Crowds thrill as US stars rock out at Liberty show

AS thousands of people packed into the Principality Stadium just an hour down the road to watch Ed Sheeran, fans of The Killers gathered at another Welsh sporting ground.

Swansea’s Liberty Stadium played home to the US indie rockers on Saturday night and, while they didn’t quite pull off a four-show extravaganza like a certain Mr Sheeran, they certainly kept their own crowd thoroughly entertained.

The band missed out on coming to Wales during their last tour – but more than made up for it to their Swansea audience.

Before that, Australian singer Jaunita Stein took to the stage as the crowds slowly filled the stadium.

The venue’s car park had been turned into a mini festival village, with food and drinks trucks lining the edges. People were making the most of the glorious weather.

The former Howling Bells frontwoman kicked off her set with Dark Horse, and continued to warm up the crowds for The Killers with her riff-heavy indie rock.

By the time The Killers took to the stage, the sun was still shining in the Liberty Stadium, giving the show an almost festival-like feel. Kicking off their show with The Man and following straight into Somebody Told Me, the Las Vegas band got the crowd jumping from the off. By the time they got to the third track, Spaceman, the whole stadium was bouncing in unison.

Frontman Brandon Flowers is a proper showman and really knows how to work a crowd.

There were numerous times throughout the show where he’d tease a fan-favourite song.

The drawn-out synth-style intros to Smile Like You Mean It and All These Things That I’ve Done, in particular, sent the audience into raptures when they finally got going.

And when there was a “minor keyboard issue” the band performed their brilliant cover of The Dire Straits’ Romeo and Juliet.