BST Hyde Park: The Killers entertain sell-out crowd with electrifying hit-packed set

The Las Vegas four-piece headlined the penultimate day of the Barclaycard Presents festival in London’s Hyde Park on Saturday.

Bursting onto stage in a blast of pink confetti, the American indie-rock band, fresh from that surprise Glastonbury appearance, made their return to London with their first performance in the capital since 2013.

After an afternoon of Elbow, Tears For Fears, Cold War Kids and Mystery Jets, The Killers stormed the stage in the sweltering heat for a setlist loaded with fan favourites and indie classics. 

Frontman Brandon Flowers, clad in a bright pink jacket, called out: “Can you believe its been four years? We need to be reacquainted with each other.”

Jumping into a megawatt high energy set, The Killers who have sold more than 22million records worldwide, kicked off with their newest single The Man.

Flowers, who somehow continues to defy time, got the crowd going as he crooned and gyrated to The Man in a tongue-in-cheek performance that sent young and older members of the audience wild.

But rather than showcasing new material from their forthcoming album Wonderful Wonderful, the Las Vegas rockers swiftly moved onto their classic hit Somebody Told Me. 

In an electrifying two-hour set the band stunned the crowd with massive hits Smile Like You Mean It and When You Were Young. 

Loyal fans screaming out every word were rewarded with a blast from the past with a performance of This River Is Wild – an album track from their second album Sam’s Town and Shadowplay, a Joy Division cover from their b-sides and rarities album Sawdust.

Acknowledging his slinky pink jacket, Flowers quipped: “The man who sings This River Is Wild does not wear a pink leather jacket” as he switched it for a black one. 

Changing the tempo the crowd, which included Prince Harry and TV presenter Prince Harry, was treated to a stripped-back version of Human before Bling (Confessions of a King) before launching into Human at full throttle moments later as the crowd danced en masse. 

Flowers kept any chatter to a minimum letting the hits do the talking, but could not take the smile off his face as he thanked fans for making The Killers the only sold-out show of the six-day BST Hyde Park line up as he name checked Kings of Leon, Justin Bieber and Green Day. 

Speeding through Read My Mind and Runaway working up to a massive performance of All These Things That I’ve Done complete with  a shower of ticker-tape, Flowers conducted the crowd as the main set came to a close. 

But the band returned with a crowd-pleasing encore of iconic songs This Is Your Life, Shot At The Night and When You Were Young. 

Of course no gig from The Killers can end without a rendition of Mr Brightside and the charismatic Flowers once again flashed that smile as he worked the crowd into a frenzied singalong to a blaze of fireworks.