Not bad for a late sub.
Sunday night at the American Express stage, The Killers took the wheel. The Las Vegas rock band — which has more than 20 years of residual value to pop consumers under its belt thanks to a beloved 2004 rock album, “Hot Fuss”— reinvented the wheel.
They covered Willie Nelson’s 1973 standard “Whiskey River,” a giant Lone Star State flag behind them, adopting the 92-year-old country singer’s set opener as their own.
Later they covered the local legend again, this time with aching love ballad, “You Were Always On My Mind.”
“Willie did not write this one,” singer Brandon Flowers later joked, before 2012’s “Runaways.”
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But back to “Whiskey River” as an anchor to the band’s towering, emotive performance.
“That was a nod to your neck of the woods. Here’s one to ours,” Flowers told Zilker Park. Then they burned two of their best songs at the top of the set — a risky faux pas — “Somebody Told Me” and “When You Were Young.” The latter was previously a set-closer for the outfit, but the band was in prove-yourself mode — and happy to be onstage.
They’ve now played Austin City Limits four times — 2004, 2007, 2017 and 2025. Not originally booked, they were brought in to backfill a headliner slot left open in late August by Doja Cat, who said she was still putting together the campaign for her new album.
Doja Cat performed on “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend.
Her absence left the crowd much more manageable, devoid of more casual pop fans.
“It’s been slow since T-Pain started,” an ACL bartender near the AmEx stage told the Statesman Sunday evening.
Indeed the grass was full of open patches for blankets and the cell service connected. But those who made it to Sunday night were justly rewarded by way of the band’s effort. How about a gaggle of backup singers accentuating the harmonies with serious gravity on “All These Things That I’ve Done?” Or Flowers in a shiny two-piece suit — a nod to the Vegas tradition of fading stars playing the hits for anyone who listens, well into their latter years.
In the end, eternal sun spot “Mr. Brightside” — a song covered nightly on Sixth Street — carried the night.
The Killers play ACL Fest weekend two at 8:30 p.m. Sunday on the American Express stage.
