dragged my reluctant ass along, with a bottle of 2 litres of screwdriver, and what do you know? They absolutely  smashed it out of the park. All killer no filler, perfect set list, great guests and covers and a crowd thoroughly enjoying themselves. It was great. 

Edited May 15, 2020 by zero000

[Hugh Jass]

I thought they set the tone perfectly by opening with Jenny, first track off the album everyone owns, then launching straight into one of their biggest hits.

They didn’t look back.

[giantkatestacks]

The husband and I were talking about this the other day and without any forethought he came out with it was the most enjoyable headlining set he'd been to. <eyebrow raise> it was fun though. Everyone around us in the pit was really joyful. 

[Hugh Jass]

I’ve been thinking about this set a lot since this thread was resurrected trying to determine why I enjoyed it so much...

Conclusion I came to was that the whole thing was pure, unadulterated FUN. Every single person, either on stage or in the crowd seemed to be having a fantastic time. Pretty sure I spent the whole set with a big, dumb grin on my face.

[circus92]

7 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

I’ve been thinking about this set a lot since this thread was resurrected trying to determine why I enjoyed it so much...

Conclusion I came to was that the whole thing was pure, unadulterated FUN. Every single person, either on stage or in the crowd seemed to be having a fantastic time. Pretty sure I spent the whole set with a big, dumb grin on my face.

I think you have hit the nail on the head right there - they may not be hip, but they sure are fun and that is what it is all about.  They get hated on a lot but if you cant have fun at a Killers gig you need to have a look at yourself.  Brandon is a brilliant showman and their set-list's are generally "all Killer, no filler" (sorry for the awful pun!).

I saw them in Belfast 4 days before the Pyramid show in what was effectively a dress rehearsal and absolutely loved it - they were incredible, but I still find myself reading this thread with more than a hint of jealousy that I couldn't have made it to the real thing.

[Ayrshire Chris]

17 minutes ago, circus92 said:

I think you have hit the nail on the head right there - they may not be hip, but they sure are fun and that is what it is all about.  They get hated on a lot but if you cant have fun at a Killers gig you need to have a look at yourself.  Brandon is a brilliant showman and their set-list's are generally "all Killer, no filler" (sorry for the awful pun!).

I saw them in Belfast 4 days before the Pyramid show in what was effectively a dress rehearsal and absolutely loved it - they were incredible, but I still find myself reading this thread with more than a hint of jealousy that I couldn't have made it to the real thing.

Certainly was a great Glastonbury night and we’ve actually got tickets for their rescheduled gig next year. Last few nights I’ve been looking at past headliner performances and it’s obvious that despite all the pre festival criticisms bands like Muse and Coldplay do attract huge crowds and are really well received despite the cynicism.  Always alternatives on the farm if they don’t float your boat anyway! 

[NorthernSoul52]

Unearthing this from the archive after a busy summer...

Without much intention, ended up seeing three shows on the Imploding the Mirage Tour - the warm-up in Sheffield, plus the stadium gigs in Doncaster and Manchester.

Curiously, the first proved oddly anticlimactic. Was great to see them in a close-up venue, but very much got the impression Brandon Flowers was bricking himself - he didn't quite seem to know how to play to a smaller audience, and it all felt a little too nervy. (Still a very good show, mind.)

Doncaster played pretty much the same setlist verbatim, but in the open air, its euphoria rush came matched with what bizarrely felt like a more personal connection. It has left me rather baffled that a band can seem more at home in stadiums than club gigs, regardless of size.

Either way, three very good shows, if not quite up there with the sheer propulsive glee of their night at First Direct Arena Leeds in 2017. Was a delight to here Jenny Was a Friend of Mine live for the first time, to see a crowd go nuts for Runaways, and to get a crowd-surfing pensioner during Shadowplay.

I'd argue their business is done at the farm, but if they get stuck for headliners in another few years, think they could still ace a return. In the meantime, get 'em booked for an eighty-five minute power romp at Reading and Leeds next year.