The Killers at Celebrity, Aug. 23, and Empire Ballroom, Aug. 26

Las Vegas City life

"I see London, I see Sam's Town," sang singer Brandon Flowers at the beginning of two pre-tour Killers shows last week, and the lyric-cum-T-shirt-slogan was enough to make a local fan smile like he meant it. For despite their global popularity -- this is a band that played the London main stage at last year's Live 8 -- The Killers have not forgotten their hometown. This was evidenced in the exclusive nature of the Aug. 23 "secret" show at Celebrity and the bigger show Aug. 26 at Empire Ballroom, the band members' Western duds, the juxtaposition of tumbleweed stage props and light-bulb-covered gear, and, more importantly, the dusty glitz that informs the sound of its new album, Sam's Town.

The Killers have not abandoned the synth zeal for which their music is renowned, but in most of the tracks played for the first time anywhere last week, you could discern earthier, more straightforward -- more American -- elements that suggest Sam's Town isn't a facsimile of its predecessor. This dynamic surfaced in "Bling (Confessions of a King)," a champ of a tune glowing in its atmospherics but driven by guitarist Dave Keuning's arena-rock stridency and Ronnie Vannucci's one-man drumline; "Read My Mind," a top-down highway song that ascends a la U2 but rolls like uptempo Tom Petty; and the dirtier "For Reasons Unknown," with Flowers' strumming complementing Keuning's almost garage-like boogey. Only "When You Were Young," already a radio smash, bore any obvious traces of the forewarned Springsteen inspiration -- and, really, couldn't modern rock use a little shot of the Boss?

Though the renditions remained the same -- the two shows shared the exact same setlist -- the performance level differed a bit between the two shows. At Celebrity, the lucky 500 gig-goers got some welcome up-close-and-personal access to the band. However, this occasionally revealed limitations, such as a sound mix that muddled the vocals, as well as some initial stiffness from Flowers, often looking down at the floor around him as if he was dealing with first-show jitters, or maybe just trying not to trip on the crowded, diminutive stage.

He would find his stride, and even his smile, halfway through, but it was nothing compared to the magnetism he projected during the Empire show. Fists pumping, cymbals bashing, notes bellowing, all-around body-rocking (part Morrissey, part Bono), Flowers commanded the show from song one, perfectly in sync with the rousing music played behind him. Sonic muscle abounded from the entire band as well; "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" -- punctuated by Mark Stoermer's melodic basswork -- and "Midnight Show" were pure rock might. As for the audience, Flowers didn't even need to prompt it to chant the "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" refrain from the concert-climaxing "All These Things I've Done."

While the more intimate Celebrity show was a reminder that they're one of us, the triumphant Empire showing was proof why we can't keep them to ourselves.

MIKE PREVATT

http://www.thekillersfansite.com