If the new WaMu Theatre was intended to hit that in-between spot for venues in Seattle, it’s certainly hitting the mark in the coming days.
The venue that opened in November inside the Qwest Field Events Center aims to fill the space between the Paramount Theatre’s 2,800 seats and KeyArena’s 15,000-plus capacity. At 3,000 to 7,800 seats, depending on the configuration, it hits just the right spot for bands that can draw more than would fit in the Paramount, but can’t quite fill KeyArena.
Sunday, The Killers fit the bill, followed by My Chemical Romance on Monday. Both bands debuted on the mainstream rock scene in 2004 with albums that went multi-platinum and followed them up with solid sophomore efforts that were well received by fans and critics. Both bands feature over-the-top frontmen, but that’s where the similarities end.
Killers vocalist Brandon Flowers brings his Las Vegas quartet to Seattle in support of the band’s album “Sam’s Town,” which was released last year and quickly yielded a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song with the single “When You Were Young.”
The Killers rose to the top of pop rock stardom by doing what hardly any other band was doing. They took a keyboard-heavy, ’80s British sound and put a modern twist on it to gain popularity in a genre that wasn’t being explored much. The band’s first hit single, “Mr. Brightside,” kicked off a whirlwind couple of years that have made The Killers one of the hottest bands in the country.
But while Flowers’ lyrics and vocal melodies have helped his band rise to the top, his mouth has also sparked controversy. Flowers has prompted verbal wars with emo bands such as Panic! at the Disco and Fall Out Boy, and criticized Green Day for being “very negative toward Americans” with its single “American Idiot” and subsequent concert DVD “Bullet in the Bible,” which was filmed in England.
Ironically, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong provides the last link between The Killers and My Chemical Romance.
MCR’s singer, Gerard Way, has credited Armstrong with helping him out of addiction and putting him on a path toward the group’s successful follow-up album, “The Black Parade.” Rob Cavallo, who also produced Green Day’s “American Idiot,” produced “The Black Parade.”
The ambitious concept album, centered on “The Patient” who is dying on a hospital bed and reflecting back on his life, helped legitimize the band in the eyes of rock critics. The new album came with a bit of a reinvention, as well. Way returned after the new album with freshly dyed blond hair, less eyeliner and attempting to shed the band’s de facto connection to the emo scene.
“I’m actually glad when people cheapen what we do, when it becomes another cliche of the scene,” Way recently told Blender Magazine. “It forces you to become more direct. The first song on the new record – ‘The End’ – is the end. We’re resigning from the scene; we’re not part of what you wanted. We’re gonna be what we want to be.”
Reporter Victor Balta: victor.a.balta@gmail.com.
Anton Corbijn / Island Records
LEFT: The Killers – guitarist Dave Keuning (left), bassist Mark Stoermer, singer Brandon Flowers and drummer Ronnie Vannucci – perform Sunday in Seattle.
Chapman Baehler / Reprise Records
BELOW: My Chemical Romance -drummer Bob Bryar (left), bassist Mikey Way, vocalist Gerard Way, guitarist Ray Toro and guitarist Frank Iero – perform Monday in Seattle.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
