(no subject)
Now as a preamble to how epic this entry will be. It's 12:43pm for starters and I'm going to attempt to recap as much of the last couple of days as possible.
SECTION 1: BACKGROUND
I've been a Killers fan since the first time I saw the Somebody Told me video. People can call bullshit on it but I know I was sitting up watching Rage in the lounge one night when this video came on. Brandon with indiehair, english accent, amazing song. I e-mailed my then-best friend and said "I've seen a band you'll really like". When this was later discussed, she'd heard of them and didn't like them. I felt oddly offended because I thought they were awesome and I continued to quietly love the band. I went out and bought the single and loved the two B-sides even better than the actual single, and on the strength of The Ballad of Michael Valentine, I resolved to buy the album. I'm feeling like this was late 2004.
I'm also going to come out and say that I have/had no idea why Mr Brightside and Smile Like You Mean It are so popular. I actually think there are way better songs on that album and Glamorous Indie Rock'n'Roll is just about one of my favourite songs of all time.
Around December '05, they came to Perth for the first time. I bought a ticket for Ceiron and told him he was coming with me. I even remember getting my hair cut that day and what I wore and yadda yadda yadda. They played Metro's and I was so so drunk because Ceiron doesn't GET drunk, no matter what he drinks and he eventually ditched me and I wound up making friends with random drunk guys. They played Glamorous Indie Rock'n'Roll and the now-banned song Where is she? and Under the Gun and it was awesome.
I did go home and say to my parents that "The frontman just doesn't have much of a connection with the audience..."
April '06, I was sitting in the Paddo with Leanne and Andy when I read in Xpress or something that the Killers would soon have a new album.
It wasn't until 23rd November last year that I heard the new single. And I loved it to pieces. Some lines from songs remind me so hard of working at Bras'n'Things Whitfords, next to Sanity and being desperate to hear them properly in my car on the way home. I love the album.
If not for the Killers, I still never would have been to a BDO. But when I heard they'd be there, I was so all over tickets. Standing at the merchbooth when we got there, I saw the Killers shirts and had a total fangirl out moment over the merch being there and said to liska rather blurtily "THEY'RE HERE OMG THEY'RE REALLY HERE."
So after nearly being beaten to death by the My Chem crowd, I saw my beloved Killers for the second time. Now ~reading between the lines, I was not very impressed with the set. It was shorter than it could be, songs were missed Bling (Confession of a King) was played at ALL the other shows but mine, Uncle Jonny was written to be performed live and wasn't, Exitlude didn't cancel out Enterlude wtf. It was good, it wasn't amazing.
SO IN SUMMARY. I've loved the Killers for a long time but never been wowed by their onstage performances. Brandon always strikes me as shy and not all that comfortable on stage. Plus he dances a bit weird.
So I bore that in mind when I thought of going East to see them this time. They're a great band but are they really all that good live?
SECTION 2: THE BUILD UP
Three weeks to the day out from going to Sydney and Melbourne for My Chemical Romance, I went to Brisbane to see my favourite band. You all must know I'm neurotic and was pleasantly surprised by the lack of ~drama~ catching the planes etc.
Okay, one drama was the fact I didn't think twice of taking my Clandestine bag and wallet.
DO YOU SPOT WHY SECURITY GAVE ME A CHEWING OUT? Yeah, there's faux razorblades on it. *eyeroll* Nice work, Hannah.
PERTH -> BRSIBANE: 11:59PM-5:30AM: I got NO sleep, due to screaming children.
Landed in Brisvegas, took a taxi to the hotel for just before 6:30am. Was informed there was no way I could check in. Duh. Changed into concert gear, had reception mark local starbucks and train stations. Starbucks'd up and caught the train 30 minutes out of the city to the Entertainment Centre.
I got to this godforsaken Entertainment Centre at about 7am. Now, if you've never been to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, you won't know that in order to get there on foot, you have to walk along this extremely dodgy bush trail. I felt I should text message 10 people and inform them that if I go missing, I've been murdered in Boondall and buried in a bush grave because THAT'S HOW FUCKING CREEPY IT WAS. Like in all those murder show recreations:
"Hannah was last seen crossing the railway line and walking towards the entertainment centre on the 9th of November 2007. She was wearing jeans, a dark grey shirt with a print on it and purple Chuck Taylors. If you have any information about her whereabouts, call Crimestoppers."
ANYWAY. The other thing about Boondall is it's apparently built on wetlands. Which translates to "mosquitos the size of seagulls" BUT MORE ON THAT LATER.
I came across a cabbie and two security guys who told me I was way too early and come back later. Cue first tiredness overreaction. I felt kind of like an idiot and wanted to cry. Instead I got a call from Rob, saying he'd just landed and would be in the city in 45 minutes or so. I left Boondall and went back to the city, hoping I'd at least know someone.
When I did meet up with Rob, we went shopping for a good 3 hours. Three hours of WALKING IN CIRCLES. I had not slept in 24 hours by this point and I got snarky with him. This was totally the lowpoint of the day, I was tired and frazzled and disorientated and still a bit butthurt that there were no fans at the venue. Things weren't going well.
I won't dwell because yeah, therein was the emo of the weekend. But about midday, we got to go to the hotel and check in properly and spend an hour watching Dr Phil which is always a good spending of time. Around 1pm, we tried for Boondall again, getting a couple of drinks on the way. This was good.
SECTION 3: BOONDALL
Okay, this is a BS section because it just fills in the couple of hours we did wait. The fans that queued from when we got there were pretty disorganised and just sat around in various places. Even when doors opened, there were so few people waiting to go in. Killers fans = not crazy? crazy.
I made some linefriends! These Medical Science students that were a bit tipsy and very giggly, Emma, Sean, Claire and idk if I remember the rest. They were fun because everyone else was so apathetic and boring. I told them I came from perth for the show and they were shocked and hugged me :P it was ftw.
I made the total n00b mistake of buying merch before the show. Which wasn't a total mistake because I was the first to BUY merch, vs. the 159483 billion trying to after the show. I bought two shirts, parted with $95 and all I got was this lousy T-shirt. ONLY I DIDN'T. More on that later.
By the time we were queuing outside the GA door, I'd hit another lack of sleep moment. My hands were all shakey and not from excitement because I felt pretty apathetic. Rob told me to eat something because I hadn't since probably 8am and had been literally flogging around all day with no sleep. So I ate twisties and drank water and felt icky.
And I didn't get Barrier, but I was one row back by the Killers. tbh, I don't care. YOU WILL SEE LATERRRR.
SECTION THE BEST: THE SHOW
Now, first up? Brisbane Entertainment Centre is NO WAY MUCH BIGGER THAN CHALLENGE. There's more seating and a much smaller floor. Bite me, touring companies.
First of all, moment of lolz. Two girls on the barrier along to the left kept yelling back "HANNAH blah blah blah" to their friend, which is always annoying right? Suddenly, the girl next to me goes "Is you friend called Hannah? My name's Hannah too!" and I'm like "...seriously? so is mine :/" and the girl behind us (original Hannah) says "EMMA THAT IS SO FUNNY, THERE'S THREE HANNAHS LIKE TOUCHING!" to which the girl on my right as we recall says "My name's Emma too :(" and it was just fucking amusing. I laughed so hard.
The Hannah next to me was awesome tbh. We talked about London, Vegas, the Killers. She asked how many times I'd seen them, I said this was my third, she said I was die-hard. I really LIKED the killers fans, they weren't competitive like you'd expect SOME bands's fans to be. Later, I was having a "RONNIEEEEEEEEEEE" moment and someone goes "Drummer? Bass?" and I'm like "Drummer, dude. DRUMMER."
The Killers fans were all just really cool about everything. I liked it.
ON WITH THE BANDS.
- Louis XIV -- My first comment was "...awkward, they're dressed just like the Killers. Did the Killers tell them to dress like that? or was it a moment of 'Huh. velvet blazer eh? listen. I'm not telling you that you have to go and get changed but let me just remind you who's headlining. Yeah, i thought so.'?"
I also don't know their stuff but will seriously consider looking for their album. The lead singer looks like William Beckett if William Beckett reached puberty and put on a few kilos. They were hair soulmates and had the same onstage mannerisms, it was creepy. The bassist was way hot, BUT MORE ON HIM LATER.
- Howling Bells -- My first comment was "Okay, so if Brandon was a woman, that is SO what he would wear." I also want their album. Her voice is just about amazing and it was very ~synthy. But both supports were, it's hardly surprising B.Flow loves the two bands. I want their album as well.
- THE KILLERS. WILL KILL YOU.
Oh my god. There are no words. There are no words. But I'll figure something out.
So a la My Chemical Romance's big screen held up over the stage as they rearranged the stage, they raised this huge white sheet over the stage. You could see when they turned on the fairy lights on Brandon's synth but not what it was. So you could just see little sparkles through it.
When the lights cut, they projected all images of the Nevada Desert and the big "WELCOME TO LAS VEGAS" sign, intercut with the photoshoot they did in the desert before Sam's Town came out. There was this amazing part where they "lowered" an image of them standing down the curtain and it looked like they were lowering the band onto the stage.
And the music started making more sense as Sam's Town, turning into chanting "I see Lonnnnnnndonnnnn, I see Lonnnnnnnndonnnn" and then Brandon joining in on "IIII SEEEE SAM'S TOWN. NOW." and the curtain dropped and the big "SAM'S TOWN" sign lit up all old skool vegas. The big velvet curtains at the back of the stage were awesome and made the stage seem smaller. Piano, synth, Daveycakes, Ronnie!, Mark (looking hot btw.), TED!, mini skeleton, flowers everywherrrrrrrrre.
And as they did Sam's Town, red and blue strips of sparkley paper were dumped on us at the front. omg, I always loved the bits in Queer as Folk when they shot sparkles into a crowd. It was amazing because the sparkles were literally going everywhere, and I think I swallowed one. They went back over the whole front mosh and all over the stage. Later, Brandon blew them all off his synth and laughed.
Enterlude welcomes us all to enjoy the show before the complete awesomeness of When You Were Young because who doesn't love that song?
AND ALL THAT BOLLOCKS I SAID ABOUT HOW BRANDON'S A BORING FRONTMAN? BOLLOCKS. He was jumping up on the wooden boxes and singing down to us and doing his weird little dancey things and how he has perfected the art of shaking on queue. He was running around too! and gesturing the the crowd. I know it's so ~cliche~ to say that the frontman totes made eyecontact with you but he made eyecontact with me. mostly at the beginning, definitely in Smile Like You Mean It on "Girrrrrrrrl, he'll help you understand." He sang a line of Bones to me, "And in the ocean, we'll hold hands" which yunno. squeeb.flowbbily.
They introduced Somebody Told Me as "a real steamroller" idk idk. They did Jenny was a friend of mine, complete with "she kicked and screamed while I held her throat!" and throatgrab RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. B.Flow, if murdering and burying in a bushgrave is coming from you, I'm down with it.
They played On Top! Obscure first album ftww <3
My Ultimate Fangirl Wantlist was:
Uncle Jonny
Bling (confession of a King)
Enterlude WITH Exitlude or neither
Shadowplay or Move Away
Tranquilize
The Murder Trilogy.
I got all but the two new songs. I'm a bit sad about not seeing the Murder Trilogy complete, but they didn't do Midnight Show, only Jenny so yunno.
Bling (confession of a King) wound up their first chunk of set and I was SO HAPPY. On top of that, as the song started, they dropped gold glitter all over the mosh again. TWICE. Once at the start, once when it starts to refrain "Hiiiigher and higher, we're gunna take it down to the wire!" and I had ~personal significance~ for yelling back "POOR AND TIRED BUT MORE THAN THIS" because yunno. Been awake 40 hours, bit poorer than I would have been if I hadn't done this.
Brandon got his Bass awn for For Reasons Unknown which is an amazing song. They busted out My List which isn't one of my favourites off Sam's Town but was absolutely incredible live for some reason. He was singing "Let me show you how much I care" to the mosh though so that could help. Two of the guys from Louis XIV came to help out on vocals for the epic finale of the song and it was hilarious because they totally immitated Brandon's stiff dancing and weird gesturing. And Brandon's on his synth all "DON'T GIVE THE GHOST UP, JUST CLENCH YOUR FIST. YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BY NOW, YOU WERE ON MY LIST. Guyz this is a srs bizniz song. tee hee *steals*"
They closed the first encore (going off a second time) on All These Things I've Done and Brandon climbing on top of his piano mock-shakily to conducted "I got soul but I'm not a Soldier!" without singing it himself. Then he jumped down and started it off again, singing it himself. Oh god, it always gets me when the whole audience is chanting that and this was the best yet.
They covered Can't Take My Eyes off You all ~stripped down~ and it was so pretty. This lead into Shadowplay! Argh, Brandon bb. You should SEE the dance he did. The Killers are huge fans of Joy Division and the dance just felt like "FUCK I LOVE THIS SONG *dances in bedroom, pretends to be rockstar*" and it was just so entertaining but adorable.
They reprised Sam's Town's refrain again, just with piano and vocals before Exitlude.
It kind of left me going "Jeez, I love the Killers but what the fuck ELSE do they sing? what are they going to close with?"
The only thing they could close with. Reprising the chorus of When You Were Young, starting "They say the devil's water it ain't so sweet. *painfully long pause while everyone cheers and screams* You don't have to drink right now. But you can dip your feet, every once in a little while. *painful pause* *b.flow gets up to ~rock out~* YOU SIT THERE IN YOURRRR HEARTACHE" and oh god. hearing the song on iTunes is actually getting me teary.
And then they were gone :| Just like that. Two hour set, two encores. ALL the really good stuff. No Murder Trilogy, sadly, but BLING.
I cried at the end. I just sort of crumbled :P I was so tired and it was so amazing and I was so happy I did it.
OTHER THINGS THAT HAPPENED. BAND MEMBER BY BAND MEMBER.
Brandon, we covered him, but he looked amazing. He's lost weight tbh, he was looking bloated a few months ago, but he looked really skinny. He really actually looked happier than i've seen of him onstage, he was goofing off a bit, gave Dave a little cuddle at the end <3
Dave, I sadly didn't get to see much of him because he didn't switch places with Mark much and I was in front of Mark. I swear he only looked at me once but idc. YAY DAVE.
Mark. I DEFINITELY made eyecontact with mark. And grinned and waved and he was like "O_O". Yes, My Chemical Romance fans, there's someone out there who does mikeyface better than mikeyway. His name is Mark Stoermer of the Killers. But he's looking really hot these days with his non-jesus-hair. One funny bit of lolz was when Brandon went and stood next to Mark to discuss something bass-player related no doubt, he only came up to Mark's shoulder. MARK IS ENORMOUS.
RONNIE. I UNDERSTAND NOW WHY RONNIE IS SO FTW. sure, he badly needs to have a chat with Mark about how that haircutting business is working out for him and his hottness, because if you can think Mark's looking hotter than Ronnie, we have problems.
ANYWAY. I normally skip over drummers because they're hidden behind those drumkits but Ronnie is the greatest drummer I've ever seen. He SOMEHOW stole the show from Brandon during Read My Mind. Okay, somehow = showboating with the big gong he had to whack. I was watching him and not Brandon and I bit my lip and grinned, and he bit his lip and grinned back at me, then threw his drumstick into the crowd. WAY over my head but whatevs.
I love Ronnie but MORE ON THAT LATER.
It seriously was the most amazing show. So amazing.
SECTION THE LASTLASTLAST: POST-SHOW.
After the show, I thought I'd give the old stage door lurk a whack.
Security said we wouldn't see them where we were and hinted there was somewhere better. I took that risk and went to this gate I'd seen earlier that was like. wooden slats.
As I got there, lo and behold Other Hannah was there and we bonded over awesomeness. There were only seven of us at the best of times and those numbers dwindled to three. Ftw! She told the security guy they were talking to that I'd flown over from Perth to see the band and he said he was impressed. This security guy was amazing. Security can be sleazy, they can be jerks, they can be snobby, but this guy didn't break any rules for us, he was just chatty with us. Just kept us posted and told us that the Killers were on their way etc. He didn't treat us like shit or think he was better than us. We played "Which celebrity is a bitch?" because he'd been doing the job for 25 years. Apparently Kylie is! Gwen isn't. Gym Class Heroes "were very very drunk". He described the Killers as "incredibly quiet but nice guys" <333
Some of the roadies and support bands came and talked to us. The Bassist from Louis XIV came over and was asking Batman to "Let the pretty girls innnnnn." and invited us to go to his hotel with him. I said "...will you bring the Killers?" and he's like "I'm better than the killers :( They won't do what I say anyway!", and he shunned me after that. But he was super pretty and quite drunk and chatted to us for some time. I asked him to give us some of his copious drinks but he just kept trying to let us in. We saw grownup beckett again but he snubbed us. YOU KNOW THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WHEN THE HEADLINER BAND ARE MORE POLITE THAN THE SUPPORT BAND, GROWNUP BECKETT.
Some guy came out to have a beer and a cigarette with Batman and the conversation went like this:
OTHER HANNAH: haiiii, what's your name?
MAN: It's not important...
OTHER HANNAH: What do you do?
MAN: Nothing, I'm a hanger-on-er.
ME HANNAH: What can we call you? :(
MAN: My name is Ron Vannucci.
ME HANNAH: SENIOR? YOU'RE RONNIE'S DAD?
MAN: *laughs*
ME HANNAH: LIKE THAT'S NOT AN IMPORTANT JOB.
and then he talked about baseball :P But then he told us that Ronnie's wife had her baby like a week ago and Ronnie's only spent a couple of days with his new son and that although he's glad to be on tour, he really really wants to spend some time with the new baby. And that Ron hadn't met the bb yet and that made him saaaaad. Poor Killers.
Ron also told us that none of the wives and babies were with the band and Brandon was missing his baby too. D'aw, enormous softies.
Anyway, it was about 2am when we got ~word that the Killers were coming. One of the girls said she was going to leave because she couldn't take it if the Killers just ignored us after all that. Batman said not to worry and that the band were really really nice and wouldn't do that in his opinion and she's waited so long, she should just wait a bit longer and know for sure or she'd never know. HOW FUCKING FTW WAS THIS GUY? He didn't promise anything, he just kept our spirits up. And he said he wasn't going to stop until she smiled for him <3
So five minutes later, the Killers still weren't there and I was so tired. I groaned, rolled my eyes and rested my face on the gate. Who's there looking back at me. DAVE.
ME: DAVE! DAAAVE. Hi Dave.
DAVE: Hiiii. You guys are still waiting?
ME: I flew five hours to see you guys, what's another few?
DAVE: *eyebrow, takes ticket and pen*
ME: I've been awake 40 hours :D
DAVE: Uhhh... you should get some rest.
ME: Probably :D
He's impossibly pretty in person. His fro was all ~perfect. I'm sorry Toro but this Fro was amazingly goodlooking. He has really pretty eyes and i swear he was rocking guyliner. THAT'S why ily Daveycakes, you may still rock the eyeliner. Lol, Other Hannah goes "You going out after this or going back to the hotel?" and Dave's face was like "BITCH PLZ."
Anyway, as he was signing, I realised the others were talking to someone else. SOMEONE BRANDON ELSE.
I unashamedly ditch Dave and go over to Brandon.
ME: BRANDONNN.
BRANDON: Hiii.
ME: That was a really really good show, Brandon!
BRANDON: Thanks :D
ME: I flew five hours to see you guys!
BRANDON: *looks uncomfortable* Uh 'm sorry?
ME: PSH. It was the best thing I ever did.
BRANDON: *giggles, hands me my ticket* aww! Thanks!
ME: You guys make me oh-so-happy. Come back soon.
BRANDON: *grins again* of course.
Another few minutes of Tarago-milling and I got to meet the Captain who...made kissyfaces through the gate which was odd. :P But omg Captain! He's like. idk, security/PA/bitch/dogsbody. He's got a song about him. He was definitely drunk but sweet!
Anyway, he says to Batman "Yo! Mark and Ronnie still coming?" and Batman's like "Yeah."
and MarkganglyLurch comes around the corner. Btw, at this point, I should add that I was the only one at the gate that knew their names other than Brandon. So it was my job to alert people to Not-Brandons. So I called out to him and asked him to sign my ticket. Bear in mind, he seriously talks like Lurch the Butler.
ME: Mark! Your hair looks SO GOOD.
MARK: Gnuhhhhhhthanks.
ME: I flew five hours to see you guys!
MARK: Ohreally.
ME: Yeah! You guys have to come to perth next time. It's this city on the --
MARK: I know Perth. We've been there before.
ME: Yeah but. are you going this week?
MARK: ...
ME: Yeeeeah. anyway, thanks!
AND THEN. Then there was Ronnie. He came last with his arms full of crap. I actually thought it could be a bb because there was a bb blankie on the top or something. I go "RONNIE! Come talk to usss?" and he gives me a sorry look and says "Can I get rid of all of this first? :/" OF COURSE YOU CAN, RONNIIIE.
Anyway, he came over.
RONNIE: You guys're dedicated.
OTHER HANNAH: *points at me* She's the most. She came from Perth.
RONNIE: You did?
ME: ...just a little?
RONNIE: Aww, did you have fun?
ME: Ohgodyes. Best ever, i'm so glad I came and you guys are all so sweeeeet.
RONNIE: Ahhh we try. You guys been here long?
*he proceeds to chat with us for ages as a group for a bit, then apologises and says he's so tired, he's got to sleep.*
He then sticks his fingers through the gate and holds our hands and says thank you again.
AND HERE IS THE FRUITS OF MY LABOUR
Yeaaaaah, Mark signed the back. After Brandon and Dave signed the front. WAY TO GO MARK. Now I have to figure out how to frame it.
Seriously, I love that band. And I'm so glad I saw a really good show of theirs. They're all impossibly pretty. Especially Flowers and Dave.
THE END.
SO WHO ACTUALLY READ IT? <3
SECTION 1: BACKGROUND
I've been a Killers fan since the first time I saw the Somebody Told me video. People can call bullshit on it but I know I was sitting up watching Rage in the lounge one night when this video came on. Brandon with indiehair, english accent, amazing song. I e-mailed my then-best friend and said "I've seen a band you'll really like". When this was later discussed, she'd heard of them and didn't like them. I felt oddly offended because I thought they were awesome and I continued to quietly love the band. I went out and bought the single and loved the two B-sides even better than the actual single, and on the strength of The Ballad of Michael Valentine, I resolved to buy the album. I'm feeling like this was late 2004.
I'm also going to come out and say that I have/had no idea why Mr Brightside and Smile Like You Mean It are so popular. I actually think there are way better songs on that album and Glamorous Indie Rock'n'Roll is just about one of my favourite songs of all time.
Around December '05, they came to Perth for the first time. I bought a ticket for Ceiron and told him he was coming with me. I even remember getting my hair cut that day and what I wore and yadda yadda yadda. They played Metro's and I was so so drunk because Ceiron doesn't GET drunk, no matter what he drinks and he eventually ditched me and I wound up making friends with random drunk guys. They played Glamorous Indie Rock'n'Roll and the now-banned song Where is she? and Under the Gun and it was awesome.
I did go home and say to my parents that "The frontman just doesn't have much of a connection with the audience..."
April '06, I was sitting in the Paddo with Leanne and Andy when I read in Xpress or something that the Killers would soon have a new album.
It wasn't until 23rd November last year that I heard the new single. And I loved it to pieces. Some lines from songs remind me so hard of working at Bras'n'Things Whitfords, next to Sanity and being desperate to hear them properly in my car on the way home. I love the album.
If not for the Killers, I still never would have been to a BDO. But when I heard they'd be there, I was so all over tickets. Standing at the merchbooth when we got there, I saw the Killers shirts and had a total fangirl out moment over the merch being there and said to liska rather blurtily "THEY'RE HERE OMG THEY'RE REALLY HERE."
So after nearly being beaten to death by the My Chem crowd, I saw my beloved Killers for the second time. Now ~reading between the lines, I was not very impressed with the set. It was shorter than it could be, songs were missed Bling (Confession of a King) was played at ALL the other shows but mine, Uncle Jonny was written to be performed live and wasn't, Exitlude didn't cancel out Enterlude wtf. It was good, it wasn't amazing.
SO IN SUMMARY. I've loved the Killers for a long time but never been wowed by their onstage performances. Brandon always strikes me as shy and not all that comfortable on stage. Plus he dances a bit weird.
So I bore that in mind when I thought of going East to see them this time. They're a great band but are they really all that good live?
SECTION 2: THE BUILD UP
Three weeks to the day out from going to Sydney and Melbourne for My Chemical Romance, I went to Brisbane to see my favourite band. You all must know I'm neurotic and was pleasantly surprised by the lack of ~drama~ catching the planes etc.
Okay, one drama was the fact I didn't think twice of taking my Clandestine bag and wallet.
DO YOU SPOT WHY SECURITY GAVE ME A CHEWING OUT? Yeah, there's faux razorblades on it. *eyeroll* Nice work, Hannah.
PERTH -> BRSIBANE: 11:59PM-5:30AM: I got NO sleep, due to screaming children.
Landed in Brisvegas, took a taxi to the hotel for just before 6:30am. Was informed there was no way I could check in. Duh. Changed into concert gear, had reception mark local starbucks and train stations. Starbucks'd up and caught the train 30 minutes out of the city to the Entertainment Centre.
I got to this godforsaken Entertainment Centre at about 7am. Now, if you've never been to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, you won't know that in order to get there on foot, you have to walk along this extremely dodgy bush trail. I felt I should text message 10 people and inform them that if I go missing, I've been murdered in Boondall and buried in a bush grave because THAT'S HOW FUCKING CREEPY IT WAS. Like in all those murder show recreations:
"Hannah was last seen crossing the railway line and walking towards the entertainment centre on the 9th of November 2007. She was wearing jeans, a dark grey shirt with a print on it and purple Chuck Taylors. If you have any information about her whereabouts, call Crimestoppers."
ANYWAY. The other thing about Boondall is it's apparently built on wetlands. Which translates to "mosquitos the size of seagulls" BUT MORE ON THAT LATER.
I came across a cabbie and two security guys who told me I was way too early and come back later. Cue first tiredness overreaction. I felt kind of like an idiot and wanted to cry. Instead I got a call from Rob, saying he'd just landed and would be in the city in 45 minutes or so. I left Boondall and went back to the city, hoping I'd at least know someone.
When I did meet up with Rob, we went shopping for a good 3 hours. Three hours of WALKING IN CIRCLES. I had not slept in 24 hours by this point and I got snarky with him. This was totally the lowpoint of the day, I was tired and frazzled and disorientated and still a bit butthurt that there were no fans at the venue. Things weren't going well.
I won't dwell because yeah, therein was the emo of the weekend. But about midday, we got to go to the hotel and check in properly and spend an hour watching Dr Phil which is always a good spending of time. Around 1pm, we tried for Boondall again, getting a couple of drinks on the way. This was good.
SECTION 3: BOONDALL
Okay, this is a BS section because it just fills in the couple of hours we did wait. The fans that queued from when we got there were pretty disorganised and just sat around in various places. Even when doors opened, there were so few people waiting to go in. Killers fans = not crazy? crazy.
I made some linefriends! These Medical Science students that were a bit tipsy and very giggly, Emma, Sean, Claire and idk if I remember the rest. They were fun because everyone else was so apathetic and boring. I told them I came from perth for the show and they were shocked and hugged me :P it was ftw.
I made the total n00b mistake of buying merch before the show. Which wasn't a total mistake because I was the first to BUY merch, vs. the 159483 billion trying to after the show. I bought two shirts, parted with $95 and all I got was this lousy T-shirt. ONLY I DIDN'T. More on that later.
By the time we were queuing outside the GA door, I'd hit another lack of sleep moment. My hands were all shakey and not from excitement because I felt pretty apathetic. Rob told me to eat something because I hadn't since probably 8am and had been literally flogging around all day with no sleep. So I ate twisties and drank water and felt icky.
And I didn't get Barrier, but I was one row back by the Killers. tbh, I don't care. YOU WILL SEE LATERRRR.
SECTION THE BEST: THE SHOW
Now, first up? Brisbane Entertainment Centre is NO WAY MUCH BIGGER THAN CHALLENGE. There's more seating and a much smaller floor. Bite me, touring companies.
First of all, moment of lolz. Two girls on the barrier along to the left kept yelling back "HANNAH blah blah blah" to their friend, which is always annoying right? Suddenly, the girl next to me goes "Is you friend called Hannah? My name's Hannah too!" and I'm like "...seriously? so is mine :/" and the girl behind us (original Hannah) says "EMMA THAT IS SO FUNNY, THERE'S THREE HANNAHS LIKE TOUCHING!" to which the girl on my right as we recall says "My name's Emma too :(" and it was just fucking amusing. I laughed so hard.
The Hannah next to me was awesome tbh. We talked about London, Vegas, the Killers. She asked how many times I'd seen them, I said this was my third, she said I was die-hard. I really LIKED the killers fans, they weren't competitive like you'd expect SOME bands's fans to be. Later, I was having a "RONNIEEEEEEEEEEE" moment and someone goes "Drummer? Bass?" and I'm like "Drummer, dude. DRUMMER."
The Killers fans were all just really cool about everything. I liked it.
ON WITH THE BANDS.
- Louis XIV -- My first comment was "...awkward, they're dressed just like the Killers. Did the Killers tell them to dress like that? or was it a moment of 'Huh. velvet blazer eh? listen. I'm not telling you that you have to go and get changed but let me just remind you who's headlining. Yeah, i thought so.'?"
I also don't know their stuff but will seriously consider looking for their album. The lead singer looks like William Beckett if William Beckett reached puberty and put on a few kilos. They were hair soulmates and had the same onstage mannerisms, it was creepy. The bassist was way hot, BUT MORE ON HIM LATER.
- Howling Bells -- My first comment was "Okay, so if Brandon was a woman, that is SO what he would wear." I also want their album. Her voice is just about amazing and it was very ~synthy. But both supports were, it's hardly surprising B.Flow loves the two bands. I want their album as well.
- THE KILLERS. WILL KILL YOU.
Oh my god. There are no words. There are no words. But I'll figure something out.
So a la My Chemical Romance's big screen held up over the stage as they rearranged the stage, they raised this huge white sheet over the stage. You could see when they turned on the fairy lights on Brandon's synth but not what it was. So you could just see little sparkles through it.
When the lights cut, they projected all images of the Nevada Desert and the big "WELCOME TO LAS VEGAS" sign, intercut with the photoshoot they did in the desert before Sam's Town came out. There was this amazing part where they "lowered" an image of them standing down the curtain and it looked like they were lowering the band onto the stage.
And the music started making more sense as Sam's Town, turning into chanting "I see Lonnnnnnndonnnnn, I see Lonnnnnnnndonnnn" and then Brandon joining in on "IIII SEEEE SAM'S TOWN. NOW." and the curtain dropped and the big "SAM'S TOWN" sign lit up all old skool vegas. The big velvet curtains at the back of the stage were awesome and made the stage seem smaller. Piano, synth, Daveycakes, Ronnie!, Mark (looking hot btw.), TED!, mini skeleton, flowers everywherrrrrrrrre.
And as they did Sam's Town, red and blue strips of sparkley paper were dumped on us at the front. omg, I always loved the bits in Queer as Folk when they shot sparkles into a crowd. It was amazing because the sparkles were literally going everywhere, and I think I swallowed one. They went back over the whole front mosh and all over the stage. Later, Brandon blew them all off his synth and laughed.
Enterlude welcomes us all to enjoy the show before the complete awesomeness of When You Were Young because who doesn't love that song?
AND ALL THAT BOLLOCKS I SAID ABOUT HOW BRANDON'S A BORING FRONTMAN? BOLLOCKS. He was jumping up on the wooden boxes and singing down to us and doing his weird little dancey things and how he has perfected the art of shaking on queue. He was running around too! and gesturing the the crowd. I know it's so ~cliche~ to say that the frontman totes made eyecontact with you but he made eyecontact with me. mostly at the beginning, definitely in Smile Like You Mean It on "Girrrrrrrrl, he'll help you understand." He sang a line of Bones to me, "And in the ocean, we'll hold hands" which yunno. squeeb.flowbbily.
They introduced Somebody Told Me as "a real steamroller" idk idk. They did Jenny was a friend of mine, complete with "she kicked and screamed while I held her throat!" and throatgrab RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. B.Flow, if murdering and burying in a bushgrave is coming from you, I'm down with it.
They played On Top! Obscure first album ftww <3
My Ultimate Fangirl Wantlist was:
Uncle Jonny
Bling (confession of a King)
Enterlude WITH Exitlude or neither
Shadowplay or Move Away
Tranquilize
The Murder Trilogy.
I got all but the two new songs. I'm a bit sad about not seeing the Murder Trilogy complete, but they didn't do Midnight Show, only Jenny so yunno.
Bling (confession of a King) wound up their first chunk of set and I was SO HAPPY. On top of that, as the song started, they dropped gold glitter all over the mosh again. TWICE. Once at the start, once when it starts to refrain "Hiiiigher and higher, we're gunna take it down to the wire!" and I had ~personal significance~ for yelling back "POOR AND TIRED BUT MORE THAN THIS" because yunno. Been awake 40 hours, bit poorer than I would have been if I hadn't done this.
Brandon got his Bass awn for For Reasons Unknown which is an amazing song. They busted out My List which isn't one of my favourites off Sam's Town but was absolutely incredible live for some reason. He was singing "Let me show you how much I care" to the mosh though so that could help. Two of the guys from Louis XIV came to help out on vocals for the epic finale of the song and it was hilarious because they totally immitated Brandon's stiff dancing and weird gesturing. And Brandon's on his synth all "DON'T GIVE THE GHOST UP, JUST CLENCH YOUR FIST. YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BY NOW, YOU WERE ON MY LIST. Guyz this is a srs bizniz song. tee hee *steals*"
They closed the first encore (going off a second time) on All These Things I've Done and Brandon climbing on top of his piano mock-shakily to conducted "I got soul but I'm not a Soldier!" without singing it himself. Then he jumped down and started it off again, singing it himself. Oh god, it always gets me when the whole audience is chanting that and this was the best yet.
They covered Can't Take My Eyes off You all ~stripped down~ and it was so pretty. This lead into Shadowplay! Argh, Brandon bb. You should SEE the dance he did. The Killers are huge fans of Joy Division and the dance just felt like "FUCK I LOVE THIS SONG *dances in bedroom, pretends to be rockstar*" and it was just so entertaining but adorable.
They reprised Sam's Town's refrain again, just with piano and vocals before Exitlude.
It kind of left me going "Jeez, I love the Killers but what the fuck ELSE do they sing? what are they going to close with?"
The only thing they could close with. Reprising the chorus of When You Were Young, starting "They say the devil's water it ain't so sweet. *painfully long pause while everyone cheers and screams* You don't have to drink right now. But you can dip your feet, every once in a little while. *painful pause* *b.flow gets up to ~rock out~* YOU SIT THERE IN YOURRRR HEARTACHE" and oh god. hearing the song on iTunes is actually getting me teary.
And then they were gone :| Just like that. Two hour set, two encores. ALL the really good stuff. No Murder Trilogy, sadly, but BLING.
I cried at the end. I just sort of crumbled :P I was so tired and it was so amazing and I was so happy I did it.
OTHER THINGS THAT HAPPENED. BAND MEMBER BY BAND MEMBER.
Brandon, we covered him, but he looked amazing. He's lost weight tbh, he was looking bloated a few months ago, but he looked really skinny. He really actually looked happier than i've seen of him onstage, he was goofing off a bit, gave Dave a little cuddle at the end <3
Dave, I sadly didn't get to see much of him because he didn't switch places with Mark much and I was in front of Mark. I swear he only looked at me once but idc. YAY DAVE.
Mark. I DEFINITELY made eyecontact with mark. And grinned and waved and he was like "O_O". Yes, My Chemical Romance fans, there's someone out there who does mikeyface better than mikeyway. His name is Mark Stoermer of the Killers. But he's looking really hot these days with his non-jesus-hair. One funny bit of lolz was when Brandon went and stood next to Mark to discuss something bass-player related no doubt, he only came up to Mark's shoulder. MARK IS ENORMOUS.
RONNIE. I UNDERSTAND NOW WHY RONNIE IS SO FTW. sure, he badly needs to have a chat with Mark about how that haircutting business is working out for him and his hottness, because if you can think Mark's looking hotter than Ronnie, we have problems.
ANYWAY. I normally skip over drummers because they're hidden behind those drumkits but Ronnie is the greatest drummer I've ever seen. He SOMEHOW stole the show from Brandon during Read My Mind. Okay, somehow = showboating with the big gong he had to whack. I was watching him and not Brandon and I bit my lip and grinned, and he bit his lip and grinned back at me, then threw his drumstick into the crowd. WAY over my head but whatevs.
I love Ronnie but MORE ON THAT LATER.
It seriously was the most amazing show. So amazing.
SECTION THE LASTLASTLAST: POST-SHOW.
After the show, I thought I'd give the old stage door lurk a whack.
Security said we wouldn't see them where we were and hinted there was somewhere better. I took that risk and went to this gate I'd seen earlier that was like. wooden slats.
As I got there, lo and behold Other Hannah was there and we bonded over awesomeness. There were only seven of us at the best of times and those numbers dwindled to three. Ftw! She told the security guy they were talking to that I'd flown over from Perth to see the band and he said he was impressed. This security guy was amazing. Security can be sleazy, they can be jerks, they can be snobby, but this guy didn't break any rules for us, he was just chatty with us. Just kept us posted and told us that the Killers were on their way etc. He didn't treat us like shit or think he was better than us. We played "Which celebrity is a bitch?" because he'd been doing the job for 25 years. Apparently Kylie is! Gwen isn't. Gym Class Heroes "were very very drunk". He described the Killers as "incredibly quiet but nice guys" <333
Some of the roadies and support bands came and talked to us. The Bassist from Louis XIV came over and was asking Batman to "Let the pretty girls innnnnn." and invited us to go to his hotel with him. I said "...will you bring the Killers?" and he's like "I'm better than the killers :( They won't do what I say anyway!", and he shunned me after that. But he was super pretty and quite drunk and chatted to us for some time. I asked him to give us some of his copious drinks but he just kept trying to let us in. We saw grownup beckett again but he snubbed us. YOU KNOW THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WHEN THE HEADLINER BAND ARE MORE POLITE THAN THE SUPPORT BAND, GROWNUP BECKETT.
Some guy came out to have a beer and a cigarette with Batman and the conversation went like this:
OTHER HANNAH: haiiii, what's your name?
MAN: It's not important...
OTHER HANNAH: What do you do?
MAN: Nothing, I'm a hanger-on-er.
ME HANNAH: What can we call you? :(
MAN: My name is Ron Vannucci.
ME HANNAH: SENIOR? YOU'RE RONNIE'S DAD?
MAN: *laughs*
ME HANNAH: LIKE THAT'S NOT AN IMPORTANT JOB.
and then he talked about baseball :P But then he told us that Ronnie's wife had her baby like a week ago and Ronnie's only spent a couple of days with his new son and that although he's glad to be on tour, he really really wants to spend some time with the new baby. And that Ron hadn't met the bb yet and that made him saaaaad. Poor Killers.
Ron also told us that none of the wives and babies were with the band and Brandon was missing his baby too. D'aw, enormous softies.
Anyway, it was about 2am when we got ~word that the Killers were coming. One of the girls said she was going to leave because she couldn't take it if the Killers just ignored us after all that. Batman said not to worry and that the band were really really nice and wouldn't do that in his opinion and she's waited so long, she should just wait a bit longer and know for sure or she'd never know. HOW FUCKING FTW WAS THIS GUY? He didn't promise anything, he just kept our spirits up. And he said he wasn't going to stop until she smiled for him <3
So five minutes later, the Killers still weren't there and I was so tired. I groaned, rolled my eyes and rested my face on the gate. Who's there looking back at me. DAVE.
ME: DAVE! DAAAVE. Hi Dave.
DAVE: Hiiii. You guys are still waiting?
ME: I flew five hours to see you guys, what's another few?
DAVE: *eyebrow, takes ticket and pen*
ME: I've been awake 40 hours :D
DAVE: Uhhh... you should get some rest.
ME: Probably :D
He's impossibly pretty in person. His fro was all ~perfect. I'm sorry Toro but this Fro was amazingly goodlooking. He has really pretty eyes and i swear he was rocking guyliner. THAT'S why ily Daveycakes, you may still rock the eyeliner. Lol, Other Hannah goes "You going out after this or going back to the hotel?" and Dave's face was like "BITCH PLZ."
Anyway, as he was signing, I realised the others were talking to someone else. SOMEONE BRANDON ELSE.
I unashamedly ditch Dave and go over to Brandon.
ME: BRANDONNN.
BRANDON: Hiii.
ME: That was a really really good show, Brandon!
BRANDON: Thanks :D
ME: I flew five hours to see you guys!
BRANDON: *looks uncomfortable* Uh 'm sorry?
ME: PSH. It was the best thing I ever did.
BRANDON: *giggles, hands me my ticket* aww! Thanks!
ME: You guys make me oh-so-happy. Come back soon.
BRANDON: *grins again* of course.
Another few minutes of Tarago-milling and I got to meet the Captain who...made kissyfaces through the gate which was odd. :P But omg Captain! He's like. idk, security/PA/bitch/dogsbody. He's got a song about him. He was definitely drunk but sweet!
Anyway, he says to Batman "Yo! Mark and Ronnie still coming?" and Batman's like "Yeah."
and MarkganglyLurch comes around the corner. Btw, at this point, I should add that I was the only one at the gate that knew their names other than Brandon. So it was my job to alert people to Not-Brandons. So I called out to him and asked him to sign my ticket. Bear in mind, he seriously talks like Lurch the Butler.
ME: Mark! Your hair looks SO GOOD.
MARK: Gnuhhhhhhthanks.
ME: I flew five hours to see you guys!
MARK: Ohreally.
ME: Yeah! You guys have to come to perth next time. It's this city on the --
MARK: I know Perth. We've been there before.
ME: Yeah but. are you going this week?
MARK: ...
ME: Yeeeeah. anyway, thanks!
AND THEN. Then there was Ronnie. He came last with his arms full of crap. I actually thought it could be a bb because there was a bb blankie on the top or something. I go "RONNIE! Come talk to usss?" and he gives me a sorry look and says "Can I get rid of all of this first? :/" OF COURSE YOU CAN, RONNIIIE.
Anyway, he came over.
RONNIE: You guys're dedicated.
OTHER HANNAH: *points at me* She's the most. She came from Perth.
RONNIE: You did?
ME: ...just a little?
RONNIE: Aww, did you have fun?
ME: Ohgodyes. Best ever, i'm so glad I came and you guys are all so sweeeeet.
RONNIE: Ahhh we try. You guys been here long?
*he proceeds to chat with us for ages as a group for a bit, then apologises and says he's so tired, he's got to sleep.*
He then sticks his fingers through the gate and holds our hands and says thank you again.
AND HERE IS THE FRUITS OF MY LABOUR
Yeaaaaah, Mark signed the back. After Brandon and Dave signed the front. WAY TO GO MARK. Now I have to figure out how to frame it.
Seriously, I love that band. And I'm so glad I saw a really good show of theirs. They're all impossibly pretty. Especially Flowers and Dave.
THE END.
SO WHO ACTUALLY READ IT? <3