Brandon Flowers • September 11, 2026 • Red Butte Garden
Reviewed by Kevin Rolfe
Photographed by Rob Loud
We get to cover quite a few shows here at Utah Concert Review. During the summer concert season, we cover so many shows that sometimes we can get caught up in the fast-paced nature of what we do. But then there are some shows that come through town where everything seems to slow down, making it possible for us to settle in and savor the moment. Such was the case when Brandon Flowers, frontman of The Killers, made a solo tour stop in Salt Lake City at the beautiful Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre.
For the sake of full disclosure, I’m a huge fan of The Killers. They’ve probably been my favorite band over the last twenty years. I’ve seen them on multiple tours and have had the occasion to review them a few times, which I’m sure you can imagine was a dream come true. I enjoyed seeing Brandon at The Complex back in 2015. There may be a review of that show on here before this became an official publication. Brandon Flowers has done wonderful things with his solo albums. Some songs are very much Killers-esque. But others have a style all their own. They are very specifically Brandon Flowers. That’s where we land with his latest release, the country music-themed THRASHER.
I think some people were skeptical about a genius of Indie Rock dipping his toe into the Country Music world. But not to sound pretentious, but I had a feeling this was coming. There are some songs on The Killers’ albums where I’d tell my friends, this almost sounds Country. “From Here On Out” sounds like a Tom Petty song, or an Outlaw Country track. “Prize Fighter”, “Bones”, “Read My Mind”, and many have Country elements if you really listen. Brandon Flowers even told us that he went Country sixteen years before anyone noticed. Oh, I noticed Brandon. I noticed. And I’m here for it.
Red Butte Garden was the perfect setting for this type of show. I know Flowers hails from “Fabulous Las Vegas.” But his true roots are from small town Utah. And from what I understand, he currently resides here with his family. So this felt very much like a hometown show. Not only because of Brandon, but also because the majority of his band is also from Utah. It was really cool to see Robbie Connolly, who tours with The Killers and is also a member of the Utah-based band Fictionist, move to the front of the stage on lead guitar. It was also great to see another member of Fictionist, multi-instrumentalist Stuart Maxfield, better known to some as s2_cool in this band. I’m used to seeing these guys on stage as one of the headlining bands at Fork Fest. It was really fun to see familiar faces in Brandon’s band.
It was clear from the start that Brandon Flowers was going to feature songs from Thrasher. The crowd seemed to do their homework and were eager to hear those songs live. This made for a great relationship between musicians and fans for the entire evening. He opened with “The Red Ground” and “Does It Ever Cross Your Mind” before taking us back to his first solo album with “Crossfire.” It didn’t come as a surprise but made me happy nonetheless when I heard everyone singing every word to this song.
The show was set up in a narrative style. Brandon Flowers would tell stories from his life, why he chose a country music album, and tales of the songs. The talking points were scripted and sounded that way, but intentionally so. It was more like a spoken word narration than impromptu story time. I imagine the tales were told in much the same way at every tour stop. The audience was engaged, knowing that these spoken moments had purpose and meaning. I very much enjoyed these moments, and I felt they enhanced the songs. Now there were definitely moments when Brandon would ad-lib, and that seemed to make the night that much more personal.
The highlight of the evening was when Brandon Flowers told the story of singing karaoke at a Christmas party. He sang “Don’t Look Back in Anger” by Oasis. “Now fast-forward to now. I have a fifteen-year-old son who loves Oasis. And he’s going to come out, and we’re going to do “Don’t Look Back in Anger.” The young Flowers walked out holding an acoustic guitar and wearing a very Liam Gallagher-looking parka. I love this song and loved this cover version. I totally ruined the video I took because all you can hear is me singing so loud that you can barely hear Brandon’s vocals. Terribly ruined, but a good indicator of how well this cover was going over. It was cool to see how proud Brandon Flowers was of his son. What a great experience to have. I was glad I got to see it.
Brandon Flowers followed the ovation of the crowd after the Oasis cover by saying that he wasn’t going to just let us have that experience with someone else’s song. “So we’ve have one locked and loaded coming up next.” Right then, the all-too-familiar guitar intro to “Mr. Brightside” began. Red Butte Garden roared louder than I think I’ve ever heard it before. Don’t get me wrong, a Red Butte crowd can get into a show. But this was something on a level that I don’t see there too often.
For a moment, it felt like we were seeing The Killers, a band that normally plays stadiums and arenas, playing an intimate 3,500-person show. The perks of a solo tour, I suppose. Come to find out, Flowers does not include this song on every setlist. So we were definitely treated. It was a huge moment, and another cell phone video was ruined. I’m learning my lesson to stop taking those.
This show seemed to fly by. I did not want it to end. But I could tell the end was nearing. This probably sounds weird, but I was really happy that a bunch of Brandon Flowers’ older solo songs were given their due. Many that have not been performed in years. I loved hearing “Lonely Town” off of The Desired Effect. It’s a great song and really had the audience moving.
The encore ultimately came, and hearing “Read My Mind,” another big hit of The Killers, was another massive moment. “An American Dream” closed the night in a big way. The audience was singing, and the music from the stage engulfed the garden. It was the perfect way to end the show. I remember hearing the song for the first time and thought, ‘This will for sure be the closer for the solo tour.’ It just made sense. There is nothing like a good song. And Brandon Flowers certainly knows how to write them. No matter the genre.
