The Killers prep for Lollapalooza with intimate, exciting Milwaukee show
With new songs to share from an anticipated fall album, it’s safe to say the Killers will be a highlight for many attending Lollapalooza Friday night.
While tens of thousands will fill Chicago’s Grant Park to see the alternative rock group, the Eagles Ballroom at the Rave has a 3,500person capacity, making Wednesday night’s show one of the smallest and most intimate venues on the band’s docket.
The snug setting wasn’t the only perk for the sold-out audience. The crowd was treated to a rare performance of “Under the Gun,” the B-side from breakout album “Hot Fuss” in 2004 that should have been a single. In what he said was a first at a Killers concert, frontman Brandon Flowers actually let the audience choose between “Gun” or standard “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine.” It’s hard to imagine he’d be able to pull off that sort of poll at a festival.
There was another relative rarity, “This River is Wild” from sophomore album “Sam’s Town,” which Flowers said he’s skipped over in the past because he didn’t have enough stamina to nail the song’s demanding range. There were no such issues in Milwaukee Wednesday night.
His signature exasperated croon served as the climactic peak for “Run for Cover,” one of two new songs the band played Wednesday from its fifth album, “Wonderful Wonderful,” out Sept. 22. Aside from a lyric alluding to “fake news,” the song live, with Flowers’ bombastic vocals and Dave Keuning’s yearning guitar over sweeping synths, came off like early Killers — no surprise, considering it was partially written during the making of “Day & Age” in 2008.
That other new track though, “The Man,” is a significant departure, a revved-up funk jam — although as the show opener Wednesday, it was disappointingly meek, with the three backing singers overpowered by the sluggish rendition, and Flowers failing to pull off the narcissism to match the song’s swagger-soaked lyrics.
It’s possible Flowers just hasn’t found his way around the song yet, and technically this show was a rehearsal for Lolla, so fans had to anticipate some setbacks.
In the end though, there weren’t many. Wednesday’s concert had two new songs, two rarities, and a solid cover of Joy Division’s “Shadowplay,” but for the most part the hourand-45-minute set was festival ready. That meant a lot of spirited singalongs — for “Can You Read My Mind?,” “Human,” “All These Things That I’ve Done” and so on. Reliable soldiers for much of the set, Keuning and drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr. showed a little more flair for “When You Were Young,” the crowd getting so amped up, the balcony at the Eagles Ballroom bounced to the rhythm. Clearly relishing the intimacy and energy in the room, Flowers ended the night with an especially buoyant “Mr. Brightside.”
Expect those hits, and the set as a whole, to play well at Lolla Friday — although it’s hard to fathom the experience topping what happened in Milwaukee. More On Music
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