So... just got back from the Killers gig.
If I could sum it up in one word? ...Mediocre.
Now then, keep in mind that I'm a huge music nerd. It surrounds my life, it... well, it IS my life. Ever since I could crawl, I've been obsessed with music... and as a result, my tastes are a little... beyond that of the common man. (Look, there are few things in life that I can claim to be BETTER AT than you. Analyzing rock shows is one of them. Forgive my ego if it rages out of control.)
Point is, The Killers have put themselves on one hell of a pedestal of late. "Hot Fuss" was easily one of the most confident debut albums ever launched upon our shores, and the magnitude of the record sent ripples through the entire indie rock community. In short, the record RULES, and anyone who has anything negative to say about the record JUST DOESN'T GET IT.
Ergo, I was looking for nothing less than a relevatory performace tonight at the Col Ballroom. Instead, what I took home was a band that I still have immense respect for, albeit marginally disappointed at the gig I just witnessed.
To me, as an amateur musicologist, The Killers were just running through the paces. Nothing exciting, nothing non-scripted. Just another show. Now, this is a band that's played 200+ gigs in the past year, so I suppose I've got to cut them some slack from a bit of over-the-road-itis.
You could just listen to the band onstage and realize that they've been rocking this same set for the better part of the year. Onstage, they seemed bored. In the crowd, I WAS bored.
All in all, it was a decent show. I wanted the band to come out and blow the roof off of all of their hits, which they did in no uncertain terms. Sadly, they did very little else. Definitely subscribing to the "we've-got-better-things-to-do-than-talk-to-the-audience" mentality of the indie bands of the 80's, I wanted The Killers to be engaging; instead, it was just song to song to song without any experimentation, improvisation, or anything else that makes a show noteworthy.
I had fun, don't get me wrong; but this show was put on a pedestal based on their outstanding record, and what we got tonight wasn't even worthy of a footrest.
In a couple years, if The Killers keep up their ambitions at the same rate they are now, they'll rule the world. For the time being, they're just a one-album indie band trying to play the game, make decent music, and score some hits on the charts.
I just wanted more, that's all.
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