The Killers apologise for bringing Russian fan on stage at Georgia gig
“You OK with a Russian coming up here?” Brandon Flowers asked the crowd, then being met with a chorus of boos
The Killers have shared a statement apologising after bringing a Russian fan on stage at their gig in Georgia to a chorus of boos.
Georgia and Russia have had a longstanding political tension, with 20 per cent of Georgia still occupied by Russia.
During The Killers‘ gig at the Black Sea Arena in Batumi last night (August 15), Brandon Flowers performed his usual trick of getting a fan out of the crowd to perform ‘For Reasons Unknown’ with the band.
Before this performance, he said to the crowd of the chosen fan: “We don’t know the etiquette of this land but this guy’s a Russian. You OK with a Russian coming up here?”
Then, he was met with boos and a portion of the crowd left the gig early. See footage of the incident below.
In response to the boos, Flowers then said to the crowd: “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?
“I don’t want it to turn ugly,” he added. “And I see you as my brothers and my sisters.”
After the gig, the band then took to social media to apologise for the understanding, writing: “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.
“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.”