The Bravery @ Mandalay Bay Beach

The Bravery haven’t updated their own website since December 9th, 2010, when they announced some shows in London. Personally, I haven’t heard anything about them since Brandon Flowers dissed them for media attention a few years back.

Going silent for a year and a half has an effect on their draw as evidenced by the turnout, more like a small gathering of friends on Friday night at The Beach at Mandalay Bay. No doubt that Mandalay expected more, given the 10 apathetic lifegaurds in the knee-high pool that met the stage. I counted up the extra security and half-bored workers to total another 15 or so. This one was going to be in the loss column.

There were moments. Singer Sam Endicott’s attempts at half-witted banter had us laughing. Inspired by his obvious intoxication (almost falling a few times while dancing), he did call out something so prevalent in Vegas: the ’90′s. The DJ before him had proudly dusted off his Blind Melon CDs to stoke the crowd.

The Bravery played hits like “An Honest Mistake,” “Believe,” and “Time Won’t Let Me Go” early on in the set, interspersing them with less favored tunes like “She’s so Bendable” and “Every Word Is A Knife.” Still, aside from the lack of fans, they did play well.

Having a few acres to roam around, dipping your feet in the warm artificial wave pool, and watching teenagers splashing around high on red bull made it an intimate experience not readily duplicated. I’m sure that this was tied to a nice paycheck, but the 300 or so people would have looked more crowded in a smaller venue … say the Beauty Bar.

With members involved in other projects, others visibly absent (who was the young computer hacker on guitar?) and little official communication from the band, is this the fall from mid-level popularity that we don’t really hear about on VH1? They should have egged The Killers rehearsal space while in town because they need to spark some sort of buzz to get the attention they had back in ’05.

ArtsVegas: Covering Las Vegas Art and culture since 2009.