The Killers Put On a 'Wonderful Wonderful' Performance at The X

After a five-year absence, Las Vegas rockers The Killers made their triumphant return to the Twin Cities last night with a performance that lasted nearly two hours and included songs from their entire catalog.

Although the show only featured only two of the four band members found on their latest album, Wonderful Wonderful, lead-singer Brandon Flowers and drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr. enlisted the help of four other musicians plus three female backup vocalists to help bring this colossal show to life.

What was likely the most “Las Vegas-inspired” stage show of the band’s fifteen-plus year career, the tone was set straight out of the gate as a large triangular shaped monitor accended over the stage. As the band members took the stage one-by-one, capped off by the ever so dramatic entrance by Flowers, the band launched into the title song from their latest album.

Three songs in, as the band started playing the opening notes to the 2004 smash-hit Somebody Told Me, the crowd absolutely lost it, singing back the words that fueled their adolescence right back into the face of the man who wrote them. Applause erupted throughout the arena as the closing notes were played. The band rode the momentum straight into their 2008 hit Spaceman, to the crowds continued delight.

While the show did rely heavily on the bands older material, with such a long gap between performances in this market mixed with the leveling off of the bands commercial and creative successes in the late 2000’s, it was to be expected. It was encouraging to hear more than a few songs from Wonderful Wonderful though, an album many critics described as the ‘comeback’ of The Killers.

The show ‘ended’ with a monumental performance of the 2004 anthem All These Things That I’ve Done. After a brief jam-session with the band members, everyone left the stage for about five minutes, returning again to perform their encore. Flowers, now clad in a sparkly, tight-fitting silver suit, thanked the crowd for coming out as the band played the opening notes of The Calling.

After a seemingly forced cover of opening act Alex Cameron’s Runnin’ Outta Luck, the crowd was treated to a Hot Fuss deep-cut with Andy, You’re a Star, the closing notes of which led right into their hit When You Were Young, which the crowd thoroughly enjoyed.

It’s pretty easy to guess which song came next, as it’s the song they owe pretty much off of this success to. Flowers gave a small speech before the song which can basically be wrapped up as “Stay positive.” and the guitarist played the famous opening notes of Mr. Brightside.

It’s hard to describe the feeling that comes over you when you hear such an iconic song played by the people who wrote it live and in person for the first time, so I’ll just say this; it was incredible.

After another brief, but crowd-pleasing, jam session, one-by-one the band members scurried off the stage, leaving only the drummer, Ronnie Vannucci Jr., who addressed the crowd. “If you had fun tonight, make sure to tell your friends! It’s not going to be five more years before we’re back, we promise. Thank you all, and get home safe.” And just like that, the crowd was thrust back into 2018, and our adolescence was once again a thing of the past.

The Killers Setlist: