Lollapalooza 2013

Taking place Aug. 2-4 at Chicago’s Grant Park, this year's Lollapalooza could be the biggest yet.

Look for The Killers, Nine Inch Nails, New Order, Queens Of The Stone Age, Steve Aoki, Thievery Corporation, Imagine Dragons and Lana Del Rey among the acts on the Friday bill.

The Saturday plan include Mumford & Sons, The Postal Service, The National, The Lumineers, Kendrick Lamar, Eric Church and Steve Angello.

With The Cure topping the Sunday lineup, other acts appearing on Lollapalooza’s last day include Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Knife Party, Grizzly Bear, Major Lazer, Dog Blood, Two Door Cinema Club, Tegan and Sara and more to be announced.

Backstage passes this year are single day passes, so please be specific when you make your requests.

Setlist: The Killers

Thanks to member Barry18 for this recent "killer" report:

Flesh and Bone
A Matter of Time
Smile Like You Mean It
Heart of a Girl
Bling (Confession of a King)
Miss Atomic Bomb
Human
Here With Me
For Reasons Unknown
The Way It Was
Bones
Somebody Told Me
Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
From Here On Out
A Dustland Fairytale
Runaways
Mr. Brightside
When You Were Young

Encore:

Be Still
All These Things That I've Done
Battle Born

Battle Born Killers

Supporting their new album "Battle Born" which is due out later this week, The Killers will announce tomorrow the specifics of their Fall US tour.

But BackstagePassDirect has it for you today!!

With Tegan and Sara supporting, here are the dates and venues:

Nov. 29 – Broomfield, Colo., 1stBank Center
Nov. 30 – Orem, Utah, UCCU Center
Dec. 13 – Camden, N.J., Susquehanna Bank Center
Dec. 14 – New York, N.Y., Madison Square Garden Arena
Dec. 17 – Boston, Mass., Agganis Arena
Dec. 18 – Fairfax, Va., Patriot Center
Dec. 20 – Ypsilanti, Mich., EMU Convocation Ctr.
Dec. 21 – Chicago, Ill., UIC Pavilion
Dec. 28 – Las Vegas, Nev., The Cosmopolitan
Dec. 29 – Las Vegas, Nev., The Cosmopolitan

Don't forget to catch the band’s American Express Unstaged gig. Appearing at the Paradise Theatre in The Bronx, N.Y., Sept. 18, the concert will be available on the’ Net in the form of a live stream directed by Werner Herzog. Check it out here.

"Orlando Calling" Announced

The newest major music festival announces an impressive lineup as the first-ever “Orlando Calling” celebrating American Music.

Set for Nov. 12-13, at Florida’s Citrus Bowl Park, and with a lineup dripping with talent, playing across four stages, the event’s daily schedules seem to list just about everyone on the road this fall.

Nov. 12 features The Killers on top of a lineup that includes Pixies, The Avett Brothers, The Roots, The Raconteurs, Gogol Bordello, O.A.R., Iron & Wine, Pete Yorn, Gavin DeGraw, Jenny And Johnny, Drive-By Truckers, Civil Twilight, Lucero, Dr. Dog, Justin Townes Earle, Felice Brothers, Ben Sollee and Renee & The Translators.

A heaping helping of Detroit Rock tops the Nov. 13 lineup with Bob Seger and Kid Rock sharing headlining duties. Other acts appearing on Orlando Calling’s second day include Doobie Brothers, Dwight Yoakam, Buddy Guy, Warren Haynes Band, Chris Isaak, Brandi Carlile, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Michelle Branch, The Flatlanders, Los Lonely Boys, Blues Traveler, Justin Townes Earle, The David Mayfield Parade and The Supervillains.

Yes, we will have passes. No, they won't last long.

Setlist: Brandon Flowers

BPD Member JustinCase sent us this setlist for the recent Brandon Flowers (Killers frontman) show he attended:

On the Floor
Crossfire
Magdalena
Bette Davis Eyes
Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts
Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas
Was It Something I Said?
Hard Enough
Losing Touch
Swallow It
Playing With Fire
Encore:
Read My Mind
Only the Young
Mr. Brightside

Christmas is right around the corner and BPD memberships make great stocking stuffers. Buy some today.

Spring Tours Roll Out

While the weather may not yet be Spring-like in your part of the country, things are heating up here in the offices of BackstagePassDirect.

The phones are ringing off the hook with promoters calling in their tour schedules for the coming months. It's going to be a great concert season in 2009 with performances by:

• 3 Doors Down
• Avenged Sevenfold
• Blue October
• Bruce Springsteen
• Cruefest
• Disturbed
• Dropkick Murphys
• Jagermeister Music Tour
• Kings of Leon
• Metallica
• Motley Crue
• Nickelback
• No Doubt
• Phish
• Slipknot
• SnoCore Tour
• Taste of Chaos
• The Dead
• The Eagles
• The Killers
• The Pretenders

and many, many other great bands.

If you never seen a live show from backstage before, if you've never hung out with a so-called "rock star", this is your chance. BackstagePassDirect has the passes you want to have. Our members see great concerts from the back of some of the finest venues in the country.

You can too; join today.

Member Review: The Killers

BPD member BabaluBabe writes:

This evening had it all. There were very good moments, some bad song choices and sound problems that had to be overcome. One audience member enjoyed themselves too much and a full crew of police officers showed up.

The concert started out simply enough. There were no confetti drops at this Killers’ show, but the stage was set up Las Vegas-style, with lights in the shape of a palm tree and lots of other glittery designs.

This time around, the Killers crowd wasn’t totally filled with young indie-rockers. In fact, a large chunk of the audience was 30-to-50, well dressed and looking like they were easily able to afford the $50 ticket price.

Maybe that’s what inspired the Killers’ set. Instead of kicking into the raw, indie-rock numbers the band’s become famous for, the Killers decided to show off their new pop tunes off of Day & Age. Perfect music for a Top 40 radio crowd — not so much fun for indie-rock fans.

The Killers kicked off the night playing new songs such as “Human,” and frontman Brandon Flowers did warn the audience that they were in for a barrage of new tunes. “We hope you like the new album,” Flowers said. “We’re going to be playing a lot of it for you tonight.”

That’s where things started to go wrong.

The Killers pounded out track after track of new material from Day & Age, only pausing to throw in a song or two from band’s two earlier CDs. That’s when musical karma hit the band.

In the midst of the Killers’ new, overly-poppy tunes, the sound went out. Seems the Killers brought in their own sound system, but the crew was having trouble bringing it up to high quality. Watching this chaos from the back gave new meaning to the term "Chinese fire drill". For a few moments, the music just stopped and everyone appeared lost and noticeably frantic.

Fortunately, they finally realized how to make the band’s stage sound become crystal clear, and it was all uphill from there.

The group suddenly switched gears and pulled out crowd pleasers such as “Read My Mind” and “Mr. Brightside.” The songs energized both the band and the crowd.

It proved that when the Killers have the right material, they can be a brilliant band.

IMHO, the Killers have talent, chops and songwriting ability, but the group’s too busy chasing Top 40 radio for now. I’d like to see the Killers again when they decide to return to their musical roots.

Keep sending those reviews in, members. Those who haven't ever seen a show from backstage or those who would like to do it again, visit us at BackstagePassDirect.com and become a member today.

The Killers Kill

We'll cut right to it.........................

The Killers new album "Day and Age" may not only be their best album, but it may also be one of the best of all of 2008.

Here's track-by-track coverage:

Losing Touch
A rousing Bowie-like groove driven by honking saxophones and ping-ponging keyboards that kicks things into high gear. Brandon Flowers' voice is smooth and full as he intones "You made your home/ and you made your way back home/ like a roving vagabond, I'm losing touch." Dave Keuning makes his presence felt with a soaring guitar lead.

Human
A gentle, phased, clicky guitar riff opens this gorgeous nod to the gentle side of '80s new wave. "Cut the cord/ are we human/ my sign is virtual/and my hands are cold/ are we human, or are we dancer?" Flowers asks in a plaintive, melancholy manner. Then the song gallops off into a Cure-meets-U2 arena shaker.

Spaceman
Shades of Queen grace this piston-pumping, fast-paced rocker. A perfect driving song - big drums, big hooks, and a wall of sound.

Joy Ride
The best Bryan Ferry song that Bryan Ferry never wrote. A sensuous, funky beat punctuated by Stones-like sax, biting guitars that tear through the choruses and a melody that hooks you on the first listen. The middle-eight is breathtaking. In fact, the entire band seems to grow more energized as the song progresses. Fun stuff.

A Dustland Fairytale
After a delicate keyboard intro, Brandon Flowers' vocals are appropriately fragile. But as the song swells, with jabbing cellos that seque into a double-time rage, he opens both his heart and his throat. This is a large-canvas narrative with a sound to back it up. Flowers' literary chops are developing in an exciting way.

This Is Your Life
African tribal chanting and harpsichord are strange musical bedfellows, but they spin a magical web on this spacey yet thumping track. Dave Keuning's echo-laden guitar combines with Flowers' barbiturate voice for an overall effect that is spellbinding.

I Can't Stay
A delicious Caribbean beat propels this stunner that features sax, harp and a gently strummed acoustic guitar. A song to sit back and drift away to until a dramatic middle-eight makes you bolt upright and go, "Wow!" Steel drums ride the song out in smashing style.

Neon Tiger
With little fanfare, this mid-tempo grinder gets going and doesn't let up. The instrumentation is perhaps the sparest we've heard yet from The Killers, but the middle section is a marvel of dramatic intensity.

The World We Live In
Melodrama that isn't overwrought or cloying is tricky to pull off. But Flowers' heavily affected, double-tracked voice is a thing of strange beauty here. He's developed into a world-class vocalist, full of passion and searching for the kind of truths that only the finest singer-songwriters can. Although the band provides gutsy support, Flowers owns this untamed monster.

Goodnight, Travel Well
Just as U2 concluded their arguable masterpiece, Achtung Baby!, with a descent into darkness on Love Is Blindness, here too, The Killers bring the curtain down with a seven-minute ride into a nocturnal dreamland. Forlorn and ominous, Flowers sings, "The universe is standing still/and there's nothing I can say/ there's nothing we can do now…nothing we can do now." Get ready for a crushing crescendo in which he's on the floor, begging "Stay!/ don't leave me/ the stars can't wait for you!" Drummer Ronnie Vannucci lets loose with a flurry of crashing cymbals that'll leave you breathless and wondering, it is still night or have we reached the dawn?

Before they head off for a huge Euro-tour in early February, the boys will be showcasing all their latest material at these venues:

1/17 Denver, CO Magness Arena
1/19 Minneapolis, MN Northrop Auditorium
1/20 Chicago, IL UIC Pavilion
1/22 Ypsilanti, MI EMU Convocation Ctr.
1/23 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
1/25 New York, NY Madison Square Garden Arena
1/26 Boston, MA Agganis Arena at Boston University
1/28 Fairfax, VA Patriot Center
1/29 North Myrtle Beach, SC House Of Blues
1/30 Atlanta, GA Boisfeuillet Jones Civic Center
1/31 Nashville, TN Grand Ole Opry House
2/2 Houston, TX Verizon Wireless Theater
2/3 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
2/4 Grand Prairie, TX Nokia Theatre At Grand Prairie

Meet and greet the band and see the show from the unique perspective of backstage. Visit BackstagePassDirect for complete details.