A couple of months after announcing a 31-show summer lineup, Red Butte Garden has added another concert to the mix — and it’s a really big one.
Brandon Flowers, frontman for the rock band The Killers, will perform at the 3,000-seat venue in Salt Lake City on Sept. 11. The news comes a day after the singer-songwriter announced he’ll be releasing his solo country album, “Thrasher,” in August, as the Deseret News reported.
How to get tickets for Brandon Flowers at Red Butte Garden
Flowers’ upcoming Utah show is part of a solo tour that will span across North America, the U.K. and Ireland, according to a press release Red Butte shared with the Deseret News.
The Red Butte venue for Flowers is somewhat surprising considering The Killers played the nearby Delta Center in 2022, which can seat up to 20,000.
But Flowers’ solo tour appears to be more intimate, with smaller venues listed for his upcoming shows.
The presale for Red Butte Garden members begins Thursday at 10 a.m. MDT. Tickets for the general public go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. MDT.
Tickets can be purchased via Red Butte Garden’s website.
Visit this Deseret News article for the full Red Butte Garden concert lineup.
What we know about Brandon Flowers’ album ‘Thrasher’
“Thrasher” marks Flowers’ first solo album in over a decade and draws inspiration from his childhood in Nephi, Utah, according to the Red Butte press release.
The singer has previously referenced his upbringing in the small Utah town on The Killers’ 2021 album “Pressure Machine,” as the Deseret News reported.
“I discovered this grief that I hadn’t dealt with,” Flowers told RadioX at the time. “Many memories of my time in Nephi are tender. But the ones tied to fear or great sadness were emotionally charged. I’ve got more understanding now than when we started the band, and hopefully, I was able to do justice to these stories and these lives in this little town that I grew up in.”
Flowers was introduced to country music at a young age by his father, Terry Flowers, while growing up in Nephi, according to Rolling Stone. Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings have had an influence on Flowers’ work, but “Thrasher” takes it a step farther: The album was recorded in Nashville and features David Rawlings, a guitarist who is a longtime collaborator with Gillian Welch; and Charlie McCoy, a harmonica player who played on all four of Bob Dylan’s Nashville records, per the press release.
“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found my way back to my father’s music — ‘Country-Western’ (as he called it) — and discovered that the stories I carry really feel most at home in the skin of this beautiful American tradition,” Flowers said in a statement, per Deseret News.
“Plans,” the first single from the new album, releases Friday.
Flowers has assured fans that this new direction in his career doesn’t mean he’s leaving rock behind.
“This is not me running away from rock ’n’ roll,” Flowers said in his announcement, per Deseret News. “I don’t want to replace my old songs. I simply found room for more.”