The Killers – Wembley Arena

We only caught the last few songs of support act Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – but they sounded pretty good in a shoe-gazey Jesus and Mary Chain kinda way. Closer “Whatever Happened To My Rock N Roll” - which I remembered a from a few years ago - was a highlight.

The opening of The Killers set was some of the most exhilarating stadium rock I’ve ever seen. Starting with a projection of b&w footage of Las Vegas and the surrounding desert, with some pre-recorded orchestral and choir music that lead into the ‘Sam’s Town’ album opening trilogy of the title track, the short "enterlude", and “When You Were Young”. The latter complete with glistening confetti launched through the area. In fact - the crowd's wild enthusiam , stomping and clapping to orchestral music accompanied by tv static and grainy b&w visuals - is as close as I can imagine to attending a Nazi rally in the 1930s. All extreme passion and power of the many group dynamics.

But - onto the music: the start of the show was heavily front-loaded with singles, first single “When You Were Young” followed by second single “Bones”. Leaving the band to focus on album tracks, and the plethora of singles from their debut ‘Hot Fuss’. “Somebody Told Me”, “Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll” and “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine” all featured. With the main set closing with “Mr Brightside”.

A surprising inclusion in the encore was a cover of Joy Division’s “Shadowplay”, although it seemed to leave most of the crowd pretty cold. The anthemic “All These Things That I've Done” closed the first encore. Before the band snuck back on for the short, album-closer, “exitlude”.