The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers has said that the band was “sad” at how a gig in Georgia played out when they were booed for bringing a Russian fan on stage.
Videos from the concert show Flowers, 42, inviting a fan on stage to play the drums as he says: “We don’t know the etiquette of this land, but this guy’s a Russian are you okay with a Russian coming up here?”
Later, the lead singer suggested the crowd were “brothers and sisters”, which was not well-received by a lot of fans, who walked out in protest before the end of the show.
Georgia borders Russia and tensions have been exacerbated by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year, which prompted a number of Russians to emigrate to Georgia.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Flowers reflected on the gig and said: “I had to calm an impossible situation.
“We want our concerts to be communal and I had no idea words I was taught my entire life to represent a unity of the human family could be taken as being pro-Russian occupation. We’re sad how this played out.”
Following the gig, the band posted a statement to their social media, which read: “Good people of Georgia, it was never our intention to offend anyone!
— The Killers (@thekillers) August 15, 2023
“We have a longstanding tradition of inviting people to play drums and it seemed from the stage that the initial response from the crowd indicated that they were okay with tonight’s audience participation member coming onstage with us.
“We recognise that a comment, meant to suggest that all of the Killers’ audience and fans are ‘brothers and sisters,’ could be misconstrued.
“We did not mean to upset anyone and we apologise. We stand with you and hope to return soon.”
The Killers headlined Reading And Leeds Festival this bank holiday weekend and back in 2019 the band performed at Glastonbury Festival where they welcomed former The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr on stage to play This Charming Man.