The Killers Heroically Covered Morrissey After He Canceled His Set At KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas

This weekend at KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas in Los Angeles, Morrissey canceled his Sunday night headlining set due to illness, which was pretty much the least surprising thing that happened over the weekend (the most surprising thing was a brutal kick to the face that Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme gave to a photographer only to follow up with a weak apology). But the ultimate good guys of rock, The Killers, heroically came to the rescue, covering both Morrissey’s “Every Day Is Like Sunday” and The Smiths’ “This Charming Man.” Watch fan-shot footage of the former above and the latter below.

This is the latest for The Killers in a long line of covering headliners that couldn’t perform, including Kings Of Leon at Firefly Festival and Muse at last year’s Lollapalooza. Earlier this year, I asked the band about this, with drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr. saying the following:

“We come from working-class Vegas families. My mom and dad worked at the casinos, Brandon’s parents worked at casinos. We would save up, and we would know about a show two months ahead of time and buy a ticket from somebody or get a loan from a buddy who had an extra 50 bucks to get a ticket. We know what it feels like when bands cancel and we know what a letdown that is for a festival scenario. We thought we could do right by at least giving the fans a little taste and tipping our hats to this great band.”

Later in the evening the band also brought their own tour photographer Rob Loud on stage, telling him “I’m not going to kick you in the face, just come on up here. I want you to tell all your friends that you’re welcome here and that any Killers concert, you’re safe and you’re respected.” While this gesture certainly seemed nice, it has to be noted that The Killers actually don’t allow photographers to shoot their shows, and haven’t for many years, instead opting for only their own photographer to shoot. For those in the know, this makes the stunt feel pretty hollow.