The Killers confirm their return to Australia in late 2022 with Imploding The Mirage tour

The Killers are set to rock Australia again, as frontman Brandon Flowers reveals how he has incorporated sounds from our biggest bands.

American rock stars The Killers will play Australia in late 2022 after the pandemic forced a two-year postponement of their Imploding The Mirage tour here.

Frontman Brandon Flowers said the return to live performance after the long pandemic pause has been “emotional”.

“Being on stage and being a performer and working on being a better singer, it’s my job now. And it’s kind of been strange not doing it, but we had to make sure everybody’s safe and healthy and now we’re really looking forward to getting back on stage,” he said.

US rock band The Killers, Dave Keuning, Brandon Flowers, Ronnie Vannucci Jr. Picture: Supplied / Danny Clinch.

The Las Vegas band have enjoyed an enduring love affair with Australian fans since claiming their first No. 1 here with the smash hit debut record Hot Fuss.

They have generated more than 393 million streams and sold over one million albums here since then and posted the sold-out sign on all 10 concerts on their last visit in 2018.

That tour followed The Killers entry to Hall of Fame for AFL Grand Final acts in 2017, one of the rare acts to win more praise than sledges for their performance.

Flowers said that halftime show in front of more than 100,000 football fans was one of the biggest and incredible gigs of their career.

Jack Riewoldt of the Tigers sings on stage with Brandon Flowers and The Killers at the 2017 AFL GF after-party. Picture: Getty.

“It’s kind of incredible. It has that hit and miss history with performances and it’s daylight and there’s no bells and whistles like in America.

“You know the Super Bowl and it’s light shows and lasers and it’s over the top.

“But you’re really exposed on that little (AFL) stage and it’s kind of a lot of pressure, but I was really proud of us. And it was it was really fun.”

Brandon Flowers and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. facing the critics ahead of their 2017 AFL GF performance. Picture: AAP.

Flowers grew up listening to a raft of Australian bands thanks to his older brother.

The band have performed or recorded acclaimed covers of Icehouse’s Electric Blue and Midnight Oil’s Forgotten Years and gave INXS’s Don’t Change and Men at Work’s Who Can It Be Now during shows in 2018.

“I have a brother who’s 12 years older than me and I just got fed a lot of great music and a lot of it was Australian,” he said.

“I got Icehouse and Midnight Oil and INXS and AC/DC, all that stuff and so it’s always been in our Killers stew.”

Flowers grew up with an Aussie rock soundtrack. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.

The Killers released Imploding The Mirage in August 2020 and then dropped a surprise American record Pressure Machine this August, made in lockdown.

Flowers said as soon as it became clear their world tour planned for last year couldn’t go ahead, the band headed almost immediately into the studio fashioning songs about the small town in Utah where the frontman grew up.

“As soon as it was looking like 2020 was going to be a clean slate, I just got right to work. I had to find some kind of sense of normalcy and routine.

“So I found a nook in my house, I put my keyboard in there and I surrounded myself with pictures of the town that I grew up in and wrote on a record about it.”

The Killers will return to Australian stages in November 2022. Picture: supplied

The Killers’ Australian tour kicks off at Brisbane Entertainment Centre on November 29, then to Peter Lehmann, Barossa Valley on December 3, Perth’s RAC Arena on December 6, Geelong’s Mt Duneed Estate on December 10, Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on December 13, Hunter Valley’s Hope Estate on December 17 and Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on December 19.

Frontier Members can access their pre-sale from November 11 before tickets go on sale to the general public on November 15. All ticketing information: frontiertouring.com/thekillers