Concert Diary: The Killers at Terminal 5, August 19, 2021
On a bright night in August, thousands took the trek to Terminal 5 to see the Killers at a pop-up show, the first concert since the curtain fell in March 2020. The show played opposite to what the fans had come to know: a stadium-sized band playing an intimate showcase, trading songs about running away for staying put, the power of presence at the moment.
Vegas-born and bred frontman and singer Brandon Flowers is a showman, donning flashy suits and a broad smile, moving around the stage in an effortless and seemingly unrehearsed way, throwing how microphone to the crowd. It’s hard to believe that sequin-covered stadium singer gets nervous in front of crowds, but Flowers confessed he gets anxious playing New York shows where the crowds stand in earnest for the best show they’ve ever seen. A New Yorker’s respect is earned and not bought or bartered. It is this respect Flowers earnestly asks for, hitting every note with his chest; each lyric shouted to the crowd returns tenfold. His bet pays off. He leans over the crowd, gesturing them in to get closer - impossible, it seems, as each inch of Terminal 5 filled with fans, earnest, and tall boys of White Claws.
But the moments when he showed through the most weren’t standing in the white-hot theatre lights, his purple suit glistening as it was wont to do; it was when he tucked away to play the keyboard illuminated by a vanity K, a soft smile painted across his face. He was back doing what he loved most - performing the songs, they wrote to 5,000 of his closest friends (with more on line outside waiting for their rapid COVID tests). Moments when he went into himself, told the audience exactly what they needed to know. And then the drums kicked back up again, and the show turned again.
‘Dustland’ the reworked hit off the album ‘Day & Age’ needed a small introduction and an important one at that - Flowers had to let a room full of New Yorkers know that Bruce Springsteen, who the Killers worked with on the re-record of the song, wouldn’t be joining them that night. What followed was a chorus of boos, lasting about 5 minutes until the trust was re-established, and the show could go on.
When the music stopped, the call for an encore began with the audience breaking into the chorus of ‘All of These Things I’ve Done,’ repeating with increasing enthusiasm, “I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier” until the band made their triumphant return with the drums kicking in on ‘The Man’ confetti shooting off into the crowd. When you think about how many years Flowers has sung “I’m so much older than I can take,” the weight feels different, like watching Stevie Nicks sing Landslide some odd 30 years after it was written.
Before the next song, Flowers addressed the crowd once again, saying that the next song, off the new album, was inspired by the singular line “when the mountain comes back to life / it doesn’t come from without / it comes from within.” With that, the lights lifted, and the show kicked back up again, the crowd swaying to the new song. Finishing off the electric show with ‘When You Were Young,’ highlighted with confetti cannon shots, high-energy guitar solos, and screams from the crowd.
Flowers held the microphone and addressed the crowd in a moment of isolated silence, dropping the showman's facade. “Tonight feels a little bit like coming back to us.” The end of the concert felt like a good date - with neither party wanting to say goodbye but both knowing it does have to end at some point - the band kept on stage by the rounds of applause, and the audience kept in hopes that they might be blessed with one more song, a parting kiss, one last thing to hold onto as the crowd poured out into the streets and yelled into the New York City skyline. As a parting gesture, drummer Ronnie Vannucci tossed three sets of loose drumsticks into the crowd before adding, “Thanks for risking your lives to see us.” The lights went up, the crowd shuffled out, and the night marched on to the beat of the drums.