Vannucci’s first show with the band

Ronnie Vannucci Jr. began practicing with the Killers shortly before Neal’s departure. Vannucci was well known in the Las Vegas music scene, having played in bands such as Attaboy Skip and Expert in October since he was a teenager. He met the Killers in 2002 while he was playing in another local band called Romance Fantasy. Vannucci was initially reluctant to officially join at first, but agreed to once he got to know Flowers and Keuning, who “were crazy [ sic ] as I was—maybe even crazier” about rehearsals. Vannucci’s first show with the band was on August 30, 2002, at a club in Las Vegas called The Junkyard. Filling in on bass that night was Mark Stoermer , who, at the time, was the lead guitarist for local progressive rock band the Negative Ponies. Vannucci had previously played a gig with Stoermer, and the band wanted Stoermer to join them permanently as their second guitarist. They had first approached him when they were considering turning the band into a five-piece, “possibly more like the Strokes , with a keyboard”. Stoermer later said he could also play bass. The band continued as a three-piece, trying out other bassists until November 2002, when Stoermer accepted the invitation to join. Ryan Pardey , who booked many of the band’s early shows, described them as “a great band when Ronnie and Mark joined. That’s when they finally became a cohesive unit. What Ronnie did — he was the discipline — and Mark was just a solid musician.”