when the Choc Nut and Christmas islander blogs within the breeze of the Gulf

Image credit (right): Gulf News. As reported, at least 12,000 watched the concert on 8th of December.

Those who really know me can tell my multi-preference for kind of music, but I would rarely go to concerts. However, I cannot and did not pass on seeing The Killers when I learned that they were coming to Abu Dhabi. It was no surprise that some of the visitors even flew from other countries just to see the one-night performance.

The concert was held on the open arena of Emirates Palace Hotel. Its grander view at night made it livelier even before the band’s performance kicked off. Majority of the audience were expats, the British in particular. For a few hours, Abu Dhabi turned into a seemingly fully westernized space. Openness in dressing, alcoholic beverage, physical displays of affection, and the other stuff which are not so UAE were observed.

The audience was ecstatic as the countdown culminated.

When Brandon Flowers (lead vocalist) sung Human as the opening number, the victims, err, audience went wild.

And wilder… and more ecstatic. Let’s just simply say, that personally as they performed more, I am convinced that I can watch them forever. Haha.

I probably can talk much about how great was the band that night. But endless raving would just end up to saying that they are AWESOME.

They were consistently very good. They sustained their energy all throughout to the final number. They took a break for only three minutes in the almost two-hour gig.

Brandon is unbeatable when he does that facial expression and properly timed ala retro punk-classical-mesmerizing movements. Moreso, the videos on the background, especially Bones and Spaceman will make you feel you’re in a different world.

When they did Mr. Brightside, Somebody Told Me, the acoustic version of Human and Jenny Was A Friend of Mine, I died.

We were singing along with most of the songs. And Brandon asked, “Is your heart still beating?”. He got a deafening yes! They rendered their popular songs and others which came from their third album, Day & Age.

I am glad I didn’t bring an SLR because it was not allowed (asked to be deposited), I brought a point and shoot camera instead. However, it died at this point (photo above). I forgot to fully charge the battery. Fool me. Too much excitement, heehee. I am glad the BlackBerry saved me. Plus that I was a little live tweeting to share some photos.

The final number concluded with fireworks.

I thought at some point that I became deaf with too much screaming from the audience (count me, too). I definitely lost weight due to excessive (unavoidable) jumping, err, swaying we did. Haha. Everybody went home very happy. The fact that it was held on a Tuesday night did not matter at all. You can imagine the adrenaline rush and hang over the following day.

The Killers is one band you SHOULD see perform live. Catch them while you can. I am looking forward to watching them again.

You may check here the schedule of their world tour. They will perform in the Philippines on the 31st of January, 2010.
(The Killers music videos)
(Official website)