USF Bulls Radio

The Killers rocked the USF Sundome Friday night (October 2nd). The grammy award winning boys from Vegas stopped by Tampa as part of their The Road Ahead or The Road Travelled tour.

The evening started with a performance from alternative-indie band Chairlift. The Brooklyn based band performed a thirty minute set that included “Bruises”, which was recently featured on an iPod Nano commercial for apple. Their sound and performance was the cliché performance expected from an up and coming indie band, and the acoustics of the Sundome did not really help their sound. Their set sounded like a mixture of “trippy” and inarticulate sounds. The opening was not as good as other opening acts that have hit the Tampa Bay scene, but it was certainly a good way to open up for one of America's most well known bands.

After a thirty minute set, Chairlift cleared the stage and made way for the evenings title event, The Killers. The boys from Vegas took to the stage and immediately started off with one of their well known songs “Joy Ride”. The band then quickly transitioned into songs such as “Somebody Told Me”, “Are We Human” and even “Smile Like You Mean It”. Throughout the entire concert, lead singer Brandon Flowers spent little to no time doing the stereotypical idle chatting with the crowd, and focused mainly on doing what should be done at all concerts, playing your heart out and building a climax for the audience. The peak of the performance came when The Killers played the song that made them famous, “Mr. Brightside”.

An hour and fifteen minutes into the set, The Killers cleared the stage and then came back for a well deserved encore. The encore consisted of the song “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine” and was followed by “When You Were Young”, which took everyone by storm. Brandon Flowers promised he would be playing as hard as he possibly could, and he lived up to his word. The evening ended with the chorus of “When You Where Young” accompanied by pyrotechnics, a shower of sparks, neon lights, and confetti filling up the pit seating area.

Overall, the concert was definitely one in which sitting down and enjoying the show was perfectly okay. The stage set up was well designed and included a great mixture of neon and LED lighting, palm trees, and giant big screens projecting images that fit with the song being played. Though it seemed like something was troubling Flowers on-stage, he successfully shook off whatever it was that was holding him back, and gave Tampa the performance that was expected from a band such as The Killers.

The Killers will finish off their tour with stops in Puertro Rico, Colombia, Mexico and Abu Dhabi.
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5