"Are we human, or are we dancer?" The Killers [ tickets ] lead singer Brandon Flowers sings on "Human," the first single from the group's 2008 album, "Day & Age." Last night (1/25) at Madison Square Garden, the band's performance proved that the sold-out crowd was--in a literal sense--decidedly both. The entire audience, mostly 30-somethings and Gossip Girl–looking college kids, never sat down throughout the nearly two-hour set.

The show started with a crowd-inspiring sing-along of "Spaceman," an upbeat and optimistic track from "Day & Age." Wearing a black suit, Flowers conducted the scene with his signature theatrical style, gracefully alternating from keys to mic like a next-generation Mick Jagger. "How's everybody doing? We're The Killers," the frontman needlessly stated. Flowers' overly animated gestures were engaging, but the lack of big-screen viewing monitors made it difficult to grasp the full effect of his facial expressions and antics.

Despite that, the show still had enough lighting and other visual spectacle to make it a powerful, arena-worthy event. Standing in front of a huge Lite-Brite-looking display, the Las Vegas four-piece moved energetically amongst fake palm trees, blasts of confetti and colorful, glowing patterns. The onstage props were borderline kitsch and random, particularly the block-letter, lowercase "k" in front of Flowers' keyboard.

The set list read like a laundry list of favorites, and was a reminder of just how accomplished the band has become since 2004, when it debuted "Hot Fuss." Songs like "Somebody Told Me," "Smile Like You Mean It," "Neon Tiger," "Read My Mind" and "Mr. Brightside" were some of the highlights.

The arena fired up increasingly as the night worn on. Energy levels skyrocketed with "Human" and the heartfelt Abbey Road version of "Sam's Town," from the 2006 release "Sawdust." Fans were encouraged to sing along karaoke-style to words projected on the large lighting panel during "All These Things That I Have Done." Flowers introduced "Joy Ride" as a song about "those Friday nights that never happen but the dancing is always sexy," and the venue turned into a green-and-orange neon dance party. "Put your hands in the air and scream," Flowers demanded of the crowd, all of whom had practically been doing nothing but since the show started.

The four-song encore of "On Top," "For Reasons Unknown," "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" and "When You Were Young" was augmented by an enormous roar of voices joining with the band. The show ended with an explosion of fire and lights in quintessential rock show fashion.

Opening act M83, a French electronic shoegaze unit, delivered ambient, atmospheric, Sigur Ros-meets-Shiny Toy Guns sounds. The quartet has earned a lot of underground indie buzz for its song "Kim and Jesse," but the sparse audience that had arrived early seemed more interested in snapping self-photos and text messaging than paying attention to the group's set. For onlookers, it probably wasn't such a bad thing that M83 delivered a more subdued show, considering that The Killers' amped up the crowd with more than enough indie-rock nostalgia and joyride bliss.

[Editor's note: This review was edited on 1/27 to include the first song of The Killers' encore.]