The Killers close opening night of V Festival 2009

The Killers closed the opening night (August 22) of the 2009 V Festival headlining the V Stage at Chelmsford.

The Las Vegas band declared their intentions early on, telling the crowd they were here to get them dancing.

"We want to turn this field into a giant dancefloor," frontman Brandon Flowers told the audience before sax-heavy 'Day & Age' track 'Joy Ride'. "It's The Killers after all!"

Following several dancey numbers the band then included their Joy Division cover 'Shadowplay' – first played at the Shockwaves NME Awards 2007 – beaming images of Ian Curtis from their big screens.

The Killers were then joined by a violinist for a folksy, acoustic version of 'Smile Like You Mean It', before "turning it up" again with 'Spaceman'.

After several contemplative songs, the band got back into the dance party with 'Mr Brightside' and then 'All These Things That I've Done', which both triggered loud singalongs from the crowd.

Leaving the stage briefly, Flowers and co returned for their encore, which started with 'Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine' before they wrapped the night up with an anthemic version of 'When You Were Young'.

The Killers played:

'Human'
'This Is Your Life'
'Somebody Told Me'
'For Reasons Unknown'
'Bones'
'Joy Ride
'The World We Live In'
'Bling (Confessions Of A King)'
'Shadowplay'
'Smile Like You Mean It'
'Spaceman'
'A Dustland Fairytale'
'Read My Mind'
'Mr Brightside'
'All These Things That I've Done'
'Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine'
'When You Were Young'

NME.COM will be coming live from both the V Festival sites this weekend (August 22-23). Stay tuned to NME.COM/festivals/v-festival for news reports, blogs, video interviews and photos from the event. Plus get next Wednesday's (August 26) issue of NME for the ultimate V Festival review.

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