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The Killers and Travis' friendship goes deeper than you think
4 July 2024, 14:59
How Travis & Oasis inspired The Killers
Fran Healy has been explaining how his friendship with Brandon Flowers goes back 20 years and more...
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Travis begin the first of a run of shows supporting The Killers at The O2 in London tonight (4th July).
The Scottish band - fronted by Fran Healy - recently shared their new single Raze The Bar, featuring none other than Killers frontman Brandon Flowers. The track is the latest cut to be taken from the band's forthcoming album, L.A. Times, which is set for release on 12th July 2024.
It's a continuation of a friendship between the two bands which goes all the way back to 2002.
Healy told Chris Moyles on his Radio X show earlier this year: "We go back a long time. Longer than I even know, because the first time we met was at Live 8.
"Brandon told me at Live 8 that when us and Oasis played in Las Vegas it was one of these shows where all these young guys and girls came to."
Brandon Flowers & Fran Healy - Side (Travis Cover) @ Capitol, Offenbach
He went on: "A lot of bands happened after that gig, and The Killers were one of those bands. Brandon was saying, when The Killers first started rehearsing they covered our song, Side. It was one of their cover songs! So it goes back a very long way....”
So how far back does it go exactly?
Flowers and co performed Side at their first ever gig at the Cafe Espresso Roma in Las Vegas in January 2002. In fact, The Killers performed the song at their headline set at T In The Park in 2013 and again at TRNSMT in 2018.
The Killers - Side (cover) / Runaways - TRNSMT - Glasgow, Scotland - July 08 2018
But the friendship between Fran and Brandon goes a lot deeper - in fact, the Travis man almost trashed The Killers legend's brand new car.
Healy told the NME in 2021: “One of the first times I met him, we played Las Vegas and had a couple of nights off before the show, so we met up and watched the comedian Anthony Jeselnik.
"Afterwards, Brandon asked, ‘Do you want to drive my car?’ and threw me his keys. He had a box-fresh top-of-the-line Audi, and I accidentally put the car into reverse instead of first gear.
"When the lights changed to green, I floored it and went backwards. Luckily, the car behind quickly reversed, otherwise I would have wrecked Brandon’s beautiful new sports car for sure!”
Travis - Sing (Live 8 2005)
Luckily, disaster was averted and Fran went on to co-write the song Here With Me with Brandon on The Killers' fourth album Battle Born.
Watch Fran Healy and Brandon Flowers duet at on the Travis song Side in Oakland, California. The collab happened during Fran’s solo tour promoting his debut solo LP WRECKORDER, supporting Brandon’s Flamingo Road Tour.
Travis (Fran Healy) and Brandon Flowers (Killers) Duet, Side, Live Concert 2010, Oakland
What are The Killers' O2 London dates?
The Killers play six nights in London spread out over two weeks below:
- Thursday 4th July 2024: The O2, London
- Friday 5th July 2024: The O2, London
- Sunday 7th July 2024: The O2, London
- Monday 8th July 2024: The O2 London - EXTRA DATE ADDED
- Wednesday 10th July 2024: The O2 London - EXTRA DATE ADDED
- Thursday 11th July 2024: The O2 London - EXTRA DATE ADDED
See 2024 Travis' UK tour dates below:
- 5th December 2024 – O2 Academy, Leeds
- 6th December 2024 – Albert Hall, Manchester
- 8th December 2024 – Olympia, Liverpool
- 9th December 2024 – The Halls, Wolverhampton
- 10th December 2024 – Rock City, Nottingham
- 11th December 2024 – Dreamland, Margate
- 13th December 2024 – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
- 15th December 2024 – Beacon, Bristol
- 17th December 2024 – Winter Gardens, Eastbourne
- 18th December 2024 – Octagon, Sheffield
- 19th December 2024 – City Hall, Newcastle
- 21st December 2024 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow
Travis' new album L.A. Times is released on 12th July 2024
Travis - Raze the Bar (Official Lyric Video)
