The Killers @ MSG: very dissappointing
By Luc from New York, NY on 6/22/2009
Pros:
Good Set List
Cons:
Boring stage presence, Crowd Was Not Into It, Poor Sound Quality
Best For:
Everyone
Hey guys-
Okay, let me face the facts right now: this isn't going to be a popular review, in fact, I can see you hitting the "NO" link now. At least hear me out. I am a HUGE fan of The Killers' music, I know their entire catalogue (b-sides and rare tracks as well) by heart, in fact, i couldn't wait for January 25th, when i was to see them live at MSG. The result: a huge disappointment.
In addition to being a huge fan, I'm also a season concert-goer, having seen shows of most every genre, size, and budget, from Cake (an indie band from Cali), to Oasis, Coldplay, and U2. I have seen truly epic shows, with unbelievable lighting, sound, and stage presence, and I have seen not-so-epic shows. Unfortunately (and this pains me to say), The Killers at MSG will have to go towards the latter end of the spectrum. M83 (opener) was great, I only knew two or three songs, but loved it all the same, in fact, i normally skip the support act, but I showed up early to see them. After a relatively quick stage reset, the countdown-clock came up on the killers mesh-style screen, and off the band launched (er, well, crawled), into Spaceman. While the concert did pick up eventually, the atmosphere in Madison Square Garden during the first 4 to 5 songs was truly depressing. The crowd sat down, a couple in front of me actually were just having a normal conversation, paying no attention to the music. At every other concert I've been to at MSG, (Billy Joel, U2, Coldplay, and Oasis to name a few), the crowd was on their feet for the duration of the concert, but this was not the case with the Killers. Brandon's vocals were spotty; i heard he was getting over an illness and it showed; he was clearly having trouble hitting some higher notes. The whole band, not only Brandon, looked like they were bored with their music and didn't want to be their. When they left and came back for an encore, the expressions on their faces were truly those of a bored shopgirl at 5:59 PM, eagerly awaiting her departure. Furthermore, the mixing was among the worst I've heard at any concert, and all the guitarwork sounded fairly mucky, unfortunately. Reading the great many positive reviews on this site leads me to believe simply that many of the people who rated this concert highly simply havent been to many concerts, and can't really tell from experience when lighting or presence is great, as they have nothing to compare it to. I feel qualified to say that I have seen some truly stunning visuals in an arena, such as Depeche Mode and Coldplay. What I saw at MSG was a poor attempt at a spectacle, in which all of the money went into the 15 seconds of pyro during "When You Were Young". Other than that, and a short blast of confetti at the end of "All These Things That I've Done", the visuals were lackluster at best.
Bottom Line: The Killers are a fabulous band in terms of music, but they still need to get their act together on live performances.
Note: All of that being said, I have decided to give one of my favorite groups a second chance live, and will be attending their 9/1 show at Jones Beach; I'll definitely post a review of that show.
