Brandon Flowers fired by Blush Response

In 2001, Brandon Flowers was fired by his first band, a synth-pop trio called Blush Response. After attending an Oasis concert at the Hard Rock Hotel during The Tour of Brotherly Love , Flowers realized his calling was to be in a rock band and began searching for like-minded musicians. He eventually came across an ad posted in a Las Vegas newspaper by Dave Keuning , a 25-year-old guitarist who had moved to Las Vegas from Iowa a year earlier. When the pair met in summer 2001, they bonded over similar musical influences and began writing songs together in Keuning’s apartment. The first time the duo met, Keuning gave Flowers a four-track tape recording that contained an early riff of ” Mr. Brightside “. Flowers returned the next time they met with the lyrics and vocal melody for the song. In November 2001, they headed to Kill the Messenger Studio in Henderson, Nevada, along with recently recruited drummer Matt Norcross, to record a demo. They recorded two tracks: “Mr. Brightside” and “Desperate”. A month later, they recorded two more, “Under the Gun” and “Replaceable”, with Keuning’s roommate Dell Neal on bass. The group’s name comes from a fictional band in the music video for the New Order song ” Crystal “, which Flowers was a fan of.