During a 4th of July show at London’s O2, The Killers kicked the celebration off with a cover of Tom Petty’s classic hit “American Girl”. Before playing the cover, frontman Brandon Flowers drummed up excitement by proclaiming to the crowd “Tonight’s a celebration. It’s July 4^th. Any Americans in the house? We won a war. I can’t remember who it was against. Too Soon? It’s been 250 years people!” Backed up by a trio of  backup singers, the band played the cover where the crowd responded with excitement and a lively applause to the cover’s conclusion.

Along with the cover, the band brought a fan up on stage to perform “For Reasons Unknown”. After the performance, Flowers spoke of the band’s “dirt poor” beginnings and rise to success through “confidence, by shouting affirmation in the mirror: You’ve got to give the world irrefutable proof that you are who you say you are. . . We’re The Killers – and we’re a great rock ‘n’ roll band. Here let me show you.”

In article from NME, Flower further explains the beginnings of The Killers and his career in music: “No backyard, no front yard, just dirt and sky. It didn’t bother me that we didn’t have grass . . . Literally dirt poor. That’s the place where I lived – it’s a place my parents prepared for me. I was free from any anxiety or embarrassment. It’s experience like that, that paved the way for a song like ‘Pressure Machine’. ‘Pressure Machine isn’t a love song, it’s a life song.”

Watch The Killers cover Tom Petty’s “American Girl” below.