The Battle Born World Tour is the fourth major concert tour by American rock band The Killers, in support of their fourth studio album Battle Born, which was released in September 2012. The tour included the band's biggest show to date at Wembley Stadium. It also saw them visit new territories including Russia, Ukraine, China and South East Asia. The tour was the 43rd highest grossing worldwide during 2013.[1]
Synopsis
During the summer of 2012, The Killers played festivals across Europe and North America as well as intimate shows in small venues. The band then began a promo tour in September 2012, before the proper tour started on October 26, 2012 in Glasgow, Scotland. The band then went on to play shows in 41 different countries across Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Oceania. Ted Sablay who toured with the band during the Sam's Town Tour returned as an additional musician, alongside Jake Blanton who previously toured with frontman Brandon Flowers during his solo tour.
The stage setup included a giant lightbulb keyboard stand similar to the one used during the Day & Age World Tour but this time in the shape of the lightning bolt from the cover of the Battle Born album. There was also a greater use of pyrotechnics compared to previous tours.
On November 13, 2012 the band's show at Manchester Arena was stopped during the fifth song of the night "Bling (Confession of a King)" with lead singer Brandon Flowers telling the crowd that his voice had 'gone' and he couldn't continue, the following night's show also in Manchester was cancelled. Two days later both shows were rescheduled and eventually took place on 17 and 18 February 2013.
The band's shows on December 13, 14 & 15th in Camden, New York City & Toronto were cancelled after Brandon Flowers contracted laryngitis, the band were later forced to cancel a number of shows during their European tour in March 2013 due to winter storms. All of these shows were rescheduled for May & June 2013 with the exception of the band's scheduled appearance Caprices Festival in Switzerland which was cancelled indefinitely.
Bassist Mark Stoermer didn't perform with the band during the Asian leg of the tour, believed to be as a result of a back injury. He tweeted "Everything is alright, just need to spend this time at home. Looking forward to returning." Jake Blanton played bass in his absence. He returned for the final show of the tour in Las Vegas.
Wembley Stadium
On June 22, 2013 the band headlined Wembley Stadium, it was their biggest show to date with 69,745 people in attendance.[2] At the show, the band performed a new song that was written specifically for the night titled 'The Wembley Song', the song namechecked various bands who had headlined both the old and new stadium, and also made references to the 1966 World Cup Final and the old stadiums famous Twin Towers. The final verse of the song explored the band's career to date ("From Dave's Apartment to Wembley").
Later that night the band headed across town to play a surprise set at the 600 capacity The Garage, London. Fans were let in on a first-come, first-served basis and the setlist consisted of a mix of hits and more obscure tracks that the band rarely play live. The band had done a similar thing in El Paso the previous month. Both shows were professionally filmed by director Giorgio Testi, a video of the 'Wembley Song' was posted on the band's official YouTube channel and they have hinted that more footage from the show may be released at some point.
Critical reviews were positive, The Guardian gave a 5 star review calling it "A night the stadium league got a whole lot brighter, and lightning struck London twice." In a glowing write-up Gigwise stated "their 23-song strong set feels like every good Wembley gig should: historic." In another good review the Evening Standard remarked "The Killers seemed genuinely thrilled to be here, especially as their career first burst into life in London".
Set list
July 20, 2012 in Asheville, North Carolina (Orange Peel)
