Ahead of their headlining Sunday night performance at Boston Calling, The Killers threw it back to the clubs last night, taking over the Paradise Rock Club for an intimate pop-up show for roughly 1,000 fans. It was a time machine performance for the Vegas alt-rock band, who made their Boston-area debut debut 20 years ago last month by opening for stellastarr* at The Middle East.
Brandon Flowers and the boys packed into the Commonwealth Avenue venue, approximately 1/40th of the crowd they’ll play for later tonight, even bringing along their signature illuminated “K” keyboard stand from the Hot Fuss era.
And true to form, the band leaned on that debut record for the ‘Dise show, as they’ll be celebrating the album for live shows later this year. They played five tracks from Hot Fuss: Show opener “On Top”, “Smile Like You Mean It”, “Somebody Told Me”, “Mr. Brightside”, and an encore performance at “All These Things That I’ve Done.”
“It was crowded, but intimate at the same time, and extremely energetic,” Ashley Elizabeth tells Vanyaland, after attending the show and capturing video of “Human” and “Spaceman” (view them via Insta below). “There were no lulls, and everybody was jumping up and down at the same time. The band was super engaging with the crowd — and they were having such a good time.”
They also played a cover of Erasure’s “A Little Respect,” which Flowers introduced by saying the smaller venue allowed them to bust out a surprise cover. Back in 2022, we suggested their single “Boy”, which they played ahead of the Erasure classic, had a fun similarity.
Check out Ashley’s fan-filmed video, as well as a full-set recording from Patrick Garriepy on YouTube. And keep it locked for coverage from Boston Calling all weekend long.