I’ve been lucky enough to see The Killers play live throughout the nine years since debut album Hot Fuss. Whether it was T In The Park in 2007, last year at Electric Picnic, or tonight at the O2, they’ve always felt like the world’s nicest rock band. Nice guys finish last, though, don’t they? Fourteen thousand fans uncontrollably bouncing about to the opening bar of ‘Mr. Brightside’ would suggest otherwise.
The ‘oooh oooh’ refrain of ‘Somebody Told Me’, the noggin-scratching chorus of ‘Human’, and the cosmic rush and galactic projections of ‘Spaceman’, keep the crowd entertained, as Flowers & Co. jump from album to album and hit to hit to entertaining effect.
But much like last year’s Picnic set, The Killers huff and puff through a difficult middle section including ‘Flesh & Bone’, ‘From Here On Out’ and ‘A Dustland Fairytale’.
A brief cover of U2’s ‘With Or Without You’ is given a massive Dublin thumbs-up, before it’s back to the crowd-pleasing hits: ‘Read My Mind’, ‘Runaways’ – briefly interrupted as a fight breaks out in front of the stage – and an epic rendition of Hot Fuss hit ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’.
‘Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine’, and Sam’s Town highlight ‘When You Were Young’ both register huge cheers and mass singalongs for the encore, while the ridiculously over-blown ‘Battle Born’ is a great set-closer. However, those just there for the hits are already streaming out as Flowers issues end-of-show hugs and high-fives to the front-row.