They've come out of their cage and they're still doing, well, just fine.

After widespread criticism of their sophomore album, "Sam's Town," the Killers didn't seem to have lost any fans on Thursday night, as 20-somethings thronged The Great Saltair in hordes of skinny jeans and black eyeliner.

But modern fashion trends weren't on the itinerary for this show, and lead man Brandon Flowers made that all too apparent. Flowers, who lived in Nephi during his early high school years, was dressed in slacks and a matching vest that reminisced of an old-West ringmaster, appropriate for belting out such lyrics as, "The good old days, the honest man; the restless heart, the promised land. A subtle kiss that no one sees; a broken wrist and a big trapeze."

Of course, there was no trapeze in sight, though the poor ventilation and mediocre sound of Saltair may have felt a bit like an old-fashioned circus tent, complete with intermittent showers of confetti and random outbursts from our host.

"Welcome to our Taj Mahal," Flowers exclaimed with a dramatic swoop of his arm. "We drove all the way up the I-15 to tell you about this feeling."

And it was a story well worth the telling. Dipping heavily into their new album, the Killers didn't forget the songs that made them famous, delivering "Mr. Brightside," "Somebody Told Me" and "All These Things That I've Done" to a wave of mass approval.

And though the old singles were certainly crowd-pleasers, the band's new Southwest-inspired, country-alternative style outshined its older, 80s-reminiscent Eurobeat, partly due to the vintage photographs displayed on a large screen above the stage. With grainy images of black and white hedgehogs and vintage beauty queens, gone are the days of colored suits, smudged eyeliner, and rhinestone-studded instruments.

Yes, there was certainly a new brand of Killers in town.

And that brand may not be around much longer. If any band is capable of changing its image and keeping its fans, it's this one.

Yesterday's Europop is today's Southwest rock. And tomorrowfi

Well, that's the thing; you never know with the Killers.

The Killers

The Great Saltair

May 31, 2007

1. Sam's Town

2. Enterlude

3. When You Were Young

4. Bones

5. Somebody Told Me

6. Smile Like You Mean It

7. Jenny Was a Friend of Mine

8. Uncle Jonny

9. This River Is Wild

10. Read MY Mind

11. On Top

12. Andy, You're a Star

13. Bling

14. Mr. Brightside

Encore

1. My List

2. Shadow Play (by Joy Division)

3. For Reasons Unknown

4. All These Things That I've Done

5. Exitlude

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.