The Killers presented with award for record-breaking residency at London’s O2
The Killers have been presented with an award to mark their six-night residency at London’s O2 arena.
The award comes as the Las Vegas rock band recently completed their six nights at the venue as part of their ongoing ‘Rebel Diamonds’ tour, and broke the record for the most tickets sold.
Their performances took place on July 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 11, and saw Brandon Flowers and co. celebrate 20 years of hits. During these shows, there were over 105,000 tickets sold – marking the highest number for any music act at The O2 this year.
For the award, it was created by the venue and made out of Jesmonite, a sustainable material which can be crushed and reused. It also features imagery of The Killers’ shows at the venue, along with a piece of The O2’s own tent fabric.
“The six-night residency of The Killers at The O2 has been a phenomenal experience to be a part of,” said Matt Woolliscroft, Promoter at SJM Concerts of the milestone. “In the 20 years that I have been working with the band, the ‘Rebel Diamonds’ tour has seen, in my opinion, their best performances, best production and best setlists.
“Every night the audience reaction and energy has been incredible. The night of the Euros semi-final at The O2 was a true once-in-a-lifetime ‘I was there’ moment, and it was a privilege to be in the room for it. Each time they tour the UK, I am left thinking that they can’t get any better live, then the next time they come over they once again reach new heights.”
The Euros moment mentioned refers to their show on July 11, when the band paused their performance in London to watch England win their semi-final game with the Netherlands.
10 songs into their performance, Brandon Flowers and co. paused the concert to watch the clashing Euros semi-finals with the O2 audience. After England secured the victory, red and white streamers were fired to raucous applause, and the band dove right into ‘Mr. Brightside’ to celebrate.
Since then, the band spoke to NME about the gig – which soon went viral – and revealed that they had actually planned for multiple different outcomes on the night.
“We had scenarios planned for if they won, if they lost, if it went an extra 30 minutes, if it went to penalties. We had everything covered and it just happened when it happened,” the frontman explained.
“We just wanted to do something special for the fans, and it ended up being something that timed out really well. You can’t really make anything happen like that. It was a lot of luck.”
Meanwhile, The Killers’ first night at the O2 Arena on July 8 scored them a four-star review, with Thomas Smith writing for NME: “The tone of the evening remains consistent: a balance of big hits and deep cuts from their entire discography. ‘Smile Like You Mean It’, ‘Spaceman’ and ‘Somebody Told Me’ are performed with bombast and urgency, as Flowers assumes the role of gracious host, reminding the audience that he and his band are in the service industry, gleefully here to facilitate the best of times.
“The smart staging – diamond-shaped lighting and a garishly-patterned casino carpet – complements the dazzling black number that Flowers sashays and flexes in.”
The Killers will kick off a Las Vegas residency in August to celebrate the 20th anniversary of ‘Hot Fuss’. You can find any remaining tickets here.
Since then, The Killers have also been presented with two Guinness World Records for their hit song ‘Mr Brightside‘. As of July 4, the track has spent a total of 416 weeks on the UK singles chart – the longest by a group – as well as the most cumulative weeks on the UK singles chart with one song. In total, that amounts to almost eight years.
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
