If a kind artificial intelligence set out to design a group capable of squeezing the serotonin of a festival audience until propelling it to levels of stratospheric happiness, the result would be something very similar to The Killers. The group from Las Vegas is a relentless factory of heroic guitars, tacky arrangements and catchier choruses than Luis Rubiales. The result, intelligently mixed on stage, is twenty songs ideal for chanting en masse in hooligan mode.
Maybe they don’t have the most original rock songs in the world. Not even the most groundbreaking in the state of Nevada. But they don’t try to do it either, because they do know that they are the most effective when it comes to turning the main stage of a festival into a karaoke for 50,000 people who sing all their songs in unison, with their ooooohswith their yeeeahs and with his uh-uh-uhs in unbeatable synchronicity.
It would be especially difficult for our artificial intelligence to design a more attractive singer than Brandon Flowersone of the frontman most effective of current rock. He has the gift of making the masses happy and not only is he fully aware of it, but he squeezes it to almost abusive levels. Now over 40 years old, he is still as handsome, as stylish and as disgustingly cool as ever.
Flowers gladly carries the full weight of his band with his jumps, his gestures, his fists in the air and his infinite energy. Time advances inexorably for everyone, including him, but he continues to enjoy himself like a kid fronting his band, already established as a popular classic of the 21st century.
This Saturday, The Killers were the headliners of the first day of the Primavera Sound festival in Sao Paulo, which is being held this weekend in a venue embedded in the legendary Interlagos F1 circuit. The poster offered many other alternatives on the same day: from the technopop of the legendary Pet Shop Boys to the endless elegance of the Brazilian Marisa Montepassing through the abrasive guitars of Slowdive. This Sunday, the party will continue with Beck, Carly Rae Jepsen, The Blessed Madonna, Bad Religion and above all, The Cure.