The Killers apologise after calling a Russian fan their “brother” during Georgia show
The Killers have posted an apology on social media after frontman Brandon Flowers brought a Russian fan on stage during a show in Georgia.
Flowers plucked the fan from the crowd and urged the audience to think of each other as “brothers and sisters”, which reportedly earned him audible booing and walkouts from the audience.
Towards the end of the concert, Flowers invited the Russian audience member to play drums with them for the Sam’s Town song ‘For Reasons Unknown’, turning to the audience to say: “We don’t know the etiquette of this land but this guy’s a Russian”, and “You OK with a Russian coming up here?”.
The situation took place in Batumi, Georgia – a former soviet state invaded by Russia in 2008. After performing ‘For Reasons Unknown’, Flowers addressed the incident which gained more boos from fans. “You can’t recognise if someone’s your brother? He’s not your brother?” he asked.
“We all separate on the borders of our countries? … Am I not your brother, being from America?” Flowers continued, saying “that we’re here together”. “I don’t want it to turn ugly,” he said. “And I see you as my brothers and my sisters.”
Amid protests, The Killers completed their performance, despite reports of attendees leaving the stadium. Russia’s occupation of 20% of Georgian territory since its 2008 invasion and the recent influx of Russians into Georgia, an independent nation since 1991, have led to tensions.
Following the incident, the band took to Twitter to issue an apology: “Good people of Georgia, it was never our intention to offend anyone! 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.”
They continued: “We recognize 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 apologize. We stand with you and hope to return soon.”
The Killers are set to headline the Reading & Leeds Festival in the United Kingdom later this month alongside Billie Eilish, Sam Fender, Foals, The 1975 and Imagine Dragons.
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