How I Became A Fangirl, Part One: Discovery.

Read the whole post before you think I'm insulting my favourite band ;)

In 2005, I was 14, and into all sorts of music. Everything from Maroon 5 to Matchbox 20, Nickleback to Natasha Beddingfield, Will.I.Am to Westlife (well, maybe not Will.I.Am so much, but you get the picture).  One band I certainly was not into was The Killers. I mean seriously now, who calls their band ‘The Killers’? Surely they were a bunch of no-good axe-murderer types who went around killing people in their spare time. Thus, I was quick to press “skip track” every time their song “All These Things That I’ve Done” popped up on a compilation CD I owned. Anyway, what a name for a song…guilty much?

Fast forward to 2008. A song called “Human” is racing its way up the charts and causing a storm on the internet, where no one can figure out if the lyrics are “denser” or “dancer”. But the song is by these ‘Killers’ people, and I’m weary. I can’t avoid it forever though, the radio has an obsession with it, and soon I find myself singing along merrily. It’s a good song, I can’t deny that, and the lead singer- someone called Flowers- has a pleasant voice. I’ve heard that he wears eyeliner though, and that’s not acceptable. A couple of months later I hear a song called “Spaceman”. Opening with a bunch of “oh oh oh oh oh oh oh”’s and then marching straight into a verse that begins “it started with a low light/ next thing I knew the ripped me from my bed/ and then they took my blood-type”, the Flowers man’s voice is instantly recognizable. But this song is fantastic! Strange, but fantastic! I like it enough to get past my original doubts about this band, and start to listen to some of their older songs. “Somebody Told Me” is quite a winner, as, in fact, is “All These Things That I’ve Done”. In June of 2009, I acquire The Killers’ latest album offering, Day & Age. It takes just one listen of “A Dustland Fairytale”, and I know I’m hooked. These guys are going to be one of my favourite bands in the entire world. Day & Age takes up permanent residence in my car CD player for the next few months.

At the end of August, my mother mentions to me that The Killers are going to tour South Africa at the end of the year. (This, of course, was in the days before I became a fangirl and started checking Big Concerts’ facebook page every two and a half minutes). As most bands do, however, they had only scheduled dates for Johannesburg and Cape Town. Both cities were at least an entire day’s drive from me. This was not ideal at all. On the surface, I resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t get to see them, and vowed that one day I would live in a real city, where bands actually played. But deep inside, I couldn’t shake the thought of Brandon Flowers in all his feathery glory, singing his heart out on stage…in front of me.

Thus I mapped out a complex and downright sneaky plan to head to Cape Town. I worked out everything, costs, mileage, accommodation, as well as a plot to stop halfway and furnish my new flat while we were at it. Everything was perfect. Now came the tiny little issue of convincing my mother to undertake a two day drive to see a concert with me. It was easier than I had expected, and soon we were off to buy tickets. After many stress-filled minutes, during which we were told that the concert was not on Computicket’s system, and then that Golden Circle was sold out, we managed to acquire two of the last few general admissions ticket. We booked our accommodation, which was no mean feat, most of Paarl was fully booked that weekend, and it’s official, we were going to see The Killers live!

The next few months seem to drag. In my mind, I can’t see past the 6^th of December. I’m not thinking of anything else but that night, and yet it still doesn’t feel real, I can’t even seem to be excited about it, I think I’m in shock.

Part two:  Concert, coming soon.