June 7, 2007–A concert review and story on a golf website that is solely dedicated to Las Vegas golf? Well, when the front man for one of the world's biggest bands happens to be the cousin of a Las Vegas PGA Tour pro, Craig Barlow, and that front man is a golfer who played on his Las Vegas golf high school golf team, it's totaly appropriate for some entertainment news to enter the pages of GolfLasVegasNow.com. Brandon Flowers is a Las Vegas native, and he and his fellow The Killers rocked the Hard Rock Las Vegas Summer outdoor Stage last weekend in front of a sold-out crowd. Hundreds of other hotel guests partied on their balconies while watching the show down below. It was vintage Vegas, and a scene that truly adds to Las Vegas being the Entertainment Capital of the World. "I have been to about 10 of their concerts now, and that was typical with the crowd really into it," says Barlow, an 8-year PGA Tour veteran who tees it up with cousin when their schedules syn up.
Knowing that the guy leading this rock vigil could probably sink a five-foot putt when the pressure was on made it all the better for those Las Vegas golfers in the crowd.
"They did great, and I am big Killers fan," says Barlow, who plays out of Las Vegas golf course Reflection Bay Golf Club. "That is the kind of music I like anyway, so him being my cousin is just a bonus. But he is nothing like what he is on stage when you meet him in person. He is very quiet and shy, and I always have to laugh when I watch him on stage."
The Killers opened the concert with the title track of their second album, Sam's Town, and from there rocked seemingly all of their songs including "Somebody Told Me", "Mr. Brightside", "When you were young", and "Bones". Flowers, who once worked as a bellman at The Gold Coast, thanked the crowd for giving him another "job" in Las Vegas, and appeared choked up at the end of the show when they sang the closing ballad, "We hope you enjoyed the show", after confetti cannons sprayed the stage and audience following a long and energy-filled performance.
Several hours before the show, Flowers was spotted walking alone in the parking lot, on his way to the sound check. To someone who knew his golf background–he played at Chaparral High School and at one time wanted to be a professional golfer–the scene was similar to a golfer hanging around the clubhouse before a round. Spin Magazine once wrote that Flowers had described himself as "a golf-addicted chubby kid from Las Vegas who had never been kissed until he moved to Las Vegas."
Barlow, who is sidelined due to injury but plans to come back the week after the US Open, says that Flowers still likes to tee it up as much as he can, but his busy schedule makes it tough. But he did say Flowers played Isleworth Country Club during the recent The Killers tour. The round was set up by PGA Tour player John Cook. Barlow also offerred to get Flowers out on the course the day after the Hard Rock concert but he couldn't because of other obligations. The Killers are now on the road doing several concerts overseas.
"He has done very well, but he worked very hard to get where he is," says Barlow.
Kind of sounds like the story of a PGA Tour cousin of a Killer that we know.
PHOTO: thekillersmusic.com