Battle Born World Tour

Battle Born World Tour
Tour by The Killers
Associated album Battle Born
Start date July 19, 2012
End date October 27, 2013
Legs 10
Shows 62 in North America
61 in Europe
11 in Asia
7 in Oceania
6 in South America
Total: 147
The Killers concert chronology
Day & Age World Tour
(2008–10)		 Battle Born World Tour
(2012–2013)

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.

Pyrotechnics during "Miss Atomic Bomb"

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 are due to take place on the 17th and 18 February.

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 around 80,000 people in attendance. 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 serve 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".

Setlists from the night.

Set list

Covers

During this tour Guitarist Dave Keuning and Singer Brandon Flowers would often play a short cover that has some sort of connection to the town or region in which the band were performing. These include songs by The Beatles, Oasis, The Smiths, U2, Van Morrison, Alphaville, Frank Sinatra, The Strokes, Travis, Prince, Crowded House, Otis Redding, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Dean Martin, Bob Seger and more. On the 26th of January 2013 the band played in Melbourne, the day of a public holiday known as Australia Day. In celebration of this the band played a rendition of Australian folk song Waltzing Matilda. During their headline performance at Life Is Beautiful Festival on October 27, 2013 they performed a cover of Pale Blue Eyes in tribute to Lou Reed who had died earlier that day.

Personnel

The Killers

Additional musicians

  • Ted Sablay – Guitar, Keyboards, Background Vocals
  • Jake Blanton – Keyboards, Guitar, Background Vocals, Bass Guitar (during the tour of Asia)
  • Rob Whited – Percussion
  • Bobby Lee Parker – Acoustic Guitar

Opening acts

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
Warm Up Dates
July 19, 2012 Asheville United States The Orange Peel
July 20, 2012 Richmond The National
July 21, 2012 [A] Dover Dover International Speedway
July 23, 2012 New York City Webster Hall
July 24, 2012 Capitale
August 10, 2012 Krakow Poland Laznia Nowa Theatre
August 11, 2012 [B] Museum of Aviation
August 12, 2012 [C] Obuda Island Hungary Obuda Island
August 15, 2012 [D] St. Pölten Austria Frequency Festival
August 17, 2012 Leeds United Kingdom O2 Academy Leeds
August 18, 2012 [E] Staffordshire Weston Park
August 19, 2012 [E] Chelmsford Hylands Park
August 23, 2012 [F] Zurich Switzerland Rumlang Festival Grounds
August 31, 2012 [G] Verona Italy Villafranca
September 2, 2012 [H] County Laois Ireland Stradbally Hall
September 4, 2012 Oslo Norway Sentrum Scene
September 7, 2012 [I] Berlin Germany Tempelhof Airport
September 8, 2012 Baden-Baden Theater Baden-Baden
September 10, 2012 London United Kingdom HMV Forum
September 11, 2012 [J] Roundhouse
September 12, 2012 KOKO
September 15, 2012 [K] Madrid Spain Madrid Arena
September 18, 2012 New York City United States Paradise Theatre
September 22, 2012 Toronto Canada Polson Pier
September 26, 2012 Los Angeles United States The Fonda Theatre
Leg I: Europe I
October 26, 2012 Glasgow United Kingdom Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
October 27, 2012 Aberdeen Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre
October 31, 2012 Birmingham LG Arena
November 1, 2012
November 3, 2012 Nottingham Capital FM Arena
November 4, 2012 Newcastle upon Tyne Metro Radio Arena
November 5, 2012 Cardiff Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
November 8, 2012 Sheffield Motorpoint Arena Sheffield
November 9, 2012 Liverpool Echo Arena Liverpool
November 16, 2012 London The O2 Arena
November 17, 2012
Leg II: North America
November 29, 2012 Broomfield United States 1stBank Center
November 30, 2012 Orem UCCU Center
December 3, 2012 Vancouver Canada Pacific Coliseum
December 4, 2012[L] Seattle United States KeyArena
December 5, 2012 [M] Portland Theatre of the Clouds
December 7, 2012[N] San Diego Viejas Arena
December 8, 2012[O] Oakland Oracle Arena
December 9, 2012[P] Los Angeles Gibson Amphitheater
December 17, 2012 Boston Agganis Arena
December 18, 2012 Fairfax Patriot Center
December 20, 2012 Ypsilanti Ypsilanti Convocation Center
December 21, 2012 Chicago UIC Pavilion
December 28, 2012 Las Vegas Chelsea Ballroom
December 29, 2012
January 7, 2013 Rain Nightclub At The Palms
Leg III: Australia
January 16, 2013 Sydney Australia The Metro Theatre
January 18, 2013[Q] Sydney Showground
January 20, 2013[Q] Brisbane Gold Coast Parklands
January 22, 2013 Melbourne Palace Theatre
January 25, 2013[Q] Adelaide Adelaide Showgrounds
January 26, 2013[Q] Melbourne Flemington Racecourse
January 28, 2013[Q] Perth Claremont Showgrounds
Leg IV: Europe II
February 17, 2013 Manchester United Kingdom Manchester Arena
February 18, 2013
February 21, 2013 Belfast Northern Ireland Odyssey Arena
February 22, 2013 Dublin Ireland The O2
February 26, 2013 Helsinki Finland Hartwall Areena
February 28, 2013 Stockholm Sweden Ericsson Globe
March 1, 2013 Bærum Norway Telenor Arena
March 2, 2013 Malmö Sweden Malmö Arena
March 4, 2013 Hamburg Germany O2 World Hamburg
March 5, 2013 Munich Munich Zenith
March 7, 2013 Cologne Lanxess Arena
March 11, 2013 Amsterdam Netherlands Ziggo Dome
Leg V: South America
March 26, 2013 Asunción Paraguay Jockey Club del Paraguay
March 29, 2013[R] Sao Paulo Brazil Jockey Club de São Paulo
March 31, 2013 Buenos Aires Argentina Estadio G.E.B.A.
April 2, 2013 Santiago Chile Movistar Arena
April 4, 2013 Lima Peru Estadio Nacional
April 7, 2013[S] Bogota Colombia Parque Deportivo 222
Leg VI: North America II
April 9, 2013 Monterrey Mexico Monterrey Arena
April 10, 2013
April 12, 2013 Guadalajara Estadio Tres de Marzo
April 13, 2013 Mexico City Foro Sol
April 27, 2013 San Francisco United States Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
April 28, 2013
May 1, 2013 Anaheim Honda Center
May 2, 2013 Los Angeles Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
May 4, 2013 Tucson Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium
May 5, 2013 Albuquerque Isleta Amphitheater
May 6, 2013 El Paso Chavez Theatre
The Lowbrow Palace
May 8, 2013 Houston Bayou Music Center
May 9, 2013 Grand Prairie Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie
May 10, 2013 Cedar Park Cedar Park Center
May 12, 2013 Nashville Grand Ole Opry
May 14, 2013 New York City Madison Square Garden
May 15, 2013 Toronto Canada Air Canada Centre
May 16, 2013 Cincinnati United States Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati
May 18, 2013 New York City Barclays Center
May 19, 2013 Camden Susquehanna Bank Center
Leg VI: Europe III
June 6, 2013 Esch-sur-Alzette Luxembourg Rockhal
June 7, 2013[T] Nürnberg Germany Volkspark Dutzendteich
June 8, 2013[U] Nürburg Nürburgring
June 10, 2013 Paris France Zénith de Paris
June 11, 2013[V] Rome Italy Capannelle Racecourse
June 12, 2013[W] Milan Ippodromo del Galoppo
June 14, 2013[X] Landgraaf Netherlands Megaland
June 15, 2013[Y] Isle of Wight United Kingdom Seaclose Park
June 17, 2013 Vorst Belgium Vorst Nationaal
June 22, 2013 London United Kingdom Wembley Stadium
June 23, 2013 The Garage
June 26, 2013 Riga Latvia Mežaparka Lielā estrāde
June 29, 2013[Z] Moscow Russia All-Russia Exhibition Centre
July 2, 2013 Kiev Ukraine Palace of Sports
July 13, 2013 Dublin Ireland Phoenix Park
July 14, 2013[AA] Kinross United Kingdom Balado Airfield
July 17, 2013[BB] Lucca Italy Piazza Napoleone
July 19, 2013[CC] Lisbon Portugal Super Bock Super Rock
July 21, 2013[DD] Province of Castellón Spain Benicàssim
Leg VII: North America III
August 1, 2013 Saint Paul United States Roy Wilkins Auditorium
August 2, 2013[EE] Chicago Grant Park
August 3, 2013 Bonner Springs Sandstone Amphitheater
August 5, 2013 Cleveland Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica
August 6, 2013 Columbus Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
August 8, 2013 Newark Prudential Center
August 9, 2013 Atlantic City The Borgata
August 10, 2013 Columbia Merriweather Post Pavilion
August 12, 2013 Raleigh Red Hat Amphitheater
August 13, 2013 Charleston Family Circle Tennis Center
August 15, 2013 Alpharetta Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
August 16, 2013 Orlando Hard Rock Live
August 17, 2013 Miami AmericanAirlines Arena
September 6, 2013 Windsor Canada Caesars Palace
September 7, 2013 [FF] Pittsburgh United States Stage AE
September 8, 2013 [GG] St. Louis Forest Park
Leg VIII: Asia [Note]
September 21, 2013[HH] Singapore Singapore Marina Bay Street Circuit
September 22, 2013 Selangor Malaysia Sepang International Circuit
September 24, 2013 Hong Kong Hong Kong AsiaWorld Arena
September 26, 2013 Manila Philippines Smart Araneta Coliseum
September 28, 2013 Taipei Taiwan TWTC Nangang
October 1, 2013 Beijing China MasterCard Center
October 3, 2013 Shanghai Mercedes-Benz Arena
October 5, 2013 Seoul South Korea Olympic Park
October 8, 2013 Tokyo Japan Studio Coast
October 9, 2013 Differ Ariake
October 11, 2013[II] Dubai United Arab Emirates Atlantis, The Palm
Leg XI: North America IV
October 27, 2013 [JJ] Las Vegas United States Downtown
Cancellations and rescheduled shows
November 13, 2012 Manchester, United Kingdom Manchester Arena Rescheduled to February 17, 2013 due to illness.
November 14, 2012 Manchester, United Kingdom Manchester Arena Rescheduled to February 18, 2013 due to illness.
December 13, 2012 Camden, United States Susquehanna Bank Center Rescheduled to May 19, 2013 due to illness.
December 14, 2012 New York City, United States Madison Square Garden Rescheduled to May 14, 2013 due to illness.
December 15, 2012 Toronto, Canada Air Canada Centre Rescheduled to May 15, 2013 due to illness.
March 8, 2013 Brussels, Belgium Forest National Rescheduled to June 17, 2013 due to dangerous weather conditions.
March 9, 2013 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg Rockhal Rescheduled to June 6, 2013 due to dangerous weather conditions.
March 12, 2013 Paris, France Zénith de Paris Rescheduled to June 10, 2013 due to dangerous weather conditions.
March 13, 2013[KK] Valais, Switzerland Crans-Montana Cancelled due to dangerous weather conditions.
October 7, 2013 Tokyo, Japan Studio Coast Rescheduled to October 9, 2013 due to illness, and changed the venue to Differ Ariake.
October 26, 2013 [LL] Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre Band's scheduled appearance Cancelled.
Festivals and other miscellaneous performances
A This concert was a part of "Firefly Music Festival"
B This concert was a part of "Coke Live Music Festival"
C This concert was a part of "Sziget Festival"
D This concert was a part of "Frequency Festival"
E This concert was a part of "V Festival"
F This concert was a part of "Zurich Openair"
G This concert was a part of "A Perfect Day Festival"
H This concert was a part of "Electric Picnic Festival"
I This concert was a part of "Berlin Festival"
J This concert was a part of "iTunes Festival"
K This concert was a part of "DCode Festival"
L This concert was a part of "Deck the Hall Ball"
M This concert was a part of "December to Remember"
N This concert was a part of "Wrex the Halls"
O This concert was a part of "Not So Silent Night"
P This concert was a part of "Almost Acoustic Christmas"
Q This concert was a part of "Big Day Out"
R This concert was a part of "Lollapalooza Brazil"
S This concert was a part of "Festival Estéreo Picnic"
T This concert was a part of "Rock im Park"
U This concert was a part of "Rock am Ring"
V This concert was a part of "Rock in Roma"
W This concert was a part of "City Sound Festival"
X This concert was a part of "Pinkpop Festival"
Y This concert was a part of "Isle of Wight Festival"
Z This concert was a part of "Park Live Festival"
AA This concert was a part of "T in the Park"
BB This concert was a part of "Lucca Summer Festival"
CC This concert was a part of "Super Bock Super Rock Festival"
DD This concert was a part of "Festival Internacional de Benicàssim"
EE This concert was a part of "Lollapalooza"
FF This concert was a part of "Raise Up Your Summer Festival"
GG This concert was a part of "LouFest"
HH This concert was a part of "2013 Singapore Grand Prix"
II This concert was a part of "Sandance Festival"
JJ This concert was a part of "Life Is Beautiful Festival"
KK This concert was a part of "Caprices Festival"
LL This concert was a part of "Bridge School Benefit"
Note Bassist Mark Stoermer was absent from this leg of the tour. Jake Blanton played Bass.

Box office score data

Venue City Tickets Sold / Available Gross Revenue
Foro Sol Mexico City, MX 56,375 / 56,411 (99%) $3,405,042
The O2 Arena London, UK 34,445 / 35,474 (97%) $2,422,570
Manchester Arena Manchester, UK 31,165 / 32,381 (96%) $1,993,210
Estadio Tres De Marzo Guadalajara, MX 26,325 / 27,172 (96%) $1,886,715
Bill Graham Civic Auditorium San Francisco, CA 15,729 / 15,729 (100%) $936,508
Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY 14,008 / 14,008 (100%) $707,501
Madison Square Garden New York City, NY 13,692 / 13,692 (100%) $641,264
Los Angeles Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA 12,998 / 12,998 (100%) $705,786
Air Canada Centre Toronto, ON 11,522 / 11,522 (100%) $627,733
O2 World Arena Hamburg, GER 8,784 / 11,213 (78%) $438,958
UIC Pavilion Chicago, IL 8,689 / 8,689 (100%) $434,247
Family Circle Tennis Center Charleston, SC 7,062 / 7,360 (96%) $286,053
Verizon Theater Grand Prairie, TX 6,258 / 6,258 (100%) $314,160
The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor, ON 4,934 / 4,934 (100%) $339,764
Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati, OH 3,887 / 4,056 (95%) $218,146

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.pollstarpro.com/files/charts2013/2013YearEndTop100WorldwideTours.pdf