Brandon Flowers Delivers High Drama at Solo Club Gig

Near the end of Brandon Flowers’ 45-minute set last night at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, the Killers front man had something of a Win Butler moment: standing atop a monitor at the lip of the stage, sweat glistening on his furrowed brow, leading the capacity crowd in a wordless refrain of whoa-whoa-whoas, Flowers took on the heroic posture of the Arcade Fire singer. The chorus belonged to "Playing with Fire," the closing track from Flowers’ upcoming solo debut, Flamingo, which hits stores September 14. But hardly anybody at the Troubadour knew the song before Flowers began playing it; this was audience participation of the old-fashioned kind.

You can hear Flowers' desire to make epic, Arcade Fire-style rock throughout Flamingo: Produced by Stuart Price, Daniel Lanois and Brendan O’Brien, the 10-track set is full of metaphors about open roads and dark clouds and church bells ringing in his head. He recently said in an interview that the album concerns themes he felt he was too young to tackle in the past. Yet as the Killers' three studio discs have demonstrated, Flowers also possesses a deeply, and wonderfully, cheesy streak, and last night he was most convincing during his Jon Bon Jovi moments: down on one knee, black vest wrapped tightly around his chest, singing about keeping secrets on your pillow. He did an awesome cover of "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes.

Before he played that one, Flowers said, "If you don’t like this song, there’s something wrong with you." The same might be said for "Crossfire," Flamingo’s high-energy lead single, in which he invites some lucky lady to lay her body down over a galloping disco-gospel groove. Backed by a six-piece band that included two female backup singers, Flowers maintained the tune's arena-pop dimensions in the tiny venue; the same went for "Losing Touch," the only Killers song he played, and "Hard Enough," which featured one of several Fleetwood Mac-worthy solos from Flowers’ guitarist. Win Butler probably would’ve cringed.

Set list:
"On the Floor"
"Crossfire"
"Magdalena"
"Bette Davis Eyes"
"Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts"
"Was It Something I Said?"
"Hard Enough"
"Losing Touch"
"Swallow It"
"Playing with Fire"

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter