Brandon Flowers learned a lesson in diplomacy on Tuesday night (Aug. 15) during The Killers‘ show at the Black Sea Arena in Batumi, Georgia. In a portion of the show when the band typically invite a fan up to play drums on the song “For Reasons Unknown,” Flowers asked the crowd to weigh in on that night’s special guest.
“We don’t know the etiquette of this land but this guy’s a Russian,” he told the audience in video posted by fans. “You OK with a Russian coming up here?” As it turns out, they were not. The question drew loud boos from the crowd in the country that came out from under the yoke of Russian rule in 1991 following the fall of the Soviet Union. Russia, however, still occupies around 20 percent of Georgia following a 2008 invasion.
According to local reports, a portion of the audience walked out in protest, further incensed by Flowers’ attempt at detente after the song ended. Asking the agitated audience if they were willing to let borders define them. “You can’t recognize that someone’s your brother? He’s not your brother? We all separate on the border of our countries?,” he said as the boos kept coming. “So I’m not your brother? Am I not your brother being from America? Am I your brother or no? I’m not your brother?”
Walking away from the mic in seeming exasperation, Flowers threw his head back and added, “One of the things we appreciate about being in this band is it brings people together. And tonight I want to celebrate that we’re here together. And I don’t want it to turn ugly. And I see you as my brothers and my sisters. “
Hours after the show, the band issued an apology, assuring their Georgian fans that they did not intend to cause an international incident more than a year-and-a-half into Russia’s devastating unprovoked war against Ukraine. “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 wrote.
It 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 currently on tour in support of their 2021 album Pressure Machine. Their next scheduled show is in Bratislava, Slovakia on Friday (Aug. 18), after which they will head to England for the Reading and Leeds festivals, before flying back to the U.S. in September for a series of festival headlining gigs at Bourbon & Beyond, Sea.Hear.Now and Life is Beautiful.
Watch video of the moment and the read the full apology below.
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