If you’ve grabbed tickets to the AFL Grand Final with the hopes of seeing The Killers playing during the pre-game show, just be warned that you’ll probably only be getting half of the band, with announcements that bassist Matt Stoermer and guitarist Dave Keuning are both dropping out of regular touring.
As Stereogum reports, Keuning has just made the decision, while Stoermer had already announced his withdrawal from touring last year. Both members played on upcoming album Wonderful Wonderful and are still the official band members, but will be replaced by Jake Blanton on bass and Ted Sablay on guitar for most gigs.
No reason has been given as of yet, but with the band’s recent output often feeling like extensions of Brandon Flowers’ solo work, perhaps they’re happy to be taking it easy in the wings and letting him do the heavy lifting onstage.
Brandon ‘The Man’ Flowers will of course continue to front the band, and right-hand-man Ronnie Vanucci Jr. will remain on drum duties, with the pair having also been going hard in interviews during the promotion of their fifth record.
The duo recently made the comments that modern rock bands are failing to reach the heights of earlier bands like The Strokes, Interpol and The Killers because they’re “just not good enough”, adding to their claims that The Killers are the best band of the last 15 years.
They have a lot to prove, then, on Wonderful Wonderful when it drops, especially considering it launched out of the gates with the bold swagger of lead single ‘The Man’, and is following their disappointing fourth record Battle Born, which the band themselves admit “wasn’t good enough” and “we all know it”.
In other live news, The Killers played covers of both the Smashing Pumpkins’ ‘Disarm’ and Muse’s ‘Starlight’ during their recent Lollapalooza set, along with their usual cover of Joy Division’s ‘Shadowplay’.
The Killers’ second single from Wonderful Wonderful, ‘Run For Cover’
