{"id":85325,"date":"2022-10-03T05:13:10","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T05:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/the-killers-bring-out-bruce-springsteen-at-madison-square-garden\/"},"modified":"2022-10-03T05:13:10","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T05:13:10","slug":"the-killers-bring-out-bruce-springsteen-at-madison-square-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/the-killers-bring-out-bruce-springsteen-at-madison-square-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"The Killers Bring Out Bruce Springsteen at Madison Square Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\tVery few modern bands have a \u201cMr. Brightside.\u201d Even fewer are able to whip it out in the first five minutes of a show and continue to entertain an arena for another 90 minutes. And even fewer are those who can hold their own in a three-song duet with Bruce Springsteen as he beams with excitement announcing their name to the crowd: \u201cTHE KILLERS!\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\u201cEverybody knows God made Saturday nights for rock ‘n’ roll,\u201d frontman Brandon Flowers declared toward the beginning of the band’s set, the second of two consecutive nights at Madison Square Garden. And the Killers delivered on that, taking New York City on a tour of its greatest songs from \u201cHot Fuss\u201d to \u201cPressure Machine.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tThe crowd screamed along to \u201cSomebody Told Me\u201d and \u201cWhen You Were Young,\u201d swayed back and forth to the disco-tinged \u201cShot at the Night\u201d and \u201cHuman,\u201d and pumped their fists at the Springsteen-esque \u201cRunaways\u201d and \u201cThe Way It Was,\u201d which sound like outtakes from the \u201cBorn to Run\u201d era.<\/p>\n

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\tWhile it was clear large swaths of the audience were not familiar with the Las Vegas band’s vastly underrated 2020 outing \u201cImploding the Mirage,\u201d the Killers made a case for why they should be, opening the show with the explosive \u201cMy Own Soul’s Warning\u201d and devoting much-deserved space to \u201cFire in Bone,\u201d \u201cDying Breed\u201d and \u201cCaution.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tMidway through the set, the band went acoustic for \u201cRunaway Horses,\u201d with Flowers declaring that over the pandemic, the Killers had become a country band. Before playing the \u201cPressure Machine\u201d tune, Flowers earnestly told the 20,000 city folk in the audience to \u201cgo get a beer if you don’t want to hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tIt’s hard not to be charmed by Flowers’ unfettered optimism and enthusiasm. He sings every song with a smile, stretching out the final singalong chorus of \u201cRunaways\u201d and then cheekily tucking Bill Withers’ \u201cLean on Me\u201d into \u201cRead My Mind.\u201d At one point in the show, he quoted the \u201cindestructible\u201d Hellen Keller. <\/p>\n

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\tOn some level, you have to buy into<\/em> the Killers because, nowadays at least, it’s hard to find music as unapologetically anthemic without even the slightest hint of irony. Even the band’s corniest, most nonsensical lyrics (\u201cWe’re burning down the highway skyline \/ On the back of a hurricane that started turning when you were young\u201d; \u201cIf you could see through the banner of the sun \/ Into eternity’s eyes like a vision reaching down to you\u201d), paired with desert-rippling guitar riffs, roll off Flowers’ tongue like rock ‘n’ roll manifestos. <\/p>\n

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\tAs the set wrapped up, an attentive audience member might have sensed a surprise was in order, as it wasn’t entirely clear how the band could top closers \u201cAll These Things That I’ve Done\u201d and \u201cWhen You Were Young\u201d with an encore. Oh, of course, just bring out Springsteen for \u201cBadlands,\u201d \u201cDustland\u201d and \u201cBorn to Run.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\u201cMe and my friends have all been sweating bullets up here all night, because the Boss is here,\u201d Flowers announced as he walked back onstage, barely able to contain his own excitement.<\/p>\n

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\tBefore easing into their Springsteen collaboration \u201cDustland,\u201d a reinvention of the band’s 2008 track \u201cA Dustland Fairytale,\u201d Flowers said, \u201cThis part of the night is usually reserved for me to have people put their phones up. And I tell us to think about where your light comes from.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\tThen, turning to Springsteen, Flowers gushed, \u201cIt is a very unusual circumstance for me tonight because I get a lot of my light from you.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tThe Killers and The Boss closed out the show on a bright note with \u201cBorn to Run,\u201d with Flowers insisting Springsteen deliver the euphoric final verse: \u201cThe highway’s jammed with broken heroes on a last-chance power drive!\u201d Then, sharing the microphone, the two of them \u2014 plus the entirety of Madison Square Garden \u2014 belted out the final chorus. <\/p>\n

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\tHow to top that? Wisely, they didn’t try.<\/p>\n

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