posted by davidt on Tuesday September 14 2004, @09:00AM
devoted101 writes:

Friday I went to Milwaukee to see The Killers... I saw them open for Morrissey in Chicago and thought I would check them out again... I got there a bit early and got to talking with Brandon [Flowers] of The Killers)... we are not too far off in age and seem to have very similar musical tastes so we talked about that for awhile.


he seems just as obsessed with morrissey as I am... it was great, we just hung out before the show (and then again after the show) talking about primarily morrissey (and depeche Mode and the cure, pet shop boys, erasure and the libertines a little too)... I'll just chat about the morrissey stuff here ...

I had with me the NME with brandon on the cover (inside is a glossy of the killers and also a glossy of the NME pic of morrissey lounging in a chair -- the one that the silhouette of it was used on the songs to save your life cover) brandon opened the magazine straight to that shot of moz and gushed about how he LOVES that pic...

his first moz show was a malajusted show when he was 15... one of his favorite moz songs is "trouble loves me" and he wishes moz would do that in concert again... his current absolute fav live moz song is "jack the ripper" (which he sang a bit of... as we spoke of it)... he is a big boz fan... he had actually met boz awhile ago while he was working some rock-a-billy convention that boz attended... he giggled at me when I said how much I was into gary, but I am not sure why....

brandon said he worked at one point at spago in vegas and moz was there and although he did not approach morrissey, he did manage to nick his tea cup (and he still has it!!)

he also talked about a show in irvine where moz did "now my heart is full"... he didn’t say when, but he said it was before he thought about doing music himself... anyway... brandon sang the first few verses and chorus of the song as he told the story... he said that when moz got to the line, "tell all of my friends..." the band stopped and it was just moz singing...

I tried downloading some irvine shows and I can not seem to find a version like that... anyone else remember this??

I mentioned his cover of "why don't you find out for yourself" and asked if they would do it live.. he said no, or at least not yet... he would like to but they pretty much improvised it... the first time they did it is when mark (bass player) broke a string or something, I am unclear on that but for some reason mark was busy doing/fixing something... and he (brandon) and david (the guitar player) improvised it live while mark was doing whatever he was doing... then the band wrote out the chords for it and did it as a bbc session which of course is now released as a b-side... it was one take and the last time they did it... but brandon would love to do the song again...

anyway, after the show tarah (tem35) and I continued to talk morrissey with him and then he invited us to the sold out chicago show the following day... which I thought was super nice... and of course we went... it is always cool to be at a sold out show and just walk up and say, yeah... we're on the list...

after the chicago show he mentioned my tshirt (a homemade shirt with the "we hate it..." single cover on the front) anytime he sees a morrissey thing he gets excited (like I am sure most of us on this list do) for example, after the milwaukee show there were these handout things with a moz ad on the back... he saw someone holding one and was all excited and touched the picture lovingly...

I asked about the house of blues show... he said that he did meet morrissey, but it was very brief and moz just said hi in a very shy way... he also said that no one is supposed to sit in when morrissey does a soundcheck... but brandon kind of snuck in... moz was wearing a "jogging outfit" as he put it.. he said as soon as moz saw him he looked a little bothered and started doing his "moves" whereas before he was just standing there... some of those "moves" brandon did in concert that night (and a little the next night, but not as much)

ok, I could keep going, but those are the highlights... sorry to write a year's worth of email...
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  • Ooh, such a nice and exciting story, thanks for sharing!!!
    like-a-fever -- Tuesday September 14 2004, @09:10AM (#124169)
    (User #10693 Info)
    no pain remains
  • Hey there - WONDERFUL story!!! - I have a quick Killers question... I flew into Chicago to see The Killers show from San Francisco, and I was wondering if there was ever any press on the gig you might have come across? Anything on-line? I'm back now and I can't find anything.... thanks!
    Anonymous -- Tuesday September 14 2004, @09:33AM (#124176)
  • A good friend of mine came to Japan as the bodyguard of rock band Sum 41, who are signed to Universal Japan, as are The Killers. So, I meet The Killers at dinner and of course ask about Moz. One of the band members sums it up with "He's really shy, and he likes his hair tonic". I ask about the fire that started during their opening slot at the Morrissey show in Chicago, and that the rumour (posted as a news item on here) was that Morrissey was... not impressed. They were very surprised and said the fire definitely was not set on purpose. No band would want to be known for a stunt like that, so I'm sure they were being forthright.

    Later, at Karaoke, I do my best "Suedehead", which goes over pretty well (only with The Killers, that is). "It's as if Morrissey were actually here" says one of them, overdoing the compliment (cheers, though). One of the band then does an excellent rendition of Sun Records-era Elvis (not parodying). After that they were off, so I said that I'd check out their album on the basis of hearing about them through their link with Morrissey. "Guilt by implication, by association".

    Nice guys, but is the singer being serious when he says he's never listened to Shed Seven?
    king leer -- Tuesday September 14 2004, @10:37AM (#124187)
    (User #80 Info)
  • I quite like some Killers songs too. There are some people that are down on them, but 'Mr Brightside' and 'Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine' are fun songs. As a huge Smiths fan who's used to people citing 'There Is A Light....' or 'How Soon Is Now?' as their favourite song (and there's nothing wrong with that!!) I think it's nice that Brandon should be so taken with 'Trouble Loves Me' and 'Jack The Ripper' - great songs both, but Moz's solo output rarely gets cited without some comment like "of course i got into him after hearing The Smiths". Perhaps his solo catalogue will some day come to be seen by casual fans as an entity in its own right. Also, I've also thought for a while that Moz solo would be well served by an anthology project, you know, double-disc, around 35 songs, to mop up the stray gems and wonderful album tracks. How about this for a tracklisting?

    Suedehead/Everyday Is Like Sunday/Late Night, Maudlin Street/Hairdresser On Fire/Sister, I'm A Poet/Yes, I Am Blind/He Knows I'd Love To See Him/Girl Least Likely To/Michael's Bones/November Spawned A Monster/Sing Your Life/I've Changed My Plea To Guilty/You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side/Seasick, Yet Still Docked/Tomorrow/Jack The Ripper/Now My Heart Is Full/Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?/Speedway/I'd Love To/Sunny/Boxers/Have A Go Merchant/Nobody Loves Us/Trouble Loves Me/Alma Matters/Ammunition/The Edges Are No Longer Parralel/Lost/Irish Blood, English Heart/The First Of The Gang To Die/The Never-Played Symphonies/It's Hard To Walk Tall When You're Small/Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice/
    Anonymous -- Tuesday September 14 2004, @10:54AM (#124196)
  • and The Killers 'somebody told me' song is good.
    (listening to it!)
    Anonymous -- Tuesday September 14 2004, @02:21PM (#124226)
  • I loved this story. I caught a show just recently here in Southern Calif. @ The Grove and all I can say is that they put on an awesome show and from the looks of it,Brandon has been learning from Moz's school of fashion. He was sporting Gucci tennis shoes...(very nice!!!)
    Pompadourprincess -- Tuesday September 14 2004, @04:40PM (#124241)
    (User #11971 Info)
    The sanest days are mad, why don't you find out for yourself...
  • I had a chance to hang out in the VIP tent at the recent 99X Upstart festival in Atlanta with the Killers and Franz Ferdinand... I was proudly wearing my Morrissey shirt and when I bumped into Brandon we started chatted about the Moz and Brandon's experience opening for him. It sounded like Morrissey very much kept to himself during the gigs but as you mentioned he really liked spending time with Boz and Alain...

    by the way... their gig was incredible-- almost as good as their show in Chicago opening for Morrissey!!!
    tqid -- Tuesday September 14 2004, @04:57PM (#124243)
    (User #5900 Info)
  • great story! brandon seems like a great guy!i cant wait to see the killers in october...theyre in boston tonight filming a show for mtv2. i wish i could be there...

    its really nice to know that he knows what it's like to be a "real" fan...hopefully he never loses that quality...doesnt seem like he has yet.

    i heard they put on a really good show. i cant wait to see them. i love "Hot Fuss"!!
    sunday -- Tuesday September 14 2004, @06:41PM (#124250)
    (User #11904 Info)
    "a hundred other words blind me with your purity..."
    • Re:yipee! by Anonymous (Score:0) Tuesday September 14 2004, @11:22PM
      • Re:yipee! by sunday (Score:1) Wednesday September 15 2004, @10:37AM
        • Re:yipee! by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday September 17 2004, @08:07PM
  • I agree that The Killers are a great band. I love the cheesy keyboard in "On Top".. really cool. Cant wait to see them along with many others ( AND MORRISSEY, OF COURSE) this saturday in Devore. By the way.. did anybody happen to look in the October issue of People? At least I think it's People, but anyway they have like the 50 hottest guys thing and I was surprised to see Brandon Flowers in at number 4. Not saying hes an ugly boy, just that he's getting lots of publicity, which is cool. Also Paul Banks of Interpol was in there, although I'm not sure what number. Now I'm not so sure he belongs in there, because of his looks that is...
    HaNdSuMxDeViL -- Tuesday September 14 2004, @11:45PM (#124263)
    (User #5370 Info)
    There's more to life than books, you know But not much more
    • Re:Yeaaa by sunday (Score:1) Wednesday September 15 2004, @10:43AM
      • Re:Yeaaa by HaNdSuMxDeViL (Score:1) Wednesday September 15 2004, @09:37PM
        • Re:Yeaaa by sunday (Score:1) Thursday September 16 2004, @01:57PM
  • i met brandon in liverpool a few months ago and he was wearing one of them lovely big badges we got at the MEN show...
    rubber soulman -- Wednesday September 15 2004, @06:52AM (#124293)
    (User #10073 Info)
  • the first time I even heard of the killers was when I saw the HOB show in chicago and i honestly thought they were a great band. i bought the cd & think its excellent....how cool that mtv2 and fuse is playing their video!

    thanks for sharing such a great story...btw, anyone else find the opening melody of "jenny was a friend of mine" reminiscent of "barbarism begins at home"? when they played it in chicago that was the first thing i thought as it began...just curious if i'm smoking crack or if others think the same thing ;-)

    amy beth
    Amy Beth <[email protected]> -- Wednesday September 15 2004, @07:59AM (#124298)
    (User #477 Info)


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