Brandon Flowers’ mother scares a lot less easily than Paris Hilton. I gleaned that bit of info sitting in the row behind Flowers’ immediate family the last time The Killers played outdoors at the Hard Rock Hotel (October 7, 2005).
As the Vegas quartet performed “Andy, You’re a Star” midway through its set, thick gray smoke filled the air around the west set of bleachers at the 6,000-capacity “Theatre Under the Stars” (called “Summer Stage” these days) erected in the parking lot along Paradise Road. Hilton and her celeb buddies—seated a few rows down—instantly fled the makeshift venue. But Brandon’s mom simply stood up, surveyed the scene and, upon realizing she would be safer staying put than negotiating the frantic herd streaming toward the stairs, went nowhere.The smoke soon cleared as fire trucks arrived, and after asking his relatives, “Are you guys behaving yourselves?” Flowers confirmed that a small palm-tree blaze had been the culprit. A Hard Rock security supervisor later disclosed that a cigarette dropped from a window above had ignited the tree. The Killers with Louis XIV. June 1, 7:30 p.m., $40. Hard Rock Hotel, 693-5066.