The Killers: Live at the Royal Albert Hall (CD/DVD)

I still remember the first time I put the Killers debut CD (“Hot Fuss”) in my car and heard “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine”. Everything about them (especially the 80′s synths) screamed “original” and the album just got better and better with every track. I hated “Sam’s Town” at first and then fell completely in love with it a year later. I think “Day and Age” has some great tracks but is definitely the weakest of their albums, overall.

I caught them in concert a couple of months ago in Miami and would rate it as one of the best I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen about 8,000 people dancing at the same time! Brandon Flowers is one of the best front men in music and everything about the show made you smile. So naturally, I wondered if this live DVD and CD would capture that unbelievable energy on film… it does – and then some. You will have to look past the fact that the drummer’s “I’m-totally-into-my-music” face is exactly the same as his “I’m-constipated” face.

The Royal Albert Hall might be the most incredible live venue on earth. The crowd is scatters across about 5 levels and almost 360 degrees around the band. The cinematography is incredible and the British audience is absolutely crazy. the play all the songs you want to hear (e.g. “Smile Like You Mean It”) and throw in a ton of little twists to the songs’ arrangements (and they’re all good). They finish the show with “When You Were Young” and the lead guitar player lives out every man’s rock fantasy – playing a screaming solo while standing on top of a piano (a-la Slash in the “November Rain” music video) while a giant sparkler rains down across the back of the stage (see the video below). It looks even better than it sounds…

Standout Tracks:
“Human”
“Spaceman”
“Mr. Brightside”
“All These Things That I’ve Done”
“When You Were Young”

Skip:
“The World We Live In”
“I Can’t Stay”
“Losing Touch”
“Sweet Talk”
“This River Is Wild”

Kid Ears Alerts:
In general, The Killers have a lot of dark lyrical content (e.g. “Mr. Brightside” & “When You Were Young”) that can get overlooked because the music is so fun. Use discretion around your kids.

Bottom Line:
Buy this right now, grab every musician you know, and sit down to watch one of the best live music DVDs ever created! Amazon Purchase Link

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