The Salute to the Military USO Concert on the White House South Lawn on July 4, now in its second year, honors troops and their families for their service to the country. While officially on hiatus, The Killers reconvened to perform six songs at the gig, mixed by their longtime FOH engineer James Gebhard on a DiGiCo SD7.
The Killers performed along with Brandi Carlile and Cedric the Entertainer as official guests of President Barack Obama to headline the event. "For a Brit at The White House on July 4th, I'd still have to say it was pretty amazing," said Gebhard. "The gig itself was sure challenging, not only because of the venue, but also as FOH was actually 20 meters [about 66 feet] stage right! Luckily, having used the SD7 for so long with The Killers, doing a challenging show like that was more like flying a chopper with its trim balanced.
"We had a small tour of the East Wing, through the house and out the backdoor exit under the balcony," Gebhard added. "I personally had a very brief encounter with the ‘big O' and a handshake!
"Doing shows for the USO (and their British version, CSE) is always a pleasure," Gebhard added. "We've done several for the CSE, ranging from as far afield as The Falklands to Afghanistan, but the White House gig is up there with the best of them."
