The Killers: the great band that returned to Latin America in 2022, but not to Peru

The most beloved “assassins” in the world will not visit us in 2022. And it is that The Killers did not include Peru in their small tour of Latin America that is taking them to Colombia, Chile and Brazil between November 8 and 14.

But to alleviate these sad circumstances, we not only have the possibility that the band made up of Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Ronnie Vanucci Jr. and Mark Stoermer will visit us in 2023, but also the memories of the three occasions they played in the Peruvian capital. Here we remember them.

the first crime

The first concert took place on November 19, 2009 on the esplanade of the Monumental Stadium as part of their “Day & Age Tour”.

After spending an early morning having fun at the Gótica nightclub, the group from Las Vegas played in front of approximately 35,000 fans at the Monumental de Ate. It was an hour and a half of emotion, where Peruvian, Bolivian and Ecuadorian fans of The Killers enjoyed a mix of their classics and new songs, among which there was no lack of songs like “Human”, “Hot Fuss”, “Mr. Brightside” and “All These Things That I’ve Done”, a song after which they moved the national public by hanging the Peruvian flag over Brandon Flowers’ piano.

The band said goodbye expressing their satisfaction at playing in Lima and their desire to return soon, which they would fulfill four years later.

the auction

The second concert took place on April 4, 2013 and took place at the National Stadium, with the band looking to top their memorable 2009 concert. And they did it to everyone’s satisfaction, with the national bands Stereonoiz and Tourista as opening act, before open with the classic “Mr. Brightsside.” The Killers had come to kill.

What followed was a retelling of their biggest hits, with songs like “The way it was,” “Smile like you mean it,” “Miss Atomic Bomb,” and “Human.” Then, to the delight of the audience, Brandon Flowers addresses the audience for the first time: “They missed us? We miss you too, Lima,” he says. “Lime, you are beautiful”

But it would not be the climax of the concert, which had to wait until it was almost over an hour and a half later. Here the best description is given by my colleague María Pía Barrientos:

“Bang, bang, bang.” Each chord crashes against the skin like a bullet, opens it, penetrates it. Silence. “Boom”.

“To its. She got off! ”, someone tells who is next to her. Brandon Flowers, lead singer of The Killers left the stage and now walks through the crowd. Smile. They touch it. They shake him They take it to see if it’s real. He keeps walking, hugging his people, the ones who always came together faithfully to see him and his team of great musical snipers.

“Thank you”, he says to one of his fans. Flowers, the Mormon, continues his journey. A VIP grabs him from the back, he doesn’t care. A guitar solo and then piano accompanies one of the most intense moments of the concert. People scream wildly. They have received a direct bullet and they are not dead. They are more alive than ever. Flowers goes up again. The music extends a bit. He finishes saying goodbye. Thank you. He’s leaving. Thus ended the day in which The Killers returned to Lima for more.

no survivors

We had to wait five years for The Killers to set foot on Peruvian soil again, although the wait was worth it for many since they arrived with the British duo Royal Blood as opening act alongside the Peruvian band Los Outsaiders.

The concert took place on March 27 at the Jockey Club of Peru and, unlike previous events, it did not have the influx of yesteryear, a factor that can be explained by the parallel concert that Liam Gallagher gave in the Parque de la Exposición, as well as the friendly match between the Peruvian team against Iceland at a time when soccer fever was high in the country due to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Despite this, spirits were high in the venue when Brandon Flowers opened the concert with “The Man”, the theme from his (then) new album “Wonderful Wonderful”, and which was followed by songs like “Somebody Told Me”, “Spaceman” and “The Way it Was”.

“Hello Peru, welcome to our wonderful show,” said Brandon already with some songs in tow. “What’s up, people? I have missed them”, he says minutes later, as if the five years of absence had not passed.

In one of the most exciting moments of the night, The Killers invited a fan to help them play the song “For Reasons Unknown”. The first summoned turned out to be an Ecuadorian, so they called another fan, this time from our country, with both fans sharing the song.

After more than an hour of making the Peruvian public vibrate, the band said goodbye with “Mr. Brightside”, that theme that sent them to stardom.

Since then we haven’t had any news from the band. But there are reasons to be hopeful, and in March of this year they stated that they would possibly tour South America in the first half of 2023.