Who needs the rest of The Killers anyway? All joking aside—The Killers are great!—the band’s frontman Brandon Flowers, who announced in April that he was going out on his own, appeared without his bandmates last night at NYC’s Highline Ballroom and quickly proved that the solo thing suits him very well, thank you very much.
The thing that was most stunning about Flowers’ show was just how much the crowd was with him, even though he’s only officially released one track from his upcoming album, Flamingo. The second song of the evening, single “Crossfire,” had pretty much the entire crowd singing along rapturously (maybe because it’s really all most people know so far?)—and that was even without an appearance by Charlize Theron, who memorably pops up in the song’s video.
Brandon’s big moment, however, came a bit later in the under-an-hour set, when he covered “Bette Davis Eyes,” which Jackie DeShannon originated in 1974 before Kim Carnes made it a hit in 1981. (Watch a bootleg clip from an earlier show of Flowers’ version of “Bette Davis Eyes.”) The singular synth melody at the beginning opened it beautifully, and then Flowers owned it with his vocals, too. Maybe this cover will make the album? We can hope. Another highlight of the night was “Magdalena,” a folksy yet danceable track that has Flowers wailing throughout.
Overall, the show felt right for Flowers because of his stage presence—he was believable, very into what he was doing, and (see his Santa Fe-inspired vest above) completely adorable, especially with his new military-inspired crew cut. He just seemed joyful, and that bled immediately into the crowd, including yours truly.
Are you all pumped to hear what Flowers has cooking for the rest of his solo debut? Can he make it without the rest of The Killers behind him? All signs point to yes, but let me know what you think in the comments below.
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Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.
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The Killers are technically in between albums, but they’re tiding hungry fans over with a 
Another year, another Lolla — and this time, we’ve got our man on the scene, Burhan Hamid (EW tech wizard by day, alt-fest poo-bah by night! Or at least weekend!) with a full scene report. Read his recap of the long-running annual indie-culture band bonanza below, now narrowed to a one-0ff three-day event in Chicago. Says Burhan:
Oh, B-Flow, you’ve done it again. The famously filter-less frontmanfor Vegas glam-rock revivalists the Killers seems to have a gift forembroider-this-shizz-on-a-pillow quotes, and his latest verbal cherrybomb is kind of a doozy, even for him.
