LIVE: The Killers at Brisbane Entertainment Centre

9 December 2024 – Brisbane Entertainment Centre – words by Lucas Bell

Photos supplied – Chris Phelps

Two years since their last major tour of Australia, Las Vegas rockers The Killers made their return to Australia after the release of their second Greatest Hits record, Rebel Diamonds. We were lucky enough to go to the Brisbane leg of this tour, which also celebrated the release of the band’s debut record, Hot Fuss. Tonight’s show was the Rebel Diamonds Greatest Hits show.

Opening the shows for this tour has been a Melbourne based band called Radio Free Alice. The post punk four piece played maybe 8 songs, but maximised the time with little talking, and just belted through their set. The energy between songs was a little lacking, but the moment the guitar was strummed, or a drumstick hit the skins, the band came alive. There was some cool movement between members, as at one point, the bass player passed off his bass to the vocalist, so he could play sax. Those moments were super dope. The last three songs are where the energy really picked up though, as they closed out with ‘Waste of Space’. In the break, the crowd reception seemed a bit mixed, but I liked the sound a lot, and thought the band was pretty great.

During the break, a curtain went up so we could see the set changeover, and as the clock struck 9pm, the lights dimmed. As the curtains pulled back to reveal an insane LCD board, with the entire band on stage, The Killers opened with ‘Read My Mind’ to a massive ovation. Drawing the second biggest sing of the night, the second song on the setlist was ‘Somebody Told Me’. The Brisbane Entertainment Centre nearly erupted just at the intro to the song. As ‘Spaceman’ closed though, it quickly became apparent that the band, and lead vocalist Brandon Flowers, were not quite expecting the massive reaction the band was getting.

Brandon did a quick introduction for himself, before introducing everyone to the show with the next song, ‘Jenny Was a Friend of Mine’. ‘Smile Like You Mean It’ was one of the best songs of the night for me. I’ve always loved it, and seeing guitarist Ted Sablay bathed in red light during this song was so aesthetically pleasing both visually and sonically. ‘Shot at the Night’ has some of the most insane side to side waving I have ever seen at a concert, and ‘Dying Breed’ has Brandon giving the crowd some vocal training, humming songs like ‘Thunderstruck’, before the hum of the song. 

Brandon then simply stated that “Some songs are barnstormers. Some songs are band aids. This song, is a prayer”, before launching into ‘Running Towards a Place’. If you also had any doubts before the show if Brandon still has a voice like butter, ‘On Top’ was his vocal peak. The man’s voice could single handedly solve world peace, and it was on full display during this song. There was a brief stop during the song due to someone falling in the crowd. A big shout out to Brandon and the band for acting so quickly to ensure everyone was safe. ‘The Man’ opened with a sermon, and ‘A Dustland Fairytale’ was simply awesome.

‘Be Still’ had to be restarted, because Brandon, once again, noticed something in the crowd, which sounded like some kind of altercation between audience members. Brandon even shouted down the aggressor by saying “you’re gonna do this in a Roxy Music shirt”? Which the crowd laughed at. Also, who said concerts aren’t for learning? For example, I learned that ‘Runaway’ is a Killers song. I adore that song and had no idea it was them. Brandon then grabbed a setlist from the stage, and walked to someone at the barrier that was holding a sign that said “Rock, Paper, Scissors for the setlist”. Brandon lost, handed over the setlist, and the band closed out on a monster run of songs, including ‘All These Things That I Have Done’, ‘When You Were Young’, ‘Caution’, and set closer, a cover of ‘Don’t Change’ by INXS.

The encore rolled around, with four songs. The first two songs were the only songs played from the band’s greatest hits record, Rebel Diamond. It was cool to see ‘Your Side of Town’, and ‘boy’ played live. ‘boy’ in particular, was a big crowd pleaser. The band have been playing a cover of ‘A Little Respect’ by Erasure on the tour, but we didn’t get that tonight and I was a little disappointed. But the last two songs made up for it. ‘Human’ was sick, and the show closed down with everyone’s favorite karaoke song, ‘Mr Brightside’. They changed the arrangement of the songs, which I didn’t know was called the 50/50 version. The first two verses and chorus were just Brandon and a drum kit, before the second chorus came in with the entire band. Honestly, a brilliant way to do the song because of course, EVERYONE was signing along.

It’s genuinely wild how many bands I’ve seen this year, and how many insane concerts there have been. The Killers ranks up there as one of the best of the year. The performance, the show, the talent of every member on stage, the charisma. The perfect storm to make a perfect evening of live music.