The Killers booed in Batumi because of a Russian

The concert of the Americans The Killers in Batumi was hardly of global musical significance, but it got into the international news. The appearance of a Russian rock fan on the stage at the invitation of the musicians almost ruined the show. In the end, the group had to apologize.

The Killers didn’t do anything extraordinary on stage that night. Like many bands, they regularly announce on social media that they will invite a fan on stage to play one of their songs. Some musicians rehearse such impromptu in advance, someone relies on chance.

There are no competent comments on how everything happened in Batumi – after a rehearsal or in improvisation mode – yet. It is only known that during the concert, the band’s frontman Brandon Flowers asked the audience about the presence of those who wanted to play with them, and when he saw a poster with the English inscription “If fate is good, I will be your drummer,” he called the one who held it to the stage.

Very soon, the musicians probably regretted their intention to diversify the concert. Brandon asked the folk drummer where he was from, and when the guy said that he was from Russia, the rock star tried to smooth over possible contradictions. “We don’t know the etiquette of this country, but the guy is Russian. Do you mind if a Russian comes here?” the musician asked before a whistle sounded from the audience.

The Georgian telegram channels and some of the concert attendees are a little bit different in details, but in essence what happened was that someone was whistling, someone was shouting anti-Russian slogans, some left the hall, there are also reports that the group they offered another drummer from the crowd, apparently the owner of a less controversial passport. As a result, the Russian played the song of his dreams with The Killers, and Flowers, apparently in an effort to get rid of the unpleasant sediment, tried to set the accents.

“Don’t you recognize your brother? Or is he not your brother? Or are we all on different sides of the borders of our countries? Am I not your brother if I am from America? I don’t want things to end badly. I see my brothers and sisters here,” the musician proclaimed.

It would be too presumptuous to admit that this pacifist speech saved the atmosphere of the concert, but despite earlier reports about the premature departure of the musicians from the stage, the show went according to plan and ended with two encores.

After some time, the group on social networks published their attitude to what happened. “We acknowledge that a comment suggesting that all of our viewers and fans are ‘brothers and sisters’ could be misinterpreted. We didn’t mean to offend anyone and we apologize…”

Unfortunately, there are no exact answers to the relevant questions in this situation, what it was and what will happen next. But it is already clear that the generally accepted rock and roll scenario, according to which there are really brothers and sisters in the hall (if not by blood, then by reason) and a rock show is a truce in every sense, is increasingly colliding with reefs of local contexts.

A cool rock concert is not limited to hits and special effects. At such events, you want to hug, sing in chorus and believe that there are more good people than bad ones, and only your own people are nearby. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work. Not all the political statements that U2 are so generous with during their huge shows have been received with applause. The punk provocations of the Bloodhound Gang have sometimes led to dangerous situations, for example in Russia, after the artists, perhaps not having anything bad in mind, took the country’s flag rather loosely.

The Killers arrived in Batumi with the intention of just showing the public what they are doing at all points of their tour. But the public is different from the public.

Of course, those who gathered in the arena that evening had the right to express their opinion, each hothead had personal reasons for protesting. The drummer from the audience, in turn, clearly did not deserve a whistle just for his origin. And the musicians, by and large, had no reason to apologize. However, calls to calm down, to look at things objectively, not to push music and politics together are not in demand yet. Of course we will still sing. But obviously not now.