The Killers Issue Apology Following Russian Fan Incident in Georgia

2023-08-16 07:54:22

The Killers Apologise After Russian Fan Incident In Georgia

The Killers have issued an apology to their fans in Georgia after an incident during their show in Batumi.

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On Tuesday night, the US rock group took their Imploding The Mirage tour to the Georgian city, during which a fan was invited on stage to play drums during the song For Reasons Unknown, as is commonplace at Killers shows.

Upon hearing that the fan who’d been selected was from Russia, frontman Brandon Flowers asked the crowd: “We don’t know the etiquette of this land but this guy’s a Russian. You OK with a Russian coming up here?”

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Backlash from the Crowd

His question was initially met with a somewhat mixed response, as seen in a video taken at the event, with widespread booing then taking place in the arena.

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Addressing the Crowd

After the performance, Brandon addressed the crowd, telling them (via NME): “You can’t recognise if someone’s your brother? He’s not your brother? We all separate on the borders of our countries?”

“Am I not your brother, being from America?” he questioned, with some fans continuing to boo and others even leaving the concert.

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Brandon then added: “I don’t want it to turn ugly, And I see you as my brothers and my sisters.”

Apology and Misunderstanding

After the show, The Killers shared a statement on social media, telling the “good people of Georgia”: “It was never our intention to offend anyone!

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“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.

“We recognise 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 apologise. We stand with you and hope to return soon.”

Background Context

Georgia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia subsequently invaded Georgia in 2008, and still occupies around 20 percent of the country.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Guardian reports there has been an influx of Russian people to Georgia, leading to something of a backlash in the former Soviet state.

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