The Killers, conceived in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2001, will headline the 2018 Isle of Wight Festival on Sunday evening (24th June).
By 2002 the quartet had settled into their present lineup. Frontman Brandon Flowers is responsible for lead vocals and keyboards. He is backed up by Mark Stoermer (bass and vocals), Dave Keuning (guitar and vocals) and Ronnie Vannucci Jnr. on drums and percussion.
Their group name comes from the logo on the bass drum of a fictitious band portrayed in the music video for New Order’s 2001 release ‘Crystal’.
All four of the Killers studio albums have reached Number 1 in the UK. ‘Hot Fuss’ set the trend in 2005, followed by ‘Sam’s Town’ in 2006, ‘Day and Age’ in 2008 and their latest ‘Battle Born’ in September 2012.
In fact, the latter three album releases all entered the UK charts at Number 1. Brandon Flowers tasted solo success in September 2010 when his solo album ‘Flamingo’ went to Number 1 in the UK.
A compilation album ‘Sawdust’ was released by the Killers in 2007. In 2009 ‘Live From The Royal Albert Hall’ appeared.
Over the years the band have recorded a number of memorable singles including ‘Read My Mind’, ‘Somebody Told Me’ (a number 3 hit), ‘Mr. Brightside’, ‘When You Were Young’ which reached Number 2 in 2006, ‘Human’ which reached number 3 and ‘Runaways’ in 2012 from the ‘Battle Born’ album.
In 2013 the single ‘Here With Me’ had a video directed by Tim Burton. Filmed in Blackpool, Lancashire, it features Winona Ryder and a wax model!
Also in 2013 with the daylight fading on the Saturday night of that year’s Isle of Wight Festival, headliners The Killers opened with ‘Mr. Brightside’. Brandon Flowers soon had the Seaclose crowd with him.
In an energetic set the band gave faithful reproductions of well- known favourites like ‘Human’ ‘When You were Young’ ‘Somebody Told Me’ and ‘Can You Read My Mind’. A versatile Brandon was kept busy as lead vocalist and playing keyboards, guitar and synthesizer.
As a nod to locals in the audience he mentioned Dinosaur Isle and, during The Beatles‘ classic, ‘When I’m 64’ he noted ‘….we could watch the Killers on the Isle of Wight.’ This exciting set ended with fireworks.
