Doing something different at the Killers...

I was just going to do the usual thing. Turn up about 8, skip the support and hopefully make it for the first song. I'd been out the night before, got up late and was a little hung over. I had to go and get my ticket from the venue because of an online ticket mix up. I used my sister's card details and realised that they probably wouldn't give me the ticket without my card. Luckily she was up for the weekend so I went at about three to get it, with a plan to go back to town for coffee and more shopping. I was too early for the box office and ended up chatting to some of the die hards waiting with their tents, blankets and cushions, playing the music and talking animatedly about their favourite track. To be honest I was a bit scared but I think somewhere I wanted to get inside the mind of a superfan. Also any excuse to talk to some new people, even if they did seem a little obsessed.

I talked to mainly women of a variety of ages and some younger teenage girls. The older women were very interesting. After finding out that they'd seen the band at least 15 times I tried to understand how and why they felt compelled to go to the same tour four or five times and spend the time and money doing that. One of them said "this is the only crazy thing I do in my life." Certain fans seemed to know each other and delight in making plans to go to the next gig and seeing each other at the barrier, and spent time showing each other their videos and photos from the last gig. Two Scottish women told me that they had been there since 4am in the cold and rain, and also seen them twenty times, and been on the same plane.  There was about fifteen people behind them in the queue so I didn't quite get why they were doing it. To get barrier, was the answer I got. 

"Why do you like the Killers so much?"

"It's Brandon - the way he connects with you. If I'm not at the front then I can't connect with the band."

The seventeen year olds were slightly more logical, preferring to spend all of their money on gig tickets and seeing this as another band to tick off the list. They told me about endless gigs they had been to this year, and were obsessed with applying red lipstick every five minutes. What the hell have I been doing, I thought? Their enthusiasm was a bit infectious. I decided to stick with them and for a couple of hours try to regain my youth. I told them about going to see Oasis, Pulp and Blur here and they were in awe. It started to get funny. The security guard was on a power trip so I got one of the girls to pour my whiskey into a coke bottle when they went to the loo so he didn't pour it onto the floor, like the one litre vodka bottle he had just removed from someone and gleefully dispatched into the concrete.

So is it about the songs, or Brandon, or being first for something in a life where that can be quite difficult? Or does where you stand really affect the quality of the experience all that much?

I decided to find out. I decided to wait with these fans and try and get barrier, as they call it. I decided to become militant. I had done something similar seeing Brandon at T in the Park, and was determined to get to the front of the tent, which I eventually managed. I had forgotten about the thrill of being as close as possible to something that had affected your life so much - the music that you loved and helped make sense of things.

They said that you get to touch him at the end as he walks along the front of the stage and goes in the crowd. I started to feel increasingly sick. Where should I touch him? His face, definitely his beautiful face. Can I actually bring myself to touch his face? Shit. I decided to forget about that and focus on what was happening in front of me. I could see the set list and tried to be surprised. It all went by in a bit a of a blur. The start was weird, Mr Brightside with all of the lights on, surely someone's bright idea to illuminate the crowd or "do something different." The blend of old and new tracks was perfect, my favourites being "Read my Mind" and "Somebody Told Me." I remembered why I had decided to stand out in the cold and get determined, it really makes a difference being so close and seeing the detail, especially the guitarists who sometimes stare at people incredulously. 

There was fire, flames and Killers themed confetti, which I stuck to my face. The German hipster-looking sound engineer standing opposite me didn't look too impressed. I didn't care. I was a superfan and could do whatever the hell I wanted. The energy, coupled with Brandon's voice which left me dumbstruck at times, and his occasional total delight in what he was doing invoked the same feelings as being high. I understood the money, time and travel the "victims" threw at this. 

I left feeling pleased I had gone with the flow and done something different. And if you're wondering, I ended up bear hugging him. And annoyed I didn't think to grab his arse like the seventeen year old next to me.