The Killers Talk Concerts and Their Fear of Flying

Over the years, The Killers have morphed from a typical 80′s-inspired band to feather-and-gold-adorned rockers playing in 138-year-old venues, like London’s Royal Albert Hall. Somewhere along the line, the band started growing into their own skin and learned a few things along the way, like figuring out that emulating your rock idol doesn’t automatically translate into a fantastic concert. In a recent interview, Brandon Flowers and drummer Ronnie Vannucci, talked about their concert experiences and when their shows started changing for the better.

“When we got away from cliches, our shows started really getting better,” Flowers stated.

Flowers and Vannucci talk about toning the parties down while on tour,

“I think we smartened up and were a little bit more selective of when we were going to go paint the town red,” stated Flowers. You become mindful that people are coming to see a band that’s well-rehearsed…Burning the candle at both ends could hinder performance,” said Ronnie Vannucci.

In terms of the groups interesting fashion choices Flowers says, “I’m just trying not to look stupid and apparently some people don’t think I’m doing a very good job.” But the biggest question a lot of fans want to ask is, what’s the worst part of touring. Sure you get to travel all over the world and visit amazing places, but what sucks about it?

Vannucci states,”Airports.” “To take off in the sky — not natural. I’d rather be on the bus on the ground.” said Flowers.  Vannucci interjects, “Somebody’s scared to fly.”

It sounds like The Killers have grown up a little bit! They’ve stopped trying to act like bands they admire, which is such a good thing! The reason those bands were amazing was because they were unlike anybody else. I saw The Killers a few years back, and I must say they were fairly unimpressive. They sounded good, but they didn’t seem comfortable. However, I will give them the benefit of the doubt because they were still pretty new at the time.

It also sounds like these touring machines have officially realized that a crippling hangover and performing on stage don’t work well together, in fact, they are mortal enemies. The lack of hangovers will always lead to a better performance.

What do you think? Do you think The Killers have gotten better over the years?