FOR a long time the big Hunter Valley winery shows have been the domain of Baby Boomers or Generation X with the likes of Elton John, The Rolling Stones and Red Hot Chili Peppers packing out Hope Estate.
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On Saturday night Gen Y had its opportunity to prove that 21st century indie rock can be just as powerful when The Killers delivered an arena-rock masterclass in the Hunter Valley.
Around 20,000 punters turned out for the 18-song set which traversed the Las Vegas new-wave revivalists' classic albums Hot Fuss (2004) and Sam's Town (2006) through to last year's seventh record, Pressure Machine.
The Killers have always been the flashiest and most overtly ambitious of the US bands to emerge from the thriving early 2000s indie-rock scene.
You couldn't picture brooding Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas or The White Stripes' enigmatic genius Jack White strutting on stage wearing a sparkly gold jacket while singing, "I've got news for you baby, you're looking at the man."
However, The Killers' Brandon Flowers has the confidence, the voice - and most importantly - the tunes to pull off the bravado with ease.
While The Killers' biggest hits like Mr Brightside, Somebody Told Me and When You Were Young initially found prominence in indie clubs and on stations like triple j, you suspect Flowers and co always imagined those songs for stadium or arenas.
"I'm not talking about vaccines or Zoom meetings, I'm talking about a thing called rock'n'roll," Flowers told Hope Estate.
"You know God made Saturday nights for rock'n'roll."
When You Were Young took on a new meaning with the crowd of predominantly 30 to early 40-somethings singing along to the 2006 hit as they once did at high school or university.
Flowers might be 41, but he was as energetic as ever, running around the stage in his black suit and leaping up onto the platform above the crowd like he was Tom Cruise jumping up on Oprah Winfrey's couch.
The rest of the band was happy to take a backseat to Flowers' theatrics, however, lead guitarist Ted Sablay did sneak in a crowd-stealing solo on Caution and drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr was blistering throughout.
Human, complete with an eye-catching visual of dancing people inside a series of windows, proved a fan favourite. The song's famously moronic lyric of, "Are we human or are we dancer", even sounded poignant when sung by thousands of people in unison.
There was a surprise mini cover of Icehouse's Electric Blue mid-set and For Reasons Unknown and Runaways kept the momentum going into the final song of the main set, All The Things That I've Done.
The live rendition was faster than the album original and the crowd were eager to get to the track's famous line of "I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier."
The encore began with a bang as Flowers returned in a gold jacket to perform The Man. The track and its 2017 album Wonderful Wonderful proved The Killers' comeback and provided the career second wind they're still sailing on.
The confetti gun firing $100 bills with band members' faces on them was a stellar touch.
That left the crowd to almost drown out Flowers as they sang Mr Brightside to close the evening.
Josh Leeson
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
