SAN FRANCISCO — At this point for Brandon Flowers and his bandmates in the Killers, “imploding the Mirage” may very well refer to letting loose after two years of lockdowns, fear and anxiety. The Las Vegas band’s record Imploding the Mirage was released into the world in August 2020, followed a year later by the much more subdued and introspective Pressure Machine. Of course, the band didn’t tour either one until this year. The Bay Area’s turn finally came on Tuesday at Chase Center, where Flowers was ready to party.

“COVID brought a lot of uncertainty. COVID forced a lot of isolation,” the dapper-looking Flowers, said, before declaring: “Ain’t no isolating tonight. This is a superspreader event! We’re spreading peace, we’re spreading love and we’re spreading rock and roll. Come and get it now.”

The theme of the show was celebration, if not one but three confetti showers didn’t give that away. But the most jubilant moments of the night came not on concocted moments such as this or pyrotechnics, but when Flowers, returned guitarist Dave Keuning and drummer Ronnie Vannucci, Jr. seemed to get lost in the music while the audience overwhelmed them and their large backing band in massive singalongs.

The Killers’ set was composed primarily of the band’s first (2004’s Hot Fuss) and 2020 album, but covered the majority of the band’s songbook. Live, the Imploding the Mirage material was as strong anything the band has made since 2006’s Sam’s Town. Pressure Machine was represented by that album’s only true rock song, “In the Car Outside.”

Even if the ovations that the newer songs drew—including just-released standalone single “Boy”—were not quite as boisterous as the classic hits like closer “Mr. Brightside” (which the Killers performed with Johnny Marr, who opened the show), a glance to the stage showed that Keuning, Flowers and Vannucci were enjoying the time on stage together.

Following 30 minutes of soothing instrumental songs, like for meditating or a documentary about space, the Killers took the stage and launched into Imploding the Mirage cut “My Own Soul’s Warning,” with Flowers at a microphone stand at one corner of the stage. Wearing a yellow suit, Flowers sang the first line himself before Keuning joined in and confetti blasted out across the entire floor before the first verse was even over.

The trio of band cofounders were backed by another guitarist, bassist, keyboardist and three backup singers, one of whom was strumming an acoustic guitar on the openers. Following the short “Enterlude,” with Flowers playing a keyboard and backlit by a lone spotlight, the band kicked into “When You Were Young.” This one got the room moving around and singing along. Keuning, as he often did without looking like he was even trying, shined with his piercing and cathartic guitar hook.

Flowers rarely stood still, skipping here and there around the stage. On “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine,” off Hot Fuss, he paced along a row of on-stage monitors. His vocalizations recalled Bono’s intro to U2’s “Vertigo.” The band followed that with “Smile Like You Mean It.” Others from the debut album included “Somebody Told Me,” during which blue and red laser beams stretched from stage to the back walls of the arena, and “All These Things That I’ve Done.”

The latter one came late in the evening, and the audience didn’t even need Flowers to sing the popular “I’ve got soul/ But I’m not a soldier” refrain. But the crowd was off-key, and he had to fix that. The song was punctuated by a shower of streamers that was eclipsed by the jubilation of the extended outro that was akin to being at a revival.

Notably, it felt right that Keuning was playing these iconic riffs once again, after stepping away from the band for a few years.

The newer songs also included “Running Towards a Place,” “Dying Breed”—which would have sounded like the E Street Band had there been a sax part; the backup singers had fun with some synchronized dance moves here—and “Caution,” which the band prefaced with a snippet of “Rut,” off 2017’s Wonderful Wonderful, which was the only album to not get a full song performed. A wall of sparks shot down and then up behind the band during “Caution.”

Another Imploding the Mirage highlight was “Fire in Bone,” which began with a ringing guitar melody that sounded like U2’s “Bad” before transitioning to something more like Peter Gabriel. It was timed to yet another confetti blast.

Between songs, Flowers spoke of his fondness for the Bay Area, recalling his often-told story about recording Hot Fuss in Berkeley, and showing his appreciation for Aaron Axelsen’s Popscene nightclub, where the band would go to listen to acts like Hot Hot Heat, Interpol, the Strokes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as well as playing there themselves.

“At the time, we didn’t envision where we would go … and you are still here with us,” Flowers said before digressing about first trying Thai food while the band was in Berkeley.

Flowers brought up Popscene again during the encore, explaining how The Smiths were another band The Killers were exposed to because of Axelsen’s love for them. He then brought up Johnny Marr to perform a couple of songs, including a cover of The Smiths’ “Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before.”

The best cover of the night, however, was an intimate recreation of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” by Roberta Flack. It was just Flowers singing and Keuning slowly fingerpicking a bittersweet melody. It was the rare quiet moment on a night that saw mostly a release of energy. The Killers followed that with “Runaways,” as thousands of arms were outstretched in unison with Flowers, and the crowd sang along to the chorus: “We can’t wait ’til tomorrow.”

Johnny Marr seemed happy to return to the stage later in the evening, but his opening set was not without hiccups.

Marr started strong with the driving and pulsating “Armatopia,” and The Smiths’ “Panic,” which had a fun skipping beat.

“Has anybody got any requests?” he joked, before fielding requests like “Enter Sandman” and Steve Miller Band’s “Fly Like an Eagle.” He even sang the first line of the latter for fun. He tried his hand at humor following “Night and Day.”

“I got married in San Francisco,” he said, then pausing for a reaction. “It didn’t work out… you shouldn’t have cheered.”

But at this point, it was clear that he was unhappy with something. First, he had an on-stage wedge monitor replaced while the band milled around. After a few minutes, Marr and his band launched into the Depeche-Mode-like “Spirit Power and Soul.” Another break followed, during which Marr had some choice words for someone he was upset with. He started another song but stopped less than a few lines in.

Finally, unceremoniously, he told the band, “Let’s just do ‘How Soon is Now’ and get out of here.” And that’s what they did.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.