Picture: Rob Loud
Brandon Flowers made a triumphant return to Glasgow as a solo artist, taking to the stage at the O2 Academy on his Thrasher Tour.
It has been over 16 years since Flowers last performed in the city as a solo artist, with his most recent appearances in Glasgow being three sold out nights with The Killers at the OVO Hydro on their Rebel Diamonds tour.
In the early days of the band, when they were starting out, Flowers told John Dingwall: “We’ve played a couple of gigs in Scotland before, including King Tut’s, and we’ve always had a great time. The crowds are memorable.”
Thrasher embraces country and Americana, drawing on Flowers’ childhood memories, Utah’s landscapes and deeply personal stories that came to life on stage. He said that in days gone by he used to be embarrassed by these songs, but not now.
The bulk of the concert consists from the new release which were an absolute joy to hear live for the first time as well as other tunes off Flamingo and The Desired Effect. Particular highlights include “Crossfire”, “Plans” and “Tiger’s Blood”.
By the time he got to “When You Were Young” in the set, Flowers just about took the roof off the venue. The encore was simply incredible, as Flowers blasted through “In Another Life”, “Read My Mind” and “All These Things That I’ve Done”.
He told the audience to “do what you can with what you’ve got” and shared that when he started out in music, that he dreamed of playing rooms like this, with people like this and on stages like this.
It’s still a total thrill to see Flowers perform live. His stagecraft is brilliant, and he remains one of the best live performers around.