Gig Review: Brandon Flowers at Rock City

There are sold out shows at Rock City and then there are SOLD OUT shows at Rock City – this one was definitely the latter.

As we approach Talbot Street about 30-40 minutes until Brandon Flowers is due on stage, the queue of people waiting to get into the venue is stretching halfway down the road. Thankfully it moves quick enough and after a quick security search, it’s finally into a packed Rock City Main Hall. Despite the queue outside, the venue already feels near capacity, and we have to wade through a sea of people just to get to the bar and find a spot over on the far side of the room.

With the mission to get a comfortable spot with a good view of the stage accomplished, it’s then straight down to business with Brandon and his band taking to the stage, as there is oddly no support act tonight. His band walk on first to a warm reception, before Brandon himself struts out in his black cowboy suit to a huge thunderous applause. He opens on a pair of tracks from his Country & Americana-inspired third solo album THRASHER, with The Red Ground and Does It Ever Cross Your Mind? Immediately getting the crowd warmed up. 

“I’ve been introducing myself to people for over 20 years as a Rock & Roll Star from Las Vegas Nevada” says Brandon smiling, greeting the crowd for the first time. “Tonight it feels true – if you wear the mask long enough, it becomes the face I guess!”

Indeed, he is every bit the rock star and showman you would expect, standing on the speakers at the front of the stage and effortlessly conducting the crowd in an early singalong to his first solo hit, Crossfire. Throughout the set he also takes his time to tell the stories behind each track, vulnerably revealing recent single Tiger’s Blood is about him being bullied back in fourth grade. He then mentions how Plans is about his wish to do a famous hike in Utah, while Paradise is inspired by the pyramid-shaped Luxor hotel, which actually sits outside of Las Vegas in the town of Paradise, Nevada. He tells the tales of these tracks in such a heartfelt and engaging way, that the crowd are engrossed throughout. 

The set flies by as he jumps between the laser-fuelled, 80s synths of Can’t Deny My Love into the anthemic cries of Magdalena. “People often think the opposite of grief is happiness, but its forgetting – and you wouldn’t want to forget” he says, these wise words of wisdom introducing the uplifting and incredibly catchy One of Us.

He then talks of often having to choose between his Dad’s Country records and his brother’s British albums. In that spirit, he plays a Countrified cover of The Jim Carroll Band’s punk song, People Who Died. There’s an unfortunate moment during the song where the show has to stop for an audience member who needs medical assistance, with the crowd, Brandon and Rock City security all deserving of some heavy praise, for how quickly they reacted to the situation to get that person some help. 

With the medical issue resolved it’s then into the final stretch, with Brandon rolling out the big guns with some of his best-known solo singles like Lonely Town and Only The Young. That said, there was no way he would travel all the way from Las Vegas and not play some songs by The Killers and he closes out his main set on classic indie anthem, All These Things That I’ve Done. As the packed crowd belts out every single lyric and the “I got soul but I’m not a soldier” refrain, it creates a truly magical moment and one of the best we’ve experienced in that Main Hall all year. It’s not quite over yet though, as the encore also brings an emotional rendition of another Killers’ classic, Read My Mind, before Brandon and his excellent band bid Nottingham adieu with one final singalong to THRASHER’s closing track, An American Dream. 

While a small few will inevitably be disappointed that eternal Top 100 hit Mr. Brightside was not on the setlist tonight, this was a show that really demonstrated Brandon Flowers’ incredibly ability as both a performer and a songwriter - proving that he is so much more than that one (hugely overplayed if you’re asking us!) song.

Whilst leaving Rock City, the building suddenly sprinkled in a little of that glitzy Las Vegas dust, there was a clear consensus that could be overheard from the other punters in attendance – we had all just witnessed something quite special indeed. 

Brandon Flowers performed at Rock City on Sunday 18th October 2026.