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The Killers and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, live from Metro Radio Arena.
Newcastle Metro Radio Arena is not a small place. With its 11,000 capacity and who knows how many standing spaces, I find it hard to believe that this is a completely sold out hall. At 7.30pm, the time that my ticket states the show is to begin, the arena is simply empty. ![]() At roughly 8pm, the support act, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, take to the stage and play to the slowly filling arena. Their set is good and lasts a little over half an hour; showcasing professional sounds that could be mistaken for those of The Strokes. 40 minutes of waiting then ensues, in which a large white screen is erected in front of the stage, and several men travel up ropes to the looming ‘Sam’s Town’ sign that is hanging precariously in front of it. At 9.10pm The Killers arrive and show exactly why, by the time their introduction video has been projected onto said screen, the entire arena is filled to the brim, with not a single seat left without an occupant. They open with the title track from their latest album ‘Sam’s Town’. The frequent spew of glittery confetti shows the shared interests of their hometown rivals Panic! At The Disco, despite having previously disagreed with them. Tonight is going to be a spectacle at the very least. They continue the set with the next two tracks from the album, introducing themselves with ‘Enterlude’ and officially blowing up the hall with ‘When You Were Young’. It is at this moment that every person in the building dances, jumps and sings along, regardless of age, height, gender or race, whilst every person outside the building regrets not witnessing this.
Compared to their rendition of their oldest hit ‘Somebody Told Me’ - the song that broke them to the world - their previous performances of the night are obsolete. Mass adoration and hysteria is probably the only way to describe the crowd at this point. They also then play 'Smile Like You Mean It’, another hit from their debut album, ‘Hot Fuss’, and the first track from that same record, ‘Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine’. Brandon and his men are the epitome of professionalism. Flowers struts and climbs onto the raised platforms, barely scuffing his appearance, looking as natural on the stage as the many frontmen that had come before him. He holds the audience in the palm of his hand and yet, at moments, still oozes that cheeky arrogance that he has recently become well-known for. He even finds it in himself to joke when guitarist Dave Keuning begins to play random riffs between songs: "This next song is called ‘Brandon needs to catch his breath'."
And with that, as quickly as they came, they leave the stage. But, a few minutes later they return to a crowd eager to hear at least one more song: the song. Instead, they get four. It is the song that everyone wished for that stole the show. Between every track of the encore an echo of "I got soul, but I’m not a soldier" can be heard, until the band finally decide they can no longer deny the fans.
They then exit the stage, which is bathed in a glorious golden light after performing their last song, ‘Exitlude’, leaving another audience at another sold out show exhausted, but deeply in love. |
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