Brandon Flowers imagines “what would New Order sound like if they were Johnny Cash” at spellbinding Royal

Brandon Flowers brought his solo ‘Thrasher’ tour to the UK and played an epic show featuring The Killers classics at London’s Royal Albert Hall last night (Thursday October 15).

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Check out footage, the setlist and what went down below.

The gig came in celebration of Flowers’ latest solo album, which arrived in August and saw him provide a rare glimpse into his upbringing in Utah, embracing the country music he was raised on.

Depois de iniciar a lista de 20 músicas com uma versão animada de ‘The Red Ground’, Flowers conversou com o público sobre por que queria capturar aquele som específico em ‘Thrasher’ e mostrar às pessoas uma visão de outro capítulo menos visto de sua vida.

He then went on to play ‘Does It Ever Cross Your Mind?’, before playing his 2010 solo track ‘Crossfire’, and sharing how it proves that he has always had an urge within him to embrace his childhood influences.

Vestindo um terno Nudie preto adornado com pedras de cristal e com o apoio de sua banda solo, a noite viu Flowers lançar outras faixas de “Thrasher”, incluindo “Tiger’s Blood”, “Plans”, “Paradise”, “Angel” e “Miss America” – e compartilhar anedotas pouco conhecidas ao longo da noite sobre sua família e criação.

These included how his sister’s strength to escape an abusive relationship helped shape some of the record, and how he always envisioned ‘Tiger’s Blood’ and ‘Plans’ as resembling two roads, with “one being the road to ruin, and the other being the road back”.

Flowers also explained how ‘Lonely Road’ embodied how his love of country and rock music can co-exist, regardless of if any naysayers think otherwise. “I can love New Order and Johnny Cash, nobody is keeping score,” he said.

Embora a setlist fosse predominantemente baseada no último álbum do cantor, alguns tracks dos Killers conseguiram entrar, incluindo uma interpretação mais contida da música de 2021 ‘In The Car Outside’ do ‘Pressure Machine’, e performances mais elaboradas e animadas de ‘In Another Life’ e do clássico ‘Read My Mind’ de ‘Sam’s Town’.

What a phenomal show. Brandon Flowers, the showman that you are. pic.twitter.com/uRXhMB5zfZ.

Encore: ‘In Another Life’ (The Killers song) ‘Read My Mind’ (The Killers song) ‘Between Me and You’ ‘An American Dream’.

Speaking to NME ahead of its release, Flowers described it as his most personal record yet and said he finally felt “equipped” to write about some of the more difficult parts of his childhood.

He also revealed that ‘Thrasher’ is the first of two connected solo albums, with a more “romantic” follow-up already completed that he described as an answer to the “loneliness epidemic”.

Em uma crítica de quatro estrelas ao “Thrasher”, o NME elogiu Flowers como “um contador de histórias muito melhor do que ele recebe crédito”, acrescentando: “Com a música country, não há onde se esconder, agora Flowers está fora de sua gaiola e está indo muito bem.”.

The ‘Thrasher’ tour continues in Bristol tomorrow (Saturday October 17), before wrapping up with stops in Nottingham, Glasgow, Dublin and more throughout the rest of the month.

Find the full list of dates here and any remaining tickets here.

Dates kicked off in North America last month, and saw Flowers bring out his 15-year-old son Henry to cover Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ in Salt Lake City. The UK and Ireland leg began in Bournemouth on Wednesday (October 14).

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