The Killers, the Prequel

From a very young age, I have had a fascination with MTV and celebrities. Growing up, my mother would have died rather than allow me to watch a... dun, dun, dun...music video. The video for "Take on Me" or "Let's Get Physical" were just too odd and obscene for a 6 year old, in my mother's mind! One day as I watched TV with my friend, Yolanda from across the street (who, BTW, was a big influence of the music I liked as a child. Anyone heard of Micheal Jackson?), my mother came storming into the 70's wood paneled family room, just ranting about the terrible, sin dripping music video we were watching. The thing was, it wasn't even a music video at all! I swear to you, it was "Solid Gold!" The Solid Gold dancers were doing some chorus line kick, which seemed pretty tame to me, but my mother swore it was an offensive music video and that she was to NEVER SEE ME WATCHING THAT FILTH AGAIN! She was so distraught about it, she used me as an example as she gave a talk to the entire congregation of our church. Something about the evils of music videos and how she caught me watching such terrible filth and that she forbid me to watch anymore. I was only six years old, but I remember sitting in the middle of the chapel, mortified! My mother basically confessed my sin to the entire church! I wanted to stand on the pew and yell, "BUT IT WAS SOLID GOLD!"

This experience, however, did the exact opposite of what my mother wanted. The more videos I watched, the more interested I became of the people singing and the lives they were living.

Its no secret I'm fascinated by celebrities. I am shameless about bragging about K.B. Plumbing: Plumbers to the Stars! I am glued to TMZ while Wyatt takes a much too long shower, wasting the water, because I'm too interested into what photo the paparazzi caught that week! I can answer any question concerning Brangelina, Britney Spears, or Micheal Jackson. I've been accused of being a pop culture know it all.

My brother-in-law makes fun of me because of my little obsession. Whenever I visit him in Santa Monica, I am on Celebrity Alert, constantly keeping my eyes open for a movie star! In fact, when John runs into a celebrity in town, he now refers to it as a "Sommer Moment!"

So where do the Killers come into all of this? Well, one day Byron comes home from work and says, "Guess what I just found out?" He then proceeds to tell me that my father's friend of over 20 years, Les, has a daughter who has married the drummer of the Killers! "That's really cool!" I exclaim. Then a couple of weeks later, my husband calls me and very cool and collected says, "Guess where I am?" I'm not good a guessing games. "I don't know, where are you?" "Oh, no where big, just installing a sink in the Killer's recording studio." WHAT! "You're lying!" "Nope, and all the band members are here!" Now that was really, really cool! Though not very glamorous sounding, my husband then went on, installing a sink while listening to the band make final corrections to "Human" a single that wasn't even out yet.

Time went on, our little 3 seconds of fame passed by, and we went on with our lives, Then my dad got a phone call that was the really, really, really coolest thing ever! Les knew Byron and I were Killers fans and he got us tickets and backstage passes to the Vegas show! Byron did his best to keep it a surprise, but Byron knew how excited I would be, and couldn't hold it in any longer! I had a week to get myself a new outfit, decide on hair and makeup options, get contact lenses, and download any new Killers songs that I was missing! Then, all I could was wait and look forward to a great night!

Coming up next, The Killers, The Concert!