It was a dark and stormy night over Camden, NJ. Grey skies and a looming storm were not nearly enough to stop thousands of fans from pouring into the Sesquehanna Bank Center (SBC) on May 19 with their umbrellas and rain ponchos in hand. Excitement illuminated the otherwise dim sky in preparation for the much anticipated, and once-rescheduled The Killers concert.
As a promotion for their newest album, The Killers took off on their Battle Born World Tour in the summer of 2012. The showing in Camden was originally scheduled for Dec. 13, 2012, and completely sold out. Lead singer, Brandon Flowers unfortunately developed a case of laryngitis, forcing the aforementioned, as well as shows at Madison Square Garden and Toronto’s Air Canada Centre to be rescheduled.
“I’m sorry I’ve never had to do this before but we’ve gotta stop. I can’t sing… I don’t know what else to tell you. I’m sorry. I know it’s frustrating for you and I’m sorry,” Flowers said as he delivered a heartfelt apology to fans inconvenienced by the rescheduling of the shows.
Since the original show was set to go on in the middle of winter, only inside seats were available, and had sold out in a matter of minutes. Indoor seating at the SBC allows for 7,000 concert-goers. Luckily for fans, the rescheduled show in May opened up an additional 13,000 general admission tickets on the venue’s outdoor lawn for The Killers’ last show on the Battle Born Tour.
Unphased by the new concert date, or the less-than-comfortable weather the pre-show downpour created, fans came in waves. First up was The Virgins, the opener from New York City who played a short set to make room for the main attraction.
Flowers, followed by guitarist Dave Keuning, bassist Mark Stoermer and drummer Ronnie Vannucci burst onto stage with their characteristic opening song, Enterlude. “We hope you enjoy your stay. And it’s good to have you with us, even if it’s just for the day,” the band sang as a kind welcome to the out-of-this-world, two hour set that would follow.
A comfortable mixture of time-honored favorites, and new releases made up the set list, whilst an impressive light show illuminated the stage and covered seats. The four-piece ensemble also snuck in covers of Bruce Springstein’s “Atlantic City,” and Joy Division’s “Shadowplay.”
Seventeen songs were not enough for the electrified audience as they begged for an encore.
“One more song! One more song!” rang out from the lawn, the seats and everywhere in between.
Appealing to popular demand, The Killers came out for a three part encore. After “This is Your Life,” and top hit “Mr. Brightside,” the band closed out with title track “Battle Born” off of their newest album.
Brilliant pyrotechnics were set off to bring a bitter-sweet end to the show at the SBC, and the last leg of their world tour.
The crowd longed for more, but exited with an air of contentment. All danced out, and voices raspy from belting their favorite lyrics they made their final merchandice purchases, and headed home.
And then, ironically enough, it began to rain.