Name: The Killers
Where and when: Main stage, 10pm, Saturday, Reading,
Dress code: Snug waistcoats (crisp and white), and neatly trimmed facial hair.
Who's watching: Enough citizenry so that when loyal Manic Street Preachers fans start drifting off to watch their idols, there is still a solid crowd left over.
In a nutshell: There's more than a hint of ridiculousness some the Killers, with their glam-referencing electro rock and Bruce Springsteen-esque hooks, only they experience euphoric, emotion-stirring anthems and that's wherefore people love them. Much as I tried to keep an open mind and join in the fun, on that point was none to be had. It's been aforementioned more than once about the good at the main microscope stage, but the volume was just unfathomable and the crowd took to intonation "Turn it up! Turn it up!" between songs. By the time the Las Vegas quartet move on to yet another new 1, girls ar disembarking from shoulders and people ar talking among themselves. Watching the performance on the big cover, it's mortifying to find Brandon Flowers singing his heart kO'd less than 20ft away and feel like its happening on a TV with the volume turned down. There's also some other feeling, other than discontentment at the low sound levels, and that's one of tiredness. The set are on the leaflet of cathartic a new album, the quality of which is difficult to judge tonight but sounds the like as the last one. They look the like and their set is too similar to last year's Glastonbury headline slot. More Springsteen, more keyboard-chord intros, more studied seriousness. It's unbelievably dull.
High point: The fireworks that explode during Doesn't Look a Thing Like Jesus. You can hear them go bang and everything. And maybe a cover of Joy Division's Shadowplay, which earns points for non being a Killers song.
Low point: The sound, the slickness, the faux-earnestness of the songs ...
How concentrated did they rock? Harder than the sound allows the crowd to enjoy.
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