MTV Review: The Killers Bring The Brightside To Glasgow's Bellahouston Park

By Jules Boyle

Following their weekend headlining V Festival at both Weston Park in Staffordshire and Chelmsford’s Hylands Park, The Killers hotfooted it to Glasgow, with Brandon Flowers bringing his usual brand of Mr Brightside charm to Bellahouston Park on Monday evening. 

Feeling: With the sun still shining, the atmosphere in the crowd had a real party feeling to it, long before the band took to the stage – probably thanks to the stellar support from Miles Kane and Courteeners.

The Look: Looking every inch the rockstar, frontman Brandon Flowers appeared halfway through opener Somebody Told Me, in a sparkling pink suit jacket.

Tunes: Fan-favourite Human made two appearances, the first in stripped-down form with just Flowers at the piano, before coming back later in the set in a much more bombastic style, full of pulsating synths and big hooks.

A cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's Bad Moon Rising was a thrilling blast of rootsy Southern rock, but it was another cover that really hit home with the Glasgow crowd.

With the band leaving the stage to Flowers and guitarist Dave Keuning, Simple Minds' Don't You Forget About Me was nothing short of spectacular, with every word being bellowed back at the stage, leaving the two musicians looking delighted at the response they were getting.

After the brilliant Shot At The Night had kicked off the encore, Flowers stopped the show to point out a troublemaker in the front rows, exclaiming, "Hey there's people fighting here, we need to stop it. We came here to celebrate, not fight!" Swiftly dealt with, it was a minor blip in what had been a good atmosphere throughout the night.

Saving the best for last, it was the massive run through Mr Brightside that caused absolute mania in the crowd and ensured thousands of fans went home with a smile on their face.

Banter: Brandon wasted no time in getting the fans firmly onside, exclaiming, "Good evening Glasgow! How're you doing? Over 50 medals in the Commonwealth Games? And it's not raining! Yes! Who wants to do some singing with me?"

From then on in, he had everyone in the palm of his hand, with songs like Spaceman, Smile Like You Mean It and Runaways being greeted like old friends.

Summary: The Killers delivered a typically epic set last night at their massive outdoor show in Glasgow's Bellahouston Park. The Las Vegas band were on deadly form, cranking out a greatest hits set that went down a storm with the fans that had rammed the area to its 35,000 capacity, with almost every track turning into a mass sing-a-long.