Of all the NME tours I have been to this has been by far the most anticipated.
Inside the UEA, even at 7.15pm, there is a twisted sea of bodies trying to fight their way to the front of the stage. Outside the venue tickets are changing hands for £100 each. On the last two tours, the opening slot has been taken by bands that have gone onto great things: last year it was Franz Ferdinand and the year before The Thrills. The Kaiser Chiefs This year the honour falls to the Kaiser Chiefs. Taking to the stage to a huge roar, the Chiefs waste no time in whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Lead singer Ricky Wilson is a flying blur as he careers around the stage, seemingly only one step away from madness. It’s hard to believe this is the same band that supported the Ordinary Boys at the Waterfront last autumn. Their new single, Oh My God, is given a hero's welcome as the crowd sing back its chorus and Ricky disappears into the front row. Their biggest single to date, I Predict A Riot, nearly lifts the roof off the place as bodies fly around. This shouldn’t be happening. It's 7.30pm. With a headline tour coming up (no Norwich date, sigh) and their debut album out on 7 March, maybe the Chiefs can take a little bit of that opening slot luck and go onto great things. Bloc Party Next up, it's possibly the most hyped band of the last two months, Bloc Party. Having laid waste to HMV in the afternoon for a signing session which saw several hundred people turned away, the anticipation was massive but they just didn’t live up to the hype. Kele Okereke is a great looking front man and has an amazing voice, but it’s not really enough. The band were fairly static throughout the set and never really seemed to find their feet. Songs like Helicopter, which on record is like a jittery panzer tank smashing through your front room, sounds more like a shunt at a set of traffic lights. Having heard their debut album, Silent Alarm, it makes tonight even more disappointing because frankly the record is ace. Let's hope tonight was just an off night and that they come back soon for another date. The Futureheads Sunderland lads The Futureheads have never really impressed me that much but they made themselves a new fan. From the moment they walked on the stage to the minute they walked off, they owned the UEA.Ìý Songs from their self-titled debut album are beefed up. Standing at the back of the venue, it's like watching the mutant child of The Clash and Adam And The Ants with Uncle Billy Bragg around to sing some vocals. Songs like Carnival Kids and Piece Of Crap sound amazing but the highlight is their cover of Kate Bush’s Hounds Of Love. Splitting the crowd down the middle so each side of the room could take a different part of the melody, the audience crackled. The Futureheads were here to have fun and everyone in the room was going to join in whether they wanted to or not. Brill! The Killers
 | | Brandon Flowers performing at the UEA |
And so to the headliners, The Killers. Over the last year The Killers have rocketed into the charts and the hearts of every record buying person in the western world. Everything about tonight’s performance was just class, from the Mission Impossible intro tape to the Vegas light show. However, they don’t make things easy for themselves playing two of the biggest and best songs - Jenny Was A Friend and Mr Brightside - in the opening three numbers. It's one heck of a ballsy move, but it worked. Every word is sung back, every chord on David Keuning's guitar is strummed on air guitars. This is a band at the top of their game. Front man Brandon Flowers oozes cools as he slides around the stage like he is on castors. For some reason he reminds me of the greatest game show host the world has yet to see, like a cool Larry Grayson. Perhaps it's the green jacket that does it. Finishing the set with the sublime All The Things That I Have Done, with Brandon on top of the drum riser, The Killers sign flashing behind him and the crowd singing louder than the band, this was very, very special. If you missed out travel to see them; beg, borrow and steal to see them; do whatever you can because right now The Killers are one of, if not, the greatest glamorous indie rock 'n' roll bands in the world. Use the link on the top right of this page to see NME gig photo gallery. The Killers, The Futureheads, Bloc Party and the Kaiser Chiefs played at the UEA in Norwich on Monday 31 January, 2005. | 
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