The Killers – Cologne, Kölnarena; March 7th, 2013
The Killers had been quiet for a few years and when their newest album came out, I immediately checked for tourdates. I had not forgotten how much fun the last concert had been. I left work early and went to Cologne. There were surprisingly few people waiting outside the Kölnarena and everyone who came later lined up politely behind the ones that had already been waiting. Wow! Nice! They let us in at 6 p.m. and I painlessly made it to front row, on the far right. I had an OK view from there and remembering all that pogoing at the center last time I thought I’d better have a railing in front of me than being a few rows back in the middle of the crowd. Later that night I realized I might have enjoyed the concert more if I’d been closer to the center, but it was too late then.
Either way, everything was very relaxed, people were sitting down for a long time so I felt quite fine when support act Louis XIV started at 8 p.m. The people around me were nice too. It would be a good evening. Louis XIV were not much to write home about. OK to pass the time, but nothing special. I was quite bored with them, but at least they were not annoying. 🙂 The audience was pretty good, clapping along.
There was a 45 minute break between their set and the band we had all come for. The stage backdrop lit up to great cheers and The Killers walked on stage with the hall lights still on, starting with ‘Mr. Brightside’. It was a bit surreal to see them play already, not quite what I had expected. The audience didn’t mind though and sang along loudly. By the second song the center of the hall was dancing and jumping, but on the side people were more subdued and I wondered briefly if I should have gone in the middle of the crowd after all, forgot everything and danced with them. Soon, however, they played ‘Spaceman’ and I forgot all about that, sang along, danced, had fun.
The setlist was a good selection of old and new. I didn’t recognize all songs, hadn’t listened to them in a long time, but I enjoyed the general vide and the happy faces around me. Brandon interacted with the audience and got everyone to sing along. Before “Flesh and Bone” he asked us “Whht are you made of?” and got the expected response on second try. There were a few more fun sing along parts too. In front of the stage there was a lower part, a runway of sorts that both Brandon and guitarist Dave walked along at times. I was happy to see tem up close and also enjoyed watching bassist Mark on my side. Drummer Ronnie as well as the keyboarder and rhythm guitarist remained in the back.
The band made great use of lights, the screen in the back of the stage and pyrotechnics too. It was a fun show overall and I got many of the hits I wanted to hear like ‘Human’, ‘Dustland Fairytale’, ‘Spaceman’ or ‘Somebody told me’. When the main set ended with ‘All these things that I’ve done’, lots of confetti in the shape of red Ks and silver flashes dropped from the ceiling. It looked like colorful snowflakes. 😀 During the encores, Brandon walked of the stage down to front row to shake hands. Such a nice gesture. After 90 minutes it was over, a bit to soon for me. Otherwise though, there is absolutely nothing to complain about. An entertaining evening with good music.
Setlist
Mr. Brightside
The Way It Was
Smile Like You Mean It
Spaceman
Bones
Miss Atomic Bomb
Human
Somebody told me
Flesh and Bone
For Reasons unknown
From here on out
A Dustland Fairytale
Read my Mind
Runaways
All these things that I’ve done
Encore:
Jenny was a friend of mie
When we were young
Battle Born