The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers has revealed he has scrapped the band’s new album, as they prepare to play their final shows on an European tour.
Having been booed at a concert in Georgia after inviting a Russian fan to play drums for one song, the US rock band were back on form at last weekend’s Reading and Leeds festival.
Flowers and co. played a greatest-hits-heavy set that included new song Your Side of Town, but the long-planned subsequent parent album will now not be released.
“Halfway through recording I realised, ‘I can’t do this,’” Flowers told The Times.
“This isn’t the kind of record… I think this will be the… I don’t think you’ll see us making this type of music anymore.”
The wait is over. pic.twitter.com/XKW0GnExQM
— The Killers (@thekillers) August 25, 2023
When are The Killers playing in Ireland and Northern Ireland?
The Killers are set to wrap up their summer tour of Europe with a show at Boucher Road Playing Fields in Belfast, Northern Ireland on September 1 and then at Electric Picnic in Stradbally, Ireland on September 3.
This will precede a tour of the US into the autumn and winter. It follows The Killers releasing studio albums Imploding The Mirage in 2020 and Pressure Machine in 2021.
Are The Killers still making music?
The Killers released the standalone single Boy last year and then synth-heavy new song Your Side of Town only a few days ago. But this song too is set to be a standalone, with Flowers telling The Times that he had lost heart someway into a larger project.
“This is the crisis I’m in. The Killers are my identity and our songs fill the seats, but I’m more fulfilled making music like Pressure Machine,” he said of the album - which was a more introspective release than the stadium rock fans might expect.
“I found a side of myself writing it that was strong. This was the guy I’d been looking for! I’m as proud of [debut album] Hot Fuss as you can be for something you did when you were 20, but I’m not 20. So I’m thinking about the next phase of my life.
“I’m a different person now, it’ll be difficult to go back.”
What happened to The Killers in Georgia?
Frontman Brandon Flowers described fans as “brothers and sisters” at the gig on August 15 as he invited a Russian fan to perform a song with the band to an audience in Georgia.
“We don’t know the etiquette of this land but this guy is a Russian, you okay with a Russian coming up here?” he said. The crowd chanted that “no,” they were not okay.
This led to Flowers saying: “So I’m not your brother? Am I not your brother, being from America, am I not your brother?”
“One of the things we have come to appreciate about being in this band is that it brings people together.
“Tonight I want us to celebrate together and I don’t want it to turn ugly.
“I see you as my brothers and my sisters.”
After the awkward clip went viral, The Killers apologised with a statement on their social media.
“It was never our intention to offend anyone!” the band said, adding that it had a longstanding tradition of inviting people to play the drums.
“We recognise that a comment, meant to suggest that all of the Killers’ audience and fans are ‘brothers and sisters,’ could be misconstrued,” it added.
Edinburgh, August 29. pic.twitter.com/synqbtLRh0
— The Killers (@thekillers) August 29, 2023
What songs are The Killers playing on tour?
The Killers changed convention by opening their show at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh on Tuesday, August 29 with their cornerstone song Mr Brightside. They also invited Johnny Marr on stage to perform The Smiths’ song This Charming Man - as they had done together to headline Glastonbury in 2019. Marr stayed on as the band closed with When You Were Young.
This was the full setlist but this does not represent the tour as a whole.
- Mr. Brightside
- Spaceman
- Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
- Smile Like You Mean It
- Shot at the Night
- Run for Cover
- Human
- Somebody Told Me
- The Whole of the Moon (The Waterboys cover)
- Runaway Horses
- Bling (Confession of a King)
- Your Side of Town
- Runaways
- Read My Mind
- Dying Breed
- Caution
- All These Things That I’ve Done
- The Man
- This Charming Man (The Smiths cover) (with Johnny Marr)
- When You Were Young (with Johnny Marr)
