Black Sea Arena distances itself from The Killers bringing Russian fan on stage in Georgian show

Black Sea Arena, a venue in Georgia's seaside town of Shekvetili that hosted a show of the American band The Killers on Tuesday, released a statement distancing itself from the incident that saw a part of the audience leave in protest after the band brought a Russian fan onto its stage to play drums.

The venue said the invitation of the fan - on the backdrop of the ongoing occupation of two of Georgia’s regions by Russia - was “not the position of Black Sea Arena”, and added the organisers “understand the emotions of our visitors”.

The statement came after lead singer Brandon Flowers was booed from the crowd for bringing the fan in question to the stage and urging the crowd to “think of each other as brothers and sisters”. 

After a part of the audience left in protest, some of the music enthusiasts attending the show said The Killers had also left the stage without saying goodbye to fans.

In their own comments, the band said it was their “longstanding tradition of inviting people to play drums and it seemed from the stage that the initial response from the crowd indicated that they were okay with tonight’s audience participation member coming onstage with us”.

They added the “brothers and sisters” comment had been meant to indicate friendship between the band’s listeners, and noted its context had been “misconstrued”.

The statement from Black Sea Arena - one of the organisers of the summer-long Starring Georgia campaign of bringing international music stars to the country to promote its tourism potential, economy and culture - also said the venue realised its “share of responsibility” and wished to “sincerely apologise” for the incident, adding “Russia is an occupier”.