Live from MSG: The Killers

(Torey Mundkowsky)

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It's been a long time since The Killers played Ultragrrl's Prom at Rothko, and since the beginning of the band's career she's been credited with helping catapult them into the spotlight. Last night she was front row center at their Madison Square Garden show, and reports for us on the scene from in front of the stage, and back:

It was cold as f*ck last night in New York City, as hordes of people made their way to Madison Square Garden for the Killers sold-out show. The band decided to play tricks with our little drunken minds by decorating their stage with palm trees and an illuminated light backdrop that echoed a gorgeous sunny day in Hawaii, and was perfect for songs like "Joy Ride" and "I Can't Stay." I love "Joy Ride" by the way. I can't help but think of Latarian Milton, the 7-year old kid who stole his grandmother's car to go joy riding with his friend and do hoodrat stuff. I wish Latarian was at the show last night.

The band also played "Bling," which was missing from their set at the Hammerstein Ballroom last October, and featured the delightfully svelte and dandy Brandon Flowers on piano—easily the best tune of the evening, not including classics like "Somebody Told Me," and "Mr. Brightside." I was honestly surprised to see the hallways of MSG absolutely empty when I ran off for a bathroom break... it seems as if people didn't want to miss a single note. Speaking of people that didn't want to miss a note, P. Diddy was in the house last night. I didn't see him at the aftershow party in the green room, which was DJed by the one and only KarenPlusOne.

But I did see members of Vampire Weekend (whom David Keuning insisted we take photos with—as in, he took the photo and wasn't in it). Brandon Flowers told me after the show that he almost wishes that it had happened later in the album cycle so that people had longer to live with the album, but from where I was sitting, lots of people were singing along to the new stuff as much as the old -- which is to say that they were singing along a lot.