"Bristol, it's been a long two years," said Brandon Flowers, the lead singer of anthemic rock band The Killers, as his band settled into their flow, ten minutes in. "A lot of people have been isolated. But we're not isolated now," he added, prompting a roar from the crowd of almost 30,000 people.
It was a roar of relief, joy and release, that finally, three years after the last time this many people were together in the city listening to something as simple as live music, it was happening again. "This is a super-spreader event," Flowers continued, using the language of a pandemic we've become so grimly accustomed too. "And we're spreading love."
The Killers took to the stage - and a huge stage it was - at Ashton Gate Stadium and filled Bristol's biggest venue. They came from up the road and round the corner, and they came from Devon and West Wales and Scotland and Yorkshire, all for this moment - to be able to stand in a crowd and roar with appreciation.
Read more: Meet Keith, the 90-year-old Killers fan rocking the night away at Ashton Gate
The band from Las Vegas may not be troubling the singles charts as much as they did when they burst onto the scene in the early 2000s, but then, not many guitar bands do anymore.
But they can fill a stadium, and have the anthems and the iconic songs to meet and fulfil that expectation. For they know that, among the tens of thousands who have bought the tickets, made the trip, and are longing to be entertained, there'll be some who know all the words to whatever song they play from their extensive seven studio albums and 38 single repertoire.
But there'll be others who will come alive with the songs they know - the ones that cut through, became part of society's music furniture. The ones you hear and know even if you don't know that's a Killers song.
The band started with My Own Soul's Warning, with its beautifully catchy hook. When the beat kicked in, a row of the biggest confetti cannons Bristol has ever seen suddenly exploded, blasting ticker tape high into the sky and far across the pitch - almost as far from the edge of the penalty area at the Atyeo end that one of Dan Bentley's goal kicks might have travelled.
Soon all the air in the whole stadium was flickering with confetti. It was an incredible sight. And the band kept the hits coming: Almost straight out of the gate they launched into the classic When You Were Young, and then followed it up two songs later with Smile Like You Mean It.
The joy in the crowd was mirrored on the stage. Brandon Flowers and the band were enjoying themselves. "It's gurt lush to be here," Brandon said, in what was perhaps the best Bristol moment of 2022 so far.
Then, at 9.23pm, it happened. Nine songs in, and those high-toned doorbell-like guitar hooks began, and the crowd went to the next level. It's difficult to understate how much people love Mr Brightside. It was their first single 18 years ago, and was huge then, but now.... Play it at a prom night or school disco now and teenagers who weren't born when it was written leap onto the dancefloor and mosh in a hysteric huddle.
Play it at a wedding and everyone gets up to dance. And here, with the actual Killers singing it, everyone got up - even the ones in the nice padded seats in the Lansdown Stand. On the pitch, they were bouncing in unison all the way back past the sound desk.
It was a bit of a surprise to see them go relatively early into Mr Brightside. Logic would have said it would have been the final song, or at least in an encore. But now, The Killers have supreme confidence. They scored the home run early and then followed it up straight away with Somebody Told Me, another stone cold classic. A one-two combination within half an hour, and that was it, Ashton Gate was sold, beaten, won over, and in the palms of their hands.
From there, The Killers could play what they wanted. They knocked out Shadowplay, a Joy Division cover, and in a mellower section preceded with a bit of Country music, Flowers took on Ewan MacColl's The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, regarded by many as the most beautiful song ever written.
The gig climaxed with Caution, and there was a pause before an encore, which gave everyone time to breathe again, and take in the surroundings. Back in 2019, Muse, Rod Stewart, Take That and the Spice Girls played Ashton Gate in quick succession, each bringing their own stage set-up.
The Spice Girls' was brash and metallic and very Spice Girls, but Take That's giant globe lived long in the memory. But none of the four bands had a stage set-up as big as The Killers. It towered over the Atyeo Stand behind it, a giant black cube which had few frills.
But what it did have was perhaps the biggest screen anyone there had ever seen. It was basically the entire backdrop of the stage. There are blocks of 50 flats in Bristol smaller than The Killers' TV screen. It had previously been showing nice video art work, or images of the band on stage for those at the back, but for the encore, it came into its own.
As the first encore song Spaceman died away, the screen behind came alive with a humungous black and white grid, each with a brilliant white-lit figure in it, like Celebrity Squares crossed with The Matrix. The penultimate banger, Human, got underway, and the audio-visual spectacular was nailed.
There was just enough time for Midnight Show, before the band ended triumphantly with what could well be The Killers' finest song - All These Things That I Have Done, with its often-mocked but hypnotically good pay off: "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier". And then, as the drums kicked back in for the final refrain, a second load of confetti cannons blew up, this time sending streamers high into the night sky.
A word too, for Manic Street Preachers. Eyebrows were raised that a band of such standing would be the support act, and they more than justified that compliment with an energetic performance that toured all their hits, from the opening Motorcycle Emptiness, to Everything Must Go and the collection in between.
They knew Bristol well, as cousins across the estuary. Bassist Nicky Wire reminiscing: "Thanks for having us in this lovely stadium. We have played in Bristol before. Our first gig was at the Bierkeller. It was great. We played the Fleece and Firkin. We f***ing destroyed the Fleece and Firkin. Oh and the Anson Rooms. We played this song at our first gig in Bristol," as they launched into You Love Us. And Bristol did indeed love them.
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