Saint Brandon, Full of Grace

I've long been interested in The Killers' LDS front man, Brandon Flowers, and I am a big fan of their music.  When they came onstage last night at UVU, I cheered pretty hard. I also sang, danced, screamed, stomped, pumped my fist in the air, and held my cell phone up in celebration.

I don't know how my kids felt about seeing me that way. I like to get my money's worth out of a concert. But last night it was more than that. I felt very personally responsible that Brandon Flowers felt more love from the Utah crowd than from any other crowd ever in the history of concerts. We are, by and large, his Mormon homies. Every clap meant "I feel you," and every scream meant, "Stay true." We all need support in our struggle for salvation. I like to think Brandon Flowers and I are in this together. Because we are, and so is everyone.

The stage was set. Fog machines on. Bottled water within reach. But the house lights were still on. "Eminence Front" played over the loud speaker. This kind of made me mad because that's the song I would walk out to if I were a rock star so now I can't because it will look like I'm just copying The Killers. Out they came. They didn't turn the lights off. I've only seen one entrance like it before in my whole life. It was the U2 Elevation concert in Vegas years ago. They came out in full light. You could see them and everyone in the whole place. It was awesome and startling. I loved it. I dare say Brandon Flowers was there and loved it too. Copy cat. The Killers opened with "Mr. Brightside." Pretty great start.

I told my kids 3 things about the concert.
 1) Always sing along. You will never get a chance to sing with the band again. You'll regret it if you don't.
2) If you hold on to your ticket, you can't get lost. 
3) You should never feel scared, intimidated, or out of place at a concert because everyone there just loves The Killers as much as you do.

I love the new Killers album, Battle Born. It sounds like a throw back to 80s hair bands to me.
"Runaways"="Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake.
"Here With Me"="It's Hard For Me to Say I'm Sorry" by Chicago with orchestration from Guns N' Roses "November Rain." Obvs, I love it. The intro to "A Matter of Time" sounds like Pete Townshend's "Let My Love Open the Door" which, again, is exactly what I would rip off if I could and then turns into something that could be sung by Bruce Springsteen or Bon Jovi, to great effect. Anecdotally, I heard Richie Sambora say that he thinks Bon Jovi is in the same league as Springsteen. They're not, but I'm happy for him that he thinks so (I guess.)

I recognize that Brandon Flowers is handsome and has a lot of appeal for people. I agree, but to see him in concert is to witness a lanky-legged awkwardness that puts me in mind of Olive Oyl. He looks down when he sings, is little bow-legged and seems a bit self-conscious. I saw him years ago at Abravanel Hall before he had the gravitas to pull this off as well as he does now. It's interesting that he should be, I don't know--shy?

Seems like a nice guy.