So, after nearly a week of settling in to life at UC Riverside I was finally able to get out into LA and do something off campus. That activity, of course, was going to a concert. Last night, I went and saw Brandon Flowers, frontman of The Killers, at the Wiltern Theater.
Let's go back to April of this year. Brandon's second solo album The Desired Effect had not been released yet, but he was still planning to come to LA and do a show at the Troubadour. I saw that as my opportunity to see him, since The Killers are currently on hiatus and have been for the last few years. However, hundreds of other individuals clearly had the same goal, for the minute tickets went on sale for that show, they were gone the instant I refreshed the page at 10:00. Scalper tickets were the only option, but prices were simply too outrageous to make it happen, so I just gave up and accepted that I would just have to wait until The Killers came back, whenever that may be.
But then, soon enough, it was announced that Brandon would be doing a second show in LA at the Wiltern in September. However, the same thing happened. Once tickets went on sale, they were gone before you had time to blink. Again, scalper tickets were more than we wanted to spend. Once I graduated high school, I had some money given to me to use for a graduation gift. We tried to use it on a mandolin but that ultimately did not work out since the mandolin I wanted was built with bad bridge. Soon I thought, "what if, instead of an instrument, I used that money for concerts I really wanted to see?" I thought and thought of who was coming over the summer. I then remembered that Brandon's concert at the Wiltern was coming up soon, but at the same time, I was considering seeing Rush at the forum on the last night of their R40 tour. We couldn't afford both, so I had to decide between the two shows which one I wanted to go to. I eventually decided that, since I had already seen Rush back in 2012, I should go and see Brandon.
I found a ticket on StubHub for the general admission pit, which is located right at the front of the stage. The price was right, so I went for it. I bought that ticket on the 18th July, a little over two months before the show.
Coming to the show, I wasn't sure exactly what it was going to be like. I had not seen The Killers yet, but I was familiar enough with Brandon's solo discography to be able to enjoy it. Even though the line of fans stretched around the perimeter of the Wiltern, I didn't stress too much, since my ticket guaranteed me access to the pit at the front of the stage. Sure enough, once I entered the venue and received my pit wristband, I found a spot behind two people much shorter than I was. That gave me a perfect view of the stage.
There was one opening act: a band from Mexico City called Rey Pila. They played for about 30 minutes. I have to say that they actually didn't sound bad. Believe it or not, they had a sound similar to the sound Brandon has on The Desired Effect.
Brandon took the stage at about 21:00. His band consisted of himself, a guitar player, a bass player, a drummer, two female backing vocalists, a keyboard player, a saxophone player, and a horn player. I hadn't seen that many people on one stage since Arcade Fire. Brandon started with a short piece called "Come Out With Me," which I can only assume was meant to be a short of introduction to the show, similar to The Killers song, "Enterlude." He played about 17 songs, but it was amazing how quickly the whole show went by. Throughout the night, Brandon sang songs and told us a number of stories from his past, like the day he heard "Changes" by David Bowie, what inspired him to write certain songs, or how he got in touch with Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys, one of his favorite bands. Sure enough, that mentioning of Neil turned out to be the foreshadow of a surprise guest: Neil himself. Neil joined Brandon on stage for two songs: the Pet Shop Boys song "Rent," and The Killers song "Human."
So, long story short, I loved this concert. I really did. It definitely exceeded my expectations. Brandon and his whole band were at the top of their game, and he had such a stage presence that I don't see very often. I think the last person I saw that had a presence like that was Chris Squire (RIP). So full of life and energy.
I noticed that there were a lot of friends together at that show. While it was cool to experience my first concert alone, I did find myself wishing I had someone that loved The Killers the way I did. I know plenty of people that have heard of them, but I don't really know anyone that knows as many of their songs as I do. So, consequently, I enjoy their music on my own. I am fortunate to say that I do connect with others through most of my favorite bands, but this happens to be an exception.
Anyway, it was an excellent concert. Ideally, I hope the next time I see Brandon is with The Killers, but if not, I would definitely see him as a solo artist again.
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