Killers Go Huey Lewis

Massey Hall

Toronto, ON

on Nov 18 2008

Josh Visser (CHARTattack)

11/19/2008 4:41pm

I last saw The Killers in the summer of '05 when they opened for U2 in front of 65,000 rabid fans in the U.K. They were on the cusp of super rock stardom after their fantastic post-punk synth-pop debut Hot Fuss, but it was clear they wanted to move past that sound and unto something bigger.

A year later, The Killers decided they wanted to be Bruce Springsteen and we got the solid (and totally underrated) Sam's Town. So, when Brandon Flowers showed up on Massey Hall's stage wearing something Freddie Mercury would have decried as too campy, and guitarist Dave Keuning showed up with Brian May's hair, I expected Day & Age to sound Queen-ish. Unfortunately, the new songs showcased in Toronto's historic Massey Hall seemed to be a mash-up of Huey Lewis And The News and The Killer's traditional mix of synth and big choruses.

The show started with "Human," Day & Age's incredibly mediocre lead single, and I've never seen such an unenthusiastic reaction from a crowd seeing a major band start a show. Fortunately, the second song "For Reasons Unknown" hit much harder than it did on record and the crowd got back into it. By the time the band tore into "Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine" and "Somebody Told Me" the night was back on an upswing.

Unfortunately, that came to a screaming halt with Day & Age songs "Losing Touch" and "Spaceman," with their Euro-dance synth and saxophones that were only tolerable for their decent singalong choruses. An acoustic version of "Smile Like You Mean It" with Flowers on piano was alright, but it felt unnecessary considering ballading up the song made its melancholy lyrics a bit too obvious.

"Read My Mind" may be The Killers best song and it didn't disappoint except someone forgot to turn up Keuning's guitar and his solo was totally lost in the mix. The cover of Joy Division's "Shadowplay" was a kickass highlight and featured amazing work by bassist Mark Stoermer. Stoermer and drummer Ronnie Vannucci, Jr. easily make up one of the best back-ends of any band out there, and totally overpower their bandmates in terms of both sound and charisma.

"Mr. Brightside" is always a highlight, and this was one was worth the price of admission, as some 11-year-old kid danced his little heart out in the first balcony while his 50-something parents watched aghast.

The encore started out downright brutal with "Neon Tiger," which I originally wrote in my notes "need to be paid to listen to again," but was made tolerable by Flowers reaching for a big chorus.

But if there was any disappointment in the sold-out Massey Hall with Day & Age's barely-tolerable material, it was lost when The Killers launched into (excuse the laziness) a killer ending with "All These Things That I've Done" and "When You Were Young."

Everyone is entitled to one terrible album, and I think The Killers just made theirs. But they still have a decent live act and two albums worth of terrific songs. When I saw them three years ago, I thought they would be the biggest rock act in the world by now. That hasn't happened yet, but you can't blame The Killers for trying. Even the biggest guns misfire.

The set list:
"Human"
"For Reasons Unknown"
"Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine"
"Somebody Told Me"
"Losing Touch"
"Sweet Talk"
"Spaceman"
"Smile Like You Mean It"
"Sam's Town"
"Read My Mind"
"Bones"
"Joy Ride"
"Shadowplay" (Joy Division cover)
"Mr. Brightside"

Encore:
"Neon Tiger"
"All These Things That I've Done"
"When You Were Young"