Brandon Flowers Debuts New Songs at Newport Folk Festival, Joined by Lucy Dacus and Nathaniel Rateliff
Brandon Flowers, frontman of The Killers, played a solo set at Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island on Sunday, July 26, 2026, giving the first live performances of new songs from his upcoming third solo album, Thrasher, alongside stripped-down covers of Killers classics. He'd already made a surprise appearance two days earlier, on July 24, joining Lucy Dacus onstage, and returned for the festival's closing day to perform with Nathaniel Rateliff.
The setlist
Flowers opened with "Crossfire," from his 2010 debut solo album Flamingo, then played live debuts of recent singles "Paradise" and "Plans," plus a previously unreleased song, "Tiger's Blood." "Still Want You" and "Diggin' Up The Heart," from 2015's The Desired Effect, resurfaced onstage for the first time since 2016. Killers songs "Read My Mind," "When You Were Young," and "The Getting By" (from 2021's Pressure Machine) all got stripped-down arrangements. Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith of Dawes joined for "When My Time Comes."
- "Crossfire"
- "Paradise"
- "Still Want You"
- "Diggin' Up The Heart"
- "Plans"
- "When My Time Comes" (Dawes cover)
- "The Getting By"
- "Read My Mind"
- "Tiger's Blood"
- "When You Were Young"
- "The Road Goes On Forever" (Robert Earl Keen cover)
- "The Clock Was Tickin'"
Guest spots and the Thrasher backstory
On July 24, Flowers made a surprise appearance during Lucy Dacus's set, duetting on Jim Croce's 1972 song "Time In A Bottle," which also appears on the expanded edition of Dacus's fourth album, Forever Is A Feeling. On closing day, Flowers turned up again during Nathaniel Rateliff's star-studded headline set, performing Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City," John Prine's "Paradise," and The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down."
Thrasher is due out August 21, 2026, via Island Records — Flowers's first solo album since 2015's The Desired Effect. It was recorded in Nashville and draws on his childhood in Nephi, Utah, and the country music his father played in the car. Flowers said a second solo album is already finished and will follow. As for The Killers, he estimated the band's eighth studio album would arrive in 2027.
What's next
Flowers has a North American, UK and Ireland tour scheduled for later this year, including a stop at Royal Albert Hall in London in October. According to NME, tickets for remaining tour dates are still available through official channels.