Welcome back to my Rookie Mock series!
The college football season has concluded and draft season is officially upon us. As an NFL Draft fanatic, this is my favorite time of year, and we are going to be absolutely spoiled here in 2021 with one of the better draft classes in recent memory.
This will be a five-round 2021 rookie mock for a 12-team, superflex, PPR league. Individual player analysis is provided for the first two rounds. The final three rounds will have summaries that highlight a few of the players within the tier.
Keep in mind that seniors have the option of an extra year of eligibility available to them. The deadline for them to decide if they’re declaring or staying in school is March 1.
Let's get it.
Round 1:
Note that in parentheses, it is the player’s ranking within his position group, followed by how much that ranking has changed since the last mock. A link to my first mock will be provided at the bottom to compare how draft position has changed.
1.01 - Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson (QB1, --)
Lawrence is almost certainly going to a dysfunctional Jaguars franchise with a head coach I don’t believe in. While I have my doubts that he will live up to the borderline insane expectations fans and the media (myself included) have placed on him over the years, even approaching 90% of that image still easily makes him the top quarterback in this class.
1.02 - Zach Wilson, QB, BYU (QB2, +4)
My tune has changed toward Wilson greatly since the last mock. I finally got a chance to research a little more and catch up on his film. I like what I see. A lot. Wilson has a really high floor and is as close to bust-proof as a QB can be. Strong arm, accurate, generally makes good decisions. I have a great feeling about this kid becoming a top 12 dynasty QB in time.
1.03 - Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State (QB3, +2)
Got your attention? Good. Lance is in possession of the highest fantasy upside of any QB in this class. He’s also the biggest wildcard. Incredibly talented, but incredibly raw, similar to Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. Based on talent, I want Lance over Fields. The beautiful thing is that you will not have to pay up 1.03 to get him. Realistically, you could wait until 1.06 or later.
1.04 - Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State (QB4, -2)
Fading Fields a little here in favor of Wilson and Lance. Fields is not ready. Point blank. Neither is Lance, to be fair. The fact he is still here at 1.04 is a testament to how talented he is. If he booms, Fields has Deshaun Watson-like upside. There’s also a solid chance he never lives up to expectations. Beware of organizations with a poor track record of developing QBs.
1.05 - Najee Harris, RB, Alabama (RB1, --)
As far as pure runners are concerned, I honestly prefer Travis Etienne and Javonte Williams. But it is what Harris brings in the passing game as well as on the goal line that separates him. If used correctly, Harris could be a 50 reception kind of running back who totals 1500 yards and 15 scores consistently. He also feels like the least landing spot-dependent RB in this class.
1.06 - Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson (RB2, --)
Etienne, to me, is at about the halfway mark between Ronald Jones and Chris Johnson. He’s a 1500 yard rusher in the right situation. The total yardage Etienne can put up might exceed Harris. The main separator between them concerning fantasy production will be touchdowns and PPR points. Both look the part of backs who will produce top 12 RB seasons though.
1.07 - DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama (WR1, --)
Heisman Trophy. Biletnikoff Award. 1st Team All-American. Virtually every receiving record in Alabama history. Smith broke the SEC receiving records set by Ja’Marr Chase last year in fewer games. Despite his slender build, Smith will be the #1 receiver for whoever drafts him. The shades of Marvin Harrison are strong with this one.
1.08 - Ja’Marr Chase, WR, LSU (WR2, --)
Chase opted out of the 2020 season to prepare for the NFL Draft. Considering how LSU’s season panned out, that opt out actually helped Chase in the end. If this is your guy at WR1, you aren’t wrong. Neither he nor Smith is the wrong answer. They can both be good. That outcome is entirely possible, and it doesn’t get said enough in this conversation.
1.09 - Javonte Williams, RB, North Carolina (RB3, +1)
The cat is out of the bag on Williams now. A relative unknown at the beginning of the season, Williams has risen his stock to be mentioned among the top running backs in this class. If you want to land this angry-running, tackle breaking machine who will receive all the goalline work, you will be paying at least a late 1st. Worth it.
1.10 - Mac Jones, QB, Alabama (QB5, -2)
Jones is a better quarterback prospect than Tua Tagovailoa. This slight fade is less about anything he did and more about the “Konami Code” upside and overall potential of the QBs ahead of him. Jones is going to come into the NFL with a decently high floor and I like his chances to fetch 1st round draft capital this April. That should get him at least a two-year audition as a starter.
1.11 - Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama (WR3, --)
Remember when Henry Ruggs was the first receiver drafted in 2020 and people thought he was going to be good? Waddle is what people were hoping Ruggs would be. He’s a do-it-all receiving threat with legit 4.3 speed who can always get open vertically, as well as do some of the dirty work over the middle. After the catch, few are as dangerous. A steal at 1.11.
1.12 - Rondale Moore, WR, Purdue (WR4, +2)
You ever go so long without seeing a guy play that you forget how good he is? Moore is that guy for me. This dude is the prototype for what the modern NFL slot receiver should be. He can be that rare slot receiver who is also the team’s #1 target. This is one of those late 1st round picks that will easily outperform the invested draft capital.
Round 2:
2.01 - Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida (TE1, --)
If any tight end is worthy of this type of selection in a non-TE premium league, it’s Pitts. Tight ends tend to take a few years to really pop but Pitts is capable of making an impact immediately as a mismatch nightmare from day one. This will likely be the cheapest you’ll ever acquire him.
2.02 - Terrace Marshall Jr., WR, LSU (WR5, +2)
Priority 2nd round target. In almost any other class, Marshall is easily a top 3 receiver. He just happens to be in a class with a Heisman winner, that Heisman winner’s teammate some suggest is actually better, 2019’s Biletnikoff winner, and a dude who caught 114 passes as a freshman.
2.03 - Rashod Bateman, WR, Minnesota (WR6, -2)
Slight fade of Bateman, still a very good prospect. This is a receiver I have been on about for a while now. He is a really good athlete and has a well-rounded skill set. This will contribute to Bateman being a solid producer early on. He will develop into a team’s #1 receiver in time.
2.04 - Kenny Gainwell, RB, Memphis (RB4, -1)
Gainwell gives me Austin Ekeler vibes. He will see the majority of receiving work among running backs on his team, and his fair share of carries, but he will never be the three-down featured back. If Gainwell is 80% of Ekeler, you aren’t disappointed with this pick.
2.05 - Pat Freiermuth, TE, Penn State (TE2, --)
As great as Kyle Pitts is, the most well-rounded tight end prospect in this class is Freiermuth. The Penn State product is a good blocker and is also no slouch in the receiving game. They don't call him "Baby Gronk" for nothing. He looks every bit the part of a good 10 year starter.
2.06 - Kadarius Toney, WR, Florida (WR7, oversight)
Toney was a pretty egregious oversight in my last mock. This guy is at least a 2nd round talent, and I’ve been hearing some potential 1st round chatter. He’s quick and explosive and is a dangerous deep threat. I like the upside here a lot. Could be a steal at this draft position.
2.07 - Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, USC (WR8, -3)
St. Brown feels like a strong PPR option from the slot with his crisp route running and great hands. He won’t be a consistent 1000 yard receiver, but looks the part of one who’ll regularly get you 800 yards on 70 receptions. Throw in 5-6 touchdowns, that’s a solid fantasy option.
2.08 - Kyle Trask, QB, Florida (QB6, -2)
Of the big name quarterbacks in this class, Trask is the least desirable as a dynasty asset. While I can still see a world where he is drafted at the tail end of the 1st round this coming April, and he can be a starter in the right system, his chances are the lowest. Alas, this is a superflex mock...
2.09 - Tylan Wallace, WR, Oklahoma State (WR9, +2)
Don’t sleep on Wallace. He came back after a torn ACL in 2019 only to ball out again in 2020. While he probably won’t ever emerge as a #1 receiver, I love his prospects as an eventual high-end #2 target who should produce at around a 700 yard level as a rookie.
2.10 - Michael Carter, RB, North Carolina (RB5, +2)
Much like Gainwell, Carter doesn’t profile as a three-down back in the NFL. But that’s not to say he won’t have fantasy value. This is an explosive runner with some decent receiving chops. He will likely be heavily involved in a committee and provide RB3 or flex production.
2.11 - Trey Sermon, RB, Ohio State (RB6, unranked)
It’s disappointing he got hurt against Alabama, but what Sermon did against Northwestern and Clemson in the games previously really shook things up for this class of running backs. He was JAG status before that Northwestern game, but definitely has people’s attention now.
2.12 - Chuba Hubbard, RB, Oklahoma State (RB7, +1)
Full disclosure, I’m not a big fan of Hubbard. Maybe I’m missing something, but he feels one-dimensional to me. He’s fast though, and will break off big runs. His college production can’t be ignored either. Might be great for bestball, but I’m not expecting a lot of consistency.
Round 3:
3.01 - Dyami Brown, WR, North Carolina (WR10, -1)
3.02 - Seth Williams, WR, Auburn (WR11, -1)
3.03 - Brevin Jordan, TE, Miami (TE3, --)
3.04 - Jermar Jefferson, RB, Oregon State (RB8, -2)
3.05 - Demetric Felton, RB, UCLA (RB9, unranked)
3.06 - James Patterson, RB, Buffalo (RB10, -5)
3.07 - Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, Oklahoma (RB11, unranked)
3.08 - CJ Verdell, RB, Oregon (RB12, -2)
3.09 - Elijah Moore, WR, Ole Miss (WR12, +5)
3.10 - Sage Surratt, WR, Wake Forest (WR13, --)
3.11 - Tamorrion Terry, WR, Florida State (WR14, -2)
3.12 - Khalil Herbert, RB, Virginia Tech (RB13, --)
Jordan is an interesting option in the 3rd. He’s a freaky athlete and is one of those receiver-like tight ends who can be moved all over the formation to create athletic mismatches. He will also receive day 2 draft capital. Felton gives me Antonio Gibson vibes, just 30 pounds lighter. Like Gibson, Felton is a converted receiver who had relatively few touches in college. Will lightning strike again? And finally, keep Moore in mind around this range. He’s going to be a solid slot receiver and outplay this 3rd round status.
Round 4:
4.01 - Zamir White, RB, Georgia (RB14, --)
4.02 - Elijah Mitchell, RB, Louisiana-Lafayette (RB15, +5)
4.03 - Kylin Hill, RB, Mississippi State (RB16, -7)
4.04 - Marlon Williams, WR, UCF (WR15, +6)
4.05 - Anthony Schwartz, WR, Auburn (WR16, unranked)
4.06 - Trevon Grimes, WR, Florida (WR17, unranked)
4.07 - Amari Rodgers, WR, Clemson (WR18, --)
4.08 - Malik Willis, QB, Liberty (QB7, +2)
4.09 - Javian Hawkins, RB, Louisville (RB17, -6)
4.10 - Rakeem Boyd, RB, Arkansas (RB18, -3)
4.11 - Dax Milne, WR, BYU (WR19, unranked)
4.12 - Hunter Long, TE, Boston College (TE4, +2)
Williams is built like a running back and is very strong after the catch. He looks like the kind of guy who can emerge as a starter and I’m targeting him in the 4th round everywhere in rookie drafts this offseason. Also keep an eye on Schwartz and Grimes, a couple of talented SEC receivers who were overshadowed by bigger-name prospects. White might be the most recognizable running back in this group, but Mitchell might be the one most likely to become a starter. Smaller school, lesser known guy. He’ll fly under the radar, just keep that name stashed away in your mind.
Round 5:
5.01 - Tutu Atwell, WR, Lousiville (WR20, -5)
5.02 - Jamie Newman, QB, Georgia (QB8, --)
5.03 - Matt Bushman, TE, BYU (TE5, unranked)
5.04 - Kenny Yeboah, TE, Ole Miss (TE6, -2)
5.05 - Kellen Mond, QB, Texas A&M (QB9, unranked)
5.06 - Dazz Newsome, WR, North Carolina (WR21, -5)
5.07 - Jonathan Adams, WR, Arkansas State (WR22, unranked)
5.08 - Nico Collins, WR, Michigan (WR23, -3)
5.09 - Spencer Brown, RB, UAB (RB19, unranked)
5.10 - Chris Evans, RB, Michigan (RB20, unranked)
5.11 - Racey McMath, WR, LSU (WR24, unranked)
5.12 - Shi Smith, WR, South Carolina (WR25, unranked)
Atwell is a notable faller for me. I acknowledge that he is getting some 1st round draft buzz, and while he's a fun player to watch, I just don't see it. He strikes me as a KJ Hamler type, but smaller. He will be better for an NFL team than a dynasty squad. Unless Newman gets 1st or 2nd round draft capital, this is where to expect to draft him. Adams is another name to keep an eye on, too. At 6-3, 220, he has that prototypical “X” receiver build, and he really stands out on film, even if he is just beating up on lower level competition. It’s hard to tell where to rank him but he could be a sneaky late-round jackpot.
As there are only 60 slots, a number of guys had to be omitted. If I missed anyone glaring, let me know.
Edit (1/24/21, 3:08 pm): A commenter pointed out that Zamir White went back to school. I should have checked a couple extra sources. Everyone just shifts up one spot and 5.12 becomes Kylen Granson, TE, SMU.
Edit (1/24/21, 6:47 pm): It turns out CJ Verdell has also returned to school. This one was much more recent (2 days ago) and fell under my radar. Again, everyone shifts up one spot and the new 5.12 is Jaelon Darden, WR, North Texas.
You can find me on Twitter @thedevydirtbag and here on Reddit u/thedevydirtbag.
Another mock will be on its way closer to the draft. The plan is for that one to be in the form of a YouTube video. If you want to compare this mock to the one from early December, you can find that here: https://www.reddit.com/DynastyFF/comments/k97ltz/2021_rookie_mock_draft/
Thanks for reading!

Warning: long rambling stories ahead. I am bored and waiting to get through my first day back at work since before Christmas. You've been warned!
I've been going to the casino pretty regularly for the past few years. Before that, I played occasionally. I exclusively play slots. I view it as a night out - first with friends back when I brought $50 and played penny denom minimum bet spins and prayed to win $20, and then eventually shifting my mindset to playing higher bets and denominations. I hit my first jackpot handpay a couple of years ago. I hit $3700 on a $27 bet on a Geisha machine. I've hit a few other jackpots here and there, culminating with my biggest jackpot ever this past summer. I hit $12K on a $50 bet on a Pompeii slot machine.
Well, the long story short is that I have fallen out of love with gambling. I have somehow managed to have a positive ROI on gambling. I track my withdrawls and win on a spreadsheet. To put it bluntly: I have been extremely lucky over the past few years. I know that slots are not a viable way to win money in the long run, so I made a decision a few months ago to "retire" from gambling at the end of 2020.
I went to my local casino last Wednesday. It just so happens when I hit a jackpot that I usually do it within the first half hour or so I'm at the casino. Well, it happened again. After going up $600 or so on another slot machine (I don't remember the name), I went to one of my most hated/favorite old school slots - Zeus dollar denomination. One of my worst moments in all of gambling was a few years ago. I got a bonus round on the Zeus dollar denomination on max bet of $45 a spin. I was BEYOND excited. I've seen Youtube videos where people have won tens of thousands of dollars in that exact scenario. Much to my shock, I won nothing. In that game, you don't win anything for triggering the bonus. So I actually *lost* $45 on getting the bonus. I cashed out and left immediately.
Anyway, last week I hit a modest $4500. It was exciting...but not as exciting as I thought it should be. I was cool, calm, and...detached. The wins didn't mean much to me, and the losses mean absolutely nothing. My wife and I are in the EXTREMELY fortunate position that losing $500 or so every week or two at the casino is affordable. I'm not ignorant to how lucky we are to be in this position.
After getting paid out, I played a bit longer. But that hand pay drove home the realization that I had a few months ago: it was time to stop gambling. If I can't get pumped about a big win like that, and if I'm not even phased a little bit by losing, it's just not worth gambling any more. I used to go for entertainment, but even now gambling doesn't provide that much.
As I sit now, I am up roughly $18K over three years of slots. Not bad, but not life changing. Enough that I bought my wife a Burberry and Louis Vuitton handbag on separate occasions. The rest if stashed in savings or in an investment account somewhere. But I am 100% committed to being done. At least for 2021, and probably longer.
If anyone is interested in hearing my thoughts on how to win...I don't have any insight to share. It's luck. I got lucky. I know I got lucky. The usual tropes about setting win and loss thresholds is good advice. Sometimes I chased payouts and hit them. Sometimes I chased and lost. But I managed to hit more than miss, and for that I'm lucky. And thankful.
Anyway. I don't have a major takeaway or anything. I don't have many people I can talk about this with in my personal life, so I figured I'd share a bit of my story here.
If you do gamble, please do so responsibly. Good luck, and try to have fun. If you're not having fun, it's probably not the right way to spend your time or money.
EDIT:
I just wanted to say to anyone who reads this in the future that I appreciate the nice responses and PMs from people. It's nice to share a positive experience with others! I sincerely hope that if any of you choose to play in the future, you choose to do so responsibly. Gambling can be a hugely problematic lifestyle for some people. Stay safe. (end of preaching here).
I also want to take a second to address some comments from some people about slots being skill based. This is 100% false. The concept of slots being skill based in any way is demonstrably untrue with three seconds of reasonable thinking. If we accept that there is a hypothetical slot game which is based on skill and not pure luck, what are the consequences of that? First of all, this information would leak out. There would be no way to contain it. If one person can solve the system, another an as well. Subsequently, someone would write a book on the subject. Think about all the poker and blackjack strategy books out there. These are games where skillful play can increase your odds of winning. Last I checked, there aren't any books or Supersytem-level analyses from prominent individuals willing to stake their names and reputations on publishing a "slot technique" book. There's a reason for this. And also - think about this: casinos still carry blackjack tables for a reason: they still have an edge to win. If there is a surefire way for individuals to win when playing slots, casinos would 100% for sure take these games out of circulation. Casinos are not in the business of giving away money. Any claim there is a foolproof way to win money playing slots does not make sense when critical thinking is applied to the circumstances.
Slots are not like card games. Finding and playing only games where there is a "must win by" progressive is not the same thing as skillful play. That's more akin to something like card counting in blackjack. Many people who design slot machines and engineer the software behind the scenes have posted on Reddit and elsewhere that wins are based on random number generators running behind every spin. There is literally no skill involved - you win or lose each spin based on pure random luck.
I am saying this because there are a number of people who come to this subreddit to look for ways to cheat the system and get easy money. I see posts like this fairly often, and I'm only browsing this subreddit occasionally. Gambling is not, and should not, be a way for anyone looking to make a quick buck. If you're looking to get an edge playing slots because you need to pay bills or make a quick buck, you are already in serious trouble. Do not buy into the delusion that you can get an edge or guarantee a win. People saying this are snake oil salesmen who do not care for you or your well-being.
Anyway. I'm going to stop monitoring this post. I'm still open to receiving PMs or messages, but I've had my fun with this so far. I could do with fewer trolls, but this is the internet. I knew what to expect. Bon chance, everyone!

the cosmopolitan six thousand five hundred dollar bank the bonus live play tonight last night you guys wanted some mighty cash i found you a mighty cash double up look at those numbers that we're working with same format last night we do 500 tickets however some of my tickets are a thousand bucks they're just easier that way so i'll have to do some uh thinking and uh math but i get kerry here to help me out and i got all my lovely and fans so ticket starts at a thousand dollars so we're not gonna go below 500 guys so this one should be pretty easy max volume bank the bonus live play 13.50 a spin [Music] mighty cash double up let's see this haywire five or more for the bonus [Music] mr classic tv says punky power thank you mr classic tv oh yeah mr classic tv i think you won one of those blenders or um mixers but i need to get your address so send me an email or message me on facebook so i know jimmy d won the other mixer but i'm pretty sure you are the other winner so i want to get that sent out to you yes haywire we got something big oh 45 bucks good ones big one oh i couldn't drop like the maxi because it doubles up [Music] wait there we go [Music] and carrie we trust so we're gonna have him hit the button all right gary [Music] wow that's huge let's keep getting these red ones yes this is not bad red [Music] that wasn't a good spin but if your first two are pretty solid so i forgive you [Music] yolanda rory love you bry mighty cash is the best i love you too yolanda hopefully it will come to new york here soon yeah this is a decent oh yolanda which one do i pick yolanda's picking guys left right middle if yolanda's in here we'll give her a first chance to pick one two or three your left middle right yolanda i'm gonna wait for her i am i'm in plenty of time [Music] i'm a no hurry this is a nice little bonus yolanda gets to pick [Music] leland assistant too all right here it is shoot that's fine all right let's do it anything filled up down there okay extra 13.50 [Music] yes too bad we couldn't fill that up this is not a bad little hit i'll do some ticket math later on because uh i had a thousand dollar ticket but a good start yesterday we started off great and then it went south and if smaller bets work we'll do smaller bets but i am getting some revenge on that 25 cash code it's a jackpot to start the night what do you know [Music] yolanda has no reason to be sorry how's the picture quality everybody we have one person keep saying bad picture but everybody else says [Music] [Music] nothing [Music] all right let me see if i can uh [Music] all right [Music] all right is that good now how does that look perfect all right couple backup spins come on please please please [Music] backup spins galore i saw it go by too all right two thousand dollars will be the ending point [Music] all right first game get a win nice start all right so this ticket guys oh cougar girls 9.99 super justice happy new year all right i reset it i don't know what else to do so i did reset the wi-fi i mean the picture i am at mercy of the casino and romeo evan welcome to the bod rubber ducky club all right guys since um the same ticket so five hundred dollars again i've got these thousand dollar tickets i have to use them twice so the floor is going to be 1500 all right all right 17 16 a spin [Music] that's huge 300 that's good [Music] [Applause] yep i i work with what i have so [Music] maybe it'll get better but i did reset it twice after that i can't do much i apologize but i'm working with what they have but thank you to 800 people watching one more [Music] open this pot 24. [Music] 40 bucks [Music] yes scott i just re-logged into wi-fi for the third time i did reset it and i reset it again so [Applause] [Music] all right before the bonus i'll see if i can fix the wi-fi whoops 73. if you're winning with that well i find it just keep it that way give me one second guys this is my best four games [Music] which one do you guys look all right which one should i pick i've never done this thank you raja what do you guys want [Music] miss mary brian thank you for the live play i really activity oh thank you miss mary [Music] coins [Music] all right coins all coins come on yes oh we're going to do something on the left [Music] chris had patches behind me for me hey one more time i logged out i forgot the network and i logged back in [Music] guys not much i can do guys so the i'm doing the best i can but tell me it's blurry and tell me it's unwatchable and you're gonna unsubscribe above and beyond because i don't control the wi-fi you're gonna unsubscribe from my channel uh i'm not trying to be negative here but don't say crap like that that's just not cool all right guys i'm doing the best i can to give you guys some bonus live play and kyle sell data does not work at all in vegas anyways we got a bonus 776 dollars all right there's some backup spans the floor we'll get 2800 2750 2800 we'll see how it goes and we'll do the top up if we hit it [Music] all right so 27.50 is gonna be the floor so the first thousand in we're gonna have at least 27.50 so that's a great start tonight the pot is a little over 6500 but that's what the tickets i had available was they're gonna make that work but thank you all for tuning in thank you for you know the watching the earlier live play and we got a super chat herbert d brian you're doing fine ignore the complaint all right one more spin and we're gonna cash out so far it's a good little start [Music] all right let's move what do you guys want to see next is my lucky players card [Music] so [Music] those are not multi-dino [Music] yep how you doing yeah i hope so i reset it again it's still really bad i i re-logged in crushing it you hit reconnect i hit reconnect yeah it's still brilliant now all right we're back live all right thank you all right guys garager just help me out it's great usually for a little bit and then it kind of sputters out all right guys how about some konami konami time [Music] [Music] it can go to a hotel you go to hotel next all right and play konami games radiant witch 15 to spin so the floor on this game is gonna be 500. because it's a thousand dollar ticket let's do it guys but thank you all for tuning in hey brian i got a super chat for you one dollar lucky super chat from jose all right usually the usually for a super chat has to be at least 1.99 or higher to say anything doesn't want it we'll try one this is going in the community pot there we go so now you're in action you have a point one tenth of a percentage all right taxi 10 000. yeah we need to go to the other one all right we're gonna try the hotel one all right we're gonna try one more wi-fi guys i apologize all right all right last try guys after this we're just gonna wing it but waffs 73 in bod we trust thank you wasps genomes just keep crushing it all right guys if i missed a super chat then i did do my best doing my best all right here we go it's an iphone 12 pro mac so it should the phone's not the issue here oh i think it was one away from that symbol nice you love silver lucky 25 super super chat flip phone it's a motorola gopro i have no idea come on three or more bonus symbols may trigger the money galaxy feature oh you're not like that okay [Music] we switched the wi-fi network so hopefully guys hopefully this helps it's holding up so we'll take it at this point jose ah i tried [Music] guys it has nothing to do with the camera on the phone it's the wifi [Music] chris pat you're doing great brian of data oh that's my new name brian of data 9150 so i heard you made a killing in the stock market today had a good day you guys haven't checked out raja makes money the mods have been actually posting the link so thank you mod for doing that come on kanami give me some heck yeah [Music] gosh you guys i might have to cancel live play early tonight if i have to keep modding for myself [Music] come on it's due [Music] uh now i get that radiant witch symbol when i don't need it yep once again [Music] well i would go play it and that's that's it that's the 500 mark so [Music] all right let's keep moving on guys [Music] now um somebody specifically told me i should go play high stakes [Music] you know what maybe he'll do some video poker since carrie's here tonight how would you guys want to see some ultimate at the video poker i think that could be fun 1250 spin max that volume out yay or nay on video poker oops stephen hall he requested this game tonight so he got it apple alert for guys tonight 5 30 ah so close 5 30 pacific time you know what i did really good on last night was uh one more that uh i hit those two nice jackpots on uh also environment really i haven't if we went at one more and open up the taco that is like another four i never have like an ultimate fire like played it again last night but the last couple ever since i started playing that another one ultra hot megalink i didn't go to those now they've done these whole shows okay i never liked it because i never got the bonus but now we've got all these great bonuses they're gonna take 5 30 guys the big jackpot will be live on the main facebook page with youtube live play to follow at six o'clock pacific time [Music] yes we got a bonus see what happens when i push the button all right big one here we go carrie go ahead and hit the button carrie terry first lucky raja high rollers i had to mix it up it didn't work for me yesterday all right raja your turn your turn nah all right jose hit the button [Music] okay there we go that's 125 for jose tracy says i feel bbb coming for b.o.d well we believe in b.o.d everybody hit the thumbs up jose you're on the roll ready another 125. you're fired i'm fired i'll come in and save the day all right come on all right you're in all right here we go there you go that's all you guys are worth 25. oh this is 50 cents it's 12 minutes all right carrie you're back in it come on 62.50 jose tagging you back in you're hired again come on that's this is a brd spin oh okay there it is all right same as the raja come on nature just drop it oh really i carry you're back in [Music] all right jose we'll worry about the price of the grand if we come to that all right it comes down to body [Applause] that's something 362. [Music] it is but yours is a lot tighter mine's maybe the spring's gone or something [Applause] [Music] all right backup spins we'll play it down to what 500. how does that sound that sounds great thank you one more sorry he's live right now [Music] ma'am it's 45 dollars i'm sorry that's my gunnery jose my agent told me that all right big congratulations to the quick father he's not going to be with us tonight and right when we got done playing about one o'clock last night went to the room get a good night's sleep at three o'clock he sent me a message he had to get an uber for a five-hour drive back to california he missed his baby being born that's why we picked this date early in the month because baby was due on the 18th so we're like okay two weeks plenty of time you know get home and yeah out of nowhere last night all right guys what do you think we should play next all right autumn moon let's do it ah guys i do not really charge 45 dollars a photo you guys can believe whatever you want this one's due i'm into this game for at least a thousand bucks i get this one two oh the better match yeah no no but this one yesterday all right here we go twenty dollars to spend fifty four hundred dollar major hundred and three thousand dollar grand this is slower than like that first [Music] so the floor is 500 on this game unless we decide to play a second round on it so thousand dollar ticket in the floor come on what whoa no oh i thought you had it oh wow how did you screw that up very easily oh i thought i had it thousands left what happened to that 20 orb what happened to that 20 dollar orb tracy if jose twerks upside down like naomi there will be mega booms wow you've been requesting the twerk upside down [Music] diane mccall says whatever rajo says about you after i fell for the malaria hoax [Laughter] so diane mccall says she doesn't believe anything you say about me after she fell for the malaria hoax when you told everybody i had malaria b.o.d uh brandon true b.o.d ah what what grand did you hit the other day when the raja was live it's probably the same as me having malaria whatever that's worth [Music] it's no minor finally [Music] the good news is i don't have malaria currently but the question is are you going to fall asleep 2 000. i knew this game was due ah yeah come on keeping it alive [Music] now i pumped well over a thousand bucks in this game last night [Music] plus in the group paul we didn't do too well either [Music] [Applause] thousand right [Music] oh here it comes 103 000 live let me at least see it i did not see it i got my glasses on and i don't see it again the drama it's left-handed does it work nope i need to mix it up is that what you do in the bedroom people got jokes today come on [Music] hopefully we keep playing well i can pay off my markers it'll be nice [Music] that's something is that tick-tock tick-tock well i only have one phone unlike some people wow you guys both have one phone wait we got so many girls and tracy d if you don't mind sending me a photos later on of all the jackpots thank you all right so the floor is gonna be three thousand bucks one more moon there's still good line hit john johnson boom boom boom in bod's room that's right [Music] yeah this machine was definitely due after i mean carrie watched me struggle on this game last night i mean struggle one more i knew this game had to do a comeback hi there how you doing today good how are you i'm doing well you can't do recording what did this gentleman tell you i'm spitting fake news again i'm gonna have to call security on you that wouldn't be the first time yeah they called him last time when he had those prostitutes you grabbed his hands on his feet caesar's palace was not a good day remember caesar's palace and that lady i was tracy says i'm waiting jose you got this bee all right cash it out so this yeah so yeah this was a new this was a fresh ticket jimmy beauty on ajita keep it up i got your hoodie in my room during his live play i'll get it for you all right cash cove 25 a spin so the floor is just under 2 500. purple and gold saw it's nice wind keep it up i'm going to purple gold and i got jimmy d there you go all right all right so the floor is like 2 400 and change what doesn't want my ticket i did this yesterday too gaming machine unable to redeem at this time that was weird and it took it cash go 25 to spend cash cove just under 2 400 sorry just under 2 500. come on make up make up for you so 24 in change [Music] 100 dollars get it oh but thank you to all the mods help out thank you to kerry all aboard or luxury line tiffany j beauty great live stream can you play some cats all right we'll do cats after this [Music] no thank you nope i'm doing well not drinking anything so i'm gonna hold off as long as we keep winning i will not have a sip of water the entire livestream i am very superstitious [Music] what did he get nice jose is on ajita as tracy d would say this ticket will be put in the bank after this machine is over that's a great observation [Music] [Music] doesn't want me to quit this game i guess no okay there you go all right couple more spins not gonna go below 2400 come on come on all right final spin on this game cash an hour all right all right so that i think it's done all right we're gonna put another thousand dollar ticket in so once again the floor is gonna be um 500 bucks i didn't have to didn't have time to break down the tickets cats here it is somebody wanted cats to send a super chat and i haven't done cats in a while so [Music] 15 to spin [Music] yes that's it i thought it looked it looked a lot better in my mind sometimes the lower bets work better that's a pay line on 15. oh fine don't have to convince me it looks like if i'm a game manufacturer i'm making 15 lines that's not one of mine [Music] yeah of all the games being different heights different angles it's not always the easiest sometimes to uh that's it fifteen all right 30 that's fine 30 bucks on cats ah 200 nice [Music] come on bank the bonus that's good huh 400. nice [Music] that's right johnny milwaukee loves all the games that have cats in it kitty glitter miss kitty [Music] bonus [Music] [Music] what do you think should i play 45 a spin on catch or keep it here at 30. 500 is the floor we're going for that bonus oh yeah 250. i'll tell you what we'll do actually choose the max you can only play 30 bucks so by default oh bonus nope no nope gina anyway can you play black widow uh maybe you'll do some black widow i'll tell you what since we're doing well in the game we'll i don't want to lose any money on this game so we'll set the floor in a thousand bucks so we guarantee we don't lose any money playing cats [Music] i hate to do well in the machine and go broke trying to hit the bonus so [Music] come on okay 200 just for that [Music] and if we break the two 2000 mark maybe he'll set a floor above that come on full screen say meow i likey [Music] so if the raja ever tells you something about me 95 of the time it's not true he said you were an awesome individual b.o.d yep see told you now he knows better than joke about my dogs so oh yeah that's like the one thing he knows so if he says something about my dogs that may be true but besides that i never had malaria [Music] what's not a pay line but this jagged thing is that's bs hey ben hello [Music] don't get called on me kitty cats [Music] all right um is black widow on here all right this game's getting cold i'm going to use this extra 186 dollars for black widow so the forum black widow's still going to be 500. i so whatever that's worth executive vod decision [Music] forty dollars to spend on black widow [Music] the floor is at 500 on the game he's taking some of that extra money [Music] all right a black widow floor is five hundred dollars oh there's yep i that's a lot of people say i look like the purple guy in black widow they're the pink guy does that look like b.o.d what do you guys think i think it is they modeled it after me maybe that's right the raja this is his favorite game because he gets to see me all the time [Music] wow cheryl clark blackwidow be nice to b.o.d thank you we don't think we had a single playback of anything on black widow yet [Music] not a single does black widow hate b.o.d looks like ben affleck oh there we go on the last spin it pays 160 says don't quit on me [Music] ah mark wahlberg all right final spin and we're putting this ticket in the bank for cats and black widow so cats and black widow is done now i did play some um dancing drums earlier today and i got killed 2 000 down on dancing drums so based on that it's dancing drums revenge [Music] time [Music] yeah i saw my afternoon live play we did play some dancing drums so what do i got left 500 500 500 000 so 6500 in tickets i have 2500 left let's just make it easy to put a 500 ticket here so once again guys i had to get some thousand dollar tickets i couldn't get the 500 so that's why we used some tickets twice 1760 a bet and we're going for three if we get it we're going for three the last three games we haven't done anything so we're due for another bonus here jimbo come on drums let's see a bonus i agree timbo so the mini's at 178 miners 626 that seems awfully high you son of a yeah majors at 9 000 yeah we're going for three because that's what i said all right here we go all right big money there we go that's it [Music] yes oh one more dragon that helped 120 yeah 360. [Music] all right 660 dollar bonus [Music] all right we're gonna play some more uh like 750 floor on this game we need some backup spins let's get another bonus [Music] you know screw it we'll do the mystery if we get it again that sounds fine with me mystery if we get another bonus i just hit five drums [Music] all right final spin unless we hit something um [Music] all right whoops says uh [Music] top dollar let's do it [Music] a lot of people like the double top dollar [Music] yeah 210 dollars to spend sorry 10 dollars a credit 20 [Music] we've been doing better on the lower d knobs right now so [Music] she says always double she's an expert so yeah 10's on there i'm putting a thousand dollar ticket in so the floor will be 500. [Music] so it's 20 dollars yes we did some higher spins earlier going backwards still good slide play [Music] carla howard says good luck tonight hashtag bonus time hope you're staying warm up there [Music] carla [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is my card working all right let's see this top dollar logo [Music] so close there we go [Music] almost 2 000 people watching thank you guys for tuning in tonight make the bonus live play from the cosmopolitan las vegas hit that subscribe button keep notifications on because sometimes i do surprise live play like this morning last spin [Music] and i did some like hundred dollar huffing puff this morning all right let's move on to some pinball [Music] two credit pinball we'll do 20 to spin on this too yes we'll do the video poker [Music] let's set pinball yeah uh these old school pinballs you can't see them anymore you don't find them much all the casinos that have them do not get rid of them looks like the new pinball they have it's a little different format 20 to spin so with a three credit pinball you get five shots with two credit pinball you get four [Music] that was 250 okay give this some more ammo to hit this pinball come on come on [Music] ah so close we have 1500 left after this the big jackpot will be live at 5 30 pacific time so [Music] and maybe i'll do some surprise late night live play tonight you never know that's why you have to subscribe and click those notifications on if i do like it yeah yeah it's something i was waiting for like yeah eight grand i'm like my like time just kind of stopped okay for me i'm like is it gonna happen [Music] it is what time what time is it carrie right now i think about five o'clock or so so it's 4 45 yes there we go uh i think i'm gonna keep the ten dollar genome it's working i hate to blow through everything on the twenty five dollar d numb we ain't broke i rather win a little bit of money on a smaller bet than lose more money on a larger bet [Music] yeah maybe some we'll see late no promises i did a surprise live play this afternoon [Music] and it's not a surprise if i tell you happy new year b.o.d and good luck well thank you sonny happy new year to you come on pinball get a couple decent line hips golden nugget that's a casino we're at the cosmopolitan is there a game called golden nugget oh yeah [Music] what was your biggest hit um nice on 15 bets yeah can't beat that [Music] i know where a wild wild nugget is but um some guy last night kept saying wild wild nugget the whole time and it really gave me bad juju and we lost so no wild wild nugget tonight i'm not a fan of that game anyways but we got a come on bonus 80. okay 250 it's a good start come on 80 80 no 500 bucks come on 80 80. [Music] [Applause] all right we're at 8 40. like 7 60 something like that get it five back upstairs legit whoops taught me so my final spin okay cash now [Music] 1500 left [Music] carrie and i gonna play some video poker for five thirty dollars to spin ultimate x video poker scary carry and body now beauty is gonna make the best choices oh thank you for that i'll do the best i can i got carrie here so we'll [Music] oh i didn't sorry i was um live when you texted me oh you're fine [Music] thank you thank you do you want a cosmopolitan no no no hold nothing or yeah all right oh so i was playing this earlier i got dealt four to the royal correct carry yeah i got dealt four to the royal i had a four-time multiplier up top or something and of course i did not hit it we'll be back to slots after this open ender all right seven queens [Music] maybe i should have held the aces michael alphonse in the house check out live stream casino shenanigans on facebook featuring michael halphon nothing all right the no holds barred anything goes facebook gambling drinking debauchery group sanders lodge shared the length thank you okay in order here we go oh come on give us something here come on [Music] all right here we go four to the flush let's hit this yeah look at the next all right come on four of a kind wherever oh come on oh come on top here okay guys all right come on could be eight thousand dollars it could be all right here we go a little dramatic pause come on twenty thousand dollars here it comes [Music] oh man yep yeah i got del four to the royal with the multiplier i had a couple good deals today [Music] here we go [Music] all right here we go come on four of a kind four of a kind king queen [Music] hey quads there we go oh cheers that's why i got somebody else here [Music] maybe if i do a late night it'd be all video poker live stream it's a possibility if anybody wants to do a video poker with me tonight maybe i'm going for it oh you just look at it [Music] okay so it's open ender too yeah so you need a two or seven eclipse [Music] there we go [Applause] 2500 [Music] all right [Music] nice all right so we're at 28 10. i'll probably play down 2 500 or so yeah um come on here it comes guys let's play for a miracle carry i'm good right yeah ah tyler smith the b.o.d for president carrie lee for vp i like it okay let's do it again come on four of a kind [Music] [Music] [Music] yes sir oh come on four aces come on [Music] [Music] okay that's right it's lacey from the slot ladies the one and only will she go live tonight i don't know if you guys want to send her money on only fans i think she may go live again tonight but hopefully is that how you send people money oh yeah so if you check out lacey's instagram and tracyd or whoever has it share it in the chat and on instagram they have your cash app in there so if somebody wants to send lacey 100 bucks or she gets up to 500 tonight i think she may go live again [Music] oh somebody sent you 100 you just need 400 more all right that sounds fair and whoever sends the most money can pick the game [Music] it'd probably be after the big jackpot tonight probably directly after before the group poll [Music] it actually was good she told me my left arm was sore because my right arm was tight [Music] yeah i had the hundred minute in the end well worth it eight times there we go anything i have a mask on my braces oh there we go can we get the flush can we get a flush ah yeah that's a good way to end it positive money and tracy d thank you mod tracy just shared lacey's instagram so just to confirm her cash app is linked in the buy over instagram right yeah all right so if she gets 500 tonight 400 more she will be going live [Music] am i down only 500 left yeah i guess i'm only at 500 left tonight wow i thought it had more oh yeah we had the thousand between those two machines right so what do we want to do for the last so let me think about schmidt i put 500 in there 500 here okay we all know what's going to happen last guys 25 spins huff and puff [Music] that's right guys huff and puff to end the night and wild wild nugget is being played i was going to end it tonight in a wild wild nugget but some gentleman is playing it so i can't do that yep 25 spins we're doing well we're gonna do 25 spins we did it yesterday for a thousand bucks we couldn't hit so maybe it's due that that logic worked on the uh what game did the logic were gone oh autumn moon we lost yesterday all right here we go 25 spins huff and puff let's do it um yeah maybe some late night live play i'll talk to some people and figure out a game plan there's no promises [Music] well i got some money to throw in the pot it could be video poker who knows two more yeah yeah there we go by the way we're gonna end it we got backup spins all right i'm excited yesterday was terrible today is much much better one more oops man i didn't mean to do that [Music] oh come on don't be like that it is going to be like that we got backup spin so there's one point we just want a coin [Music] ouch and the actual three games only played seven dollars and fifty cents it was bad [Music] 500 bucks will be the floor [Music] thank you that was not a good bonus nope nope nope [Music] come on the volume is maxed out that is not the issue what are you gonna do one more spin to end the night on bank the bonus live play i don't i would like to play it through but i don't know if that's fair because everybody has to agree on it so based on that um i'm okay thank you though so but guys thank you so much on behalf of b.o.d scary carrie and lacey we will see you soon remember check her out on instagram camera's on you just let you know oh hi taking my these are not i can't walk in them so i'm switching all right so check her out on instagram if she gets 500 today she's going live and you pick the game if you're the highest donor and also check her out on only fans so all right guys thanks to glot and i will see you guys later on maybe late night tonight bye

The campaign for The Killers’ new LP Imploding The Mirage has already endured a delayed album, postponed tour and potential scandal against the dystopian backdrop of Covid-19. Here, the band’s Brandon Flowers and Ronnie Vannucci, manager Robert Reynolds, WME agent Kirk Sommer and EMI’s Clive Cawley reflect on a turbulent few months – and roll out plan B...
For one of Las Vegas’ favourite sons, Brandon Flowers plays his cards close to his chest. The Killers frontman has retained an enigmatic aura in the age of celebrity and social media, so having a fellow indie rock‘n’roller on hand to fill in the blanks feels like hitting the jackpot.
“Brandon is a workhorse,” enthuses Travis singer Fran Healy, Flowers’ one-time touring partner. “He’ll come off stage and go and run for an hour on a treadmill; then he’ll have a shower, go to the back of the tour bus and start songwriting until 3am. He doesn’t stop.”
“I don’t know that he’s any different to me, maybe no treadmills,” chuckles Flowers, confirming the veracity of the account. The rock superstar co-wrote Here With Me – the final single from the US band’s 2012 Battle Born LP – with Healy.
“We love Fran,” beams Flowers, speaking to Music Week from his home in Park City, Utah. “At our very first gig me and Dave Keuning, our guitarist, did an open mic night at a café and played a Travis song, Side, which I love. So getting to know him and becoming friendly has been really nice. It’s always good to be able to talk to someone who’s shared some of these experiences and has done it before you.”
This was meant to be The Killers’ year. A career-defining Glastonbury headline slot (see panel on p18) laid the groundwork for their biggest ever British tour (250,000 tickets sold in under two hours), while outstanding new album Imploding The Mirage looked set to enshrine their place in rock’s Champions League.
Alas, 2020 had other ideas. The group’s UK stadium run was put back 12 months, while the accompanying long-player finally saw the light of day last Friday – three months later than originally planned (thanks to you know what).
“It brought a lot of activity to a halt unfortunately,” sighs their agent, WME partner and head of music Kirk Sommer. “We had a complete 18-month plan with some additional stadium shows in other territories.”
Forecasting the chaos that was to come, Sommer moved quickly to secure alternative dates for 2021.
​

"I've noticed songs are coming easier as I get older."
- Brandon Flowers

“I had some early visibility as I saw what was happening in Asia and some other territories, and by the end of February or first week of March – while shows were still playing out in the UK – we were able to successfully hold the same markets,” he says. “I do not have a crystal ball and there is no science or data to support this will be a viable time period, but it’s as late as we could go in these venues and there are other tours getting confirmed and going on sale for the spring in the UK and in far worse impacted territories. So we remain very cautious, but have to remain hopeful as well. Demand remains very strong.”
Nevada-born Flowers, who turns 40 next year, upped sticks from Vegas a couple of years ago and has been relishing life in lockdown with wife Tana and their three sons. “I feel a little bit guilty,” he confides. “I’m so used to travelling so much and being away that I’m enjoying the extra time being in such close proximity to everybody. It’s been a nice experience.”
“I’m spending a lot more time in the kitchen,” chips in drummer Ronnie Vannucci, halfway through making a sandwich. “I don’t mind it so bad, except that I was really looking forward to sharing these songs and playing them for people and now it’s... a little different.”
On the album delay, The Killers manager Robert Reynolds says the decision was effectively taken out of their hands.
“It was hard, but there were two factors,” explains the Reynolds Management boss. “First, the album wasn’t completed. Part way through mixing we couldn’t get into the room with our mixer, who had a new baby. Things were done remotely and certain finishing touches had to be completed.
“Still, everyone hoped that Covid-19 would be resolved quickly. At first, the label hoped we could delay a few months and perhaps things could be different. When it became clear that performing live wouldn’t happen for a while, we just did our best to get this music finished and out to our fans as soon as possible.”
“People need music now more than ever,” asserts Flowers. “Music has always been a place that I go to for comfort or escape, or to feel like I’m not alone, and I think those attributes of music are still alive and kicking and people need them now.”
Even with the intervention of a global pandemic, EMI MD Clive Cawley says the campaign’s core objective remains the same – to deliver a sixth straight UK No.1 studio album for The Killers.
“It’s been a stop-start process since we launched a ticket pre-order bundle as far back as November 2019,” reflects Cawley. “With the album originally slated for a May release, it’s been somewhat of a challenge to maintain public and media interest and enthusiasm. Full credit to both the band for delivering an excellent record and our team working the project for never giving up and making sure we do it justice across every department. It’s just kept rolling along very nicely indeed.”
Lead single Caution (49,560 sales, OCC), which features former Fleetwood Mac star Lindsey Buckingham on guitar, got the latest Killers era off to a flying start, reaching No.1 on the US rock airplay chart. Three other tracks: Fire In Bone, My Own Soul’s Warning and the soaring Dying Breed were also put out ahead of time. “We released as many tracks before the album dropped as we could,” says Reynolds. “It’s hard to sit on songs you know are great.”
​

"The Killers have never wanted to headline rooms too big, too fast."
- Robert Reynolds, Reynolds Management

Recorded in studios in Utah, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, Shawn Everett and Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado were drafted in to handle production duties, with other cameos including KD Lang, Weyes Blood and The War On Drugs’ Adam Granduciel on what is trumpeted as the band’s “most collaborative” record to date.
“I feel good about it,” nods Vannucci, who names Blowback and Running Towards A Place as personal highlights. “We went off track a little bit with the way we do things and arrived at a very pleasing spot,” he continues. “It was like going camping without knowing where you’re going, and then arriving at a really good camp spot.”
Every track is brimming with mass singalong potential, befitting the enormous stages on which they were intended to be played.
“We’ve always written a certain type of song that resonates with a lot of people,” notes Flowers. “We’ve never been shy about our admiration for the Rolling Stones, U2 and these bands that do that well and so I think it’s just part of our DNA. It’s definitely there and it’s something that you think about.”
Reynolds admits to keeping his initially sky-high expectations in check due to world events. “Now that we won’t have touring to support the new songs, I’m not sure what to expect,” he concedes. “Bands that aren’t using the biggest pop writers to dominate Top 40 radio rely on live performances to expose fans to their music. All of The Killers’ hits – and even non-hits that became fan favourites, like All These Things That I’ve Done – became such as a result of live performances. I can’t wait for us to get back on the road to do this album justice.”
Guitarist Keuning and bassist Mark Stoermer stepped back from touring prior to the 2017/18 Wonderful Wonderful tour (“I wanted to have more of a normal life,” Keuning told MW last year). Though Stoermer contributed to Imploding The Mirage, the record is the group’s first to be made without Keuning’s involvement. However, Reynolds insists both founding members remain part of the band. “Extensive touring takes its toll,” he says. “Everyone is getting along fine and I expect that both of them will be more involved on the next album cycle.”
Seasoned festival headliners, The Killers are already a proven draw at the highest level, but their 10-date jaunt now set for 2021 – scheduled to kick off in Doncaster on May 25 and conclude at Manchester’s Emirates Old Trafford on June 12, prior to two outdoor shows in Ireland – will be their first UK stadium tour.
“The Killers have never wanted to headline rooms too big, too fast,” says Reynolds. “Other bands in similar positions would have played full stadium tours at an earlier point in their career. We were certain we would sell the shows out, and the band have been touring in the UK with consistent No.1 records for six albums now. The time felt right.”
“We also wanted to launch with something really big that would reverberate around the world,” adds Sommer. “We had already sold out Wembley Stadium on a previous campaign and sold out Hyde Park in record time to signify the beginning of the last campaign, which was immediately followed by a sold-out arena run.
“We put our toe in the water [in 2018] with a couple of outdoor regional shows in Swansea and Bolton that accompanied a larger European festival run to see how the band and the fans would like them. It was an easy way to try a couple before we overcommitted to something more extensive that we might not love. The thought was that, if they were a success, we would and could plot the whole next UK and Irish album run outdoors.”
The year took another unwelcome turn in the last week of July, when The Killers camp was rocked by lurid sexual misconduct accusations dating back more than a decade. In a blog, Chez Cherrie, an audio technician who worked on the band’s Day & Age tour for three weeks in 2009, described a misogynistic backstage culture and, most seriously, alleged hearing crew members boast of sexually assaulting an intoxicated woman in a dressing room at a Milwaukee venue.
​

"They are cementing themselves even deeper in the history books."
- Clive Cawley, EMI

​
A subsequent internal investigation deduced the claims were “an attempt at a joke or a ‘hazing’” by a front of house (FOH) engineer after interviewing crew and tracing the alleged victim, who confirmed “she did not experience, witness or hear about a sexual assault”. The group’s lawyers identified the FOH engineer, dismissed from the touring team in 2013, as a “problematic workmate” whose “pattern of poor management” and “series of sexist remarks and rude comments” had caused “great distress” to the complainant.
Reynolds tells Music Week that although the band were “shocked” by the allegations, they were determined to find out exactly what had happened. “It was important to us that we were thorough in our investigation – including reports from the venue, security, and depositions of crew members conducted by a separate law firm – transparent in our findings and also that we carefully considered what changes can be made going forward,” he explains.
“I’ve seen first-hand what bad men can do to a woman’s experience in this life,” says Flowers. “So if there was something like that going on in our camp, of course, I wanted to get to the bottom of it and thank God, it was proven to be a false alarm. I want our fans to know that we would never turn a blind eye to an assault. We respect women and we want everybody to know that.”
For a band whose two decades in the business have been devoid of scandal, the episode was a reality check.
“It changed our way of thinking about everything,” remarks Vannucci. “We are constantly trying to promote good living and responsibility; that is how we run the ship and we’re going to continue to do so – perhaps with a little bit more of a vision and an outlook for keeping people safe and making them feel safe when working under our umbrella.”
The Killers have directed their team to establish an off-site independent HR contact for future tours.
“If there is something positive to come out of this, we’re going to have a HR development on our next tour where if anybody feels scared or like they are being treated unfairly, or feel uncomfortable in any way, they’ll have a number to call,” says Flowers. “Hopefully that will make women especially feel more comfortable on a job that is predominantly men.”
“Touring and the music industry as a whole was really different 10 to 15 years ago and we hope we can be part of the change to make it more welcoming to everyone,” reflects Reynolds. “We all need to be vigilant that no one is ever made uncomfortable. Unlike other large companies, touring bands don’t have HR departments. For that reason, we decided to retain a third party HR company going forward. I’d suggest every band do this so that all crew members feel like they have a reliable third party to voice and investigate concerns.”
Imploding The Mirage’s predecessor, 2017’s Wonderful Wonderful (182,398 sales), gave the rockers a first No.1 LP in their homeland, although much of the attention was focused on ubiquitous first single The Man (345,592 sales) and its memorable music video. “I always associate the record with the tour and I loved the tour,” says Flowers. “I’m really proud of songs like Rut, The Man and Run For Cover, I feel like they are going to stick around.”
For Vannucci and Reynolds, the period conjures up mixed emotions. “That was an odd time for me personally,” recalls Vannucci. “My father died and I was fresh off the heels of a divorce when we were writing that record. I wouldn’t say it was dark, but there was definitely change in the air. But I really enjoyed the tour.”
“The Man was very successful — a great video and the first [US] alternative No.1 in 10 years since Read My Mind,” notes Reynolds. “Still, there are songs on that album which I don’t think enough people are familiar with. The campaign went well, but I wish music consumption today wasn’t so singles-oriented and people spent more time appreciating entire albums.”
Flowers, for one, hasn’t lost sight of the power of deeper cuts. “We still strive to create an overall listening experience or a feeling with an entire record,” he reveals. “You can’t really do that without having those types of songs and sometimes those are people’s favourites. When I was growing up, I didn’t necessarily know what the singles were when I bought an album. I gravitated towards what my heart gravitated towards.”
Lest we forget, The Killers sold records when bands really sold records – 2004 debut Hot Fuss has moved 2,333,888 copies in the UK, while sales of follow-ups Sam’s Town (2006) and Day & Age (2008) have also reached seven figures. The group has amassed over 15 million monthly Spotify listeners – outranking the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Foo Fighters, Kings Of Leon, The 1975, Muse and Radiohead – and continue to straddle the line between the old and new (albeit, just 16% of Wonderful Wonderful’s sales were from streaming). But it’s not a subject Flowers is losing any sleep over.
“It’s kind of out of our hands,” he shrugs. “It’s interesting to watch it happen – Napster was just making headlines when we were starting, so it was in its infancy and it seems like there is no going back. Sometimes I’ll get a statistic and hear how many people are streaming you per month and it’s amazing. But my heart goes out to a young band that have to prove their statistics before they get a certain amount of attention from their record label. I’m a lucky one because our foot was already in the door.”
Vannucci is hopeful rock music can re-establish itself as a mainstream force. “Everything is cyclical,” he says. “I really hope there is a resurgence.”
The band’s 2013 compilation Direct Hits (752,492 sales) remains ingrained in the albums chart, due in no small part to their cross-generational anthem Mr Brightside (3,212,710 sales!), incredibly still a fixture of the Top 100 almost 17 years after it was first released.
“The strength and depth of their hits over more than a decade clearly keeps winning over new audiences week in and week out,” observes EMI’s Cawley. “Stick it on, I’d be amazed if you skip any of those tracks and also if you manage to resist the urge to crack open an ice cold cider or foamy lager of choice to enjoy it with.”
With the globe in such a state of flux, questions about the future can seem misguided, but Flowers’ ambition is undimmed.
“We were just about to go on our biggest tour that we’ve ever gone on. I was really looking forward to that and I’m still looking forward to that,” he says. “But I just want to evolve and keep getting better. I have started to notice that songs are coming easier as I get older and as I write more and exercise these muscles that I’ve developed over the years. So I’m really looking forward to the next decade and it’s something that I’m definitely on top of.”
“I just trust that we’ll make better and better records,” offers Vannucci. “That is our objective right now – trying to do good with what we’re given.”
Sommer’s thoughts are naturally fixed on the live arena. “We have multiple global options held but refrained from putting anything further on sale to preserve the cash flow of our fans and ultimately be mindful of everyone’s health and safety,” he says. “Once we have more visibility and a better handle on timing we will be ready to go. The guys thrive in the live setting and I know they can’t wait to get back out there and perform some of these great new songs.”
“Every tour cycle has been more successful than the last,” finishes Reynolds, who already has one eye on LP number seven. “Nobody is ready to rest on any laurels,” he insists. “I can’t drop any names, but let me just say that one of the top three Killers songs ever written is on the next album. It’s the best of early Killers while staying fresh and reflecting their development as a band. I can’t wait for the world to hear it.”
EMI is bidding to keep both the band and Imploding The Mirage at the forefront of people’s minds through the end of the year, with a view to a second promotional push around the rescheduled stadium dates.
“There’s plenty of quality in there,” sums up Cawley. “It all feels very much like they are cementing themselves even deeper in the history books of greatness.”
Maybe 2020 will still be their year after all...
​

The Brightside of life: The Killers reflect on Glastonbury 2019

How The Killers defied the odds to conquer Glastonbury 2019...
It was one of the greatest nights of their careers, but The Killers’ second time around headlining Glastonbury was not always a surefire home run.
The band came into last year’s festival cold and off-cycle, with no new music to promote, having wrapped up their Wonderful Wonderful tour the previous autumn. But the chance to right the wrongs of their Pyramid Stage headline debut 12 years earlier was too good to turn down.
“I don’t recall exactly when it became a real possibility, but I had been gently petting at the potential opportunity for many months knowing the [50th] anniversary year would be forthcoming and we already had our own pure outdoor headline plan for 2020,” reveals WME’s Kirk Sommer. “I knew if given the opportunity it was something we could not refuse, it was one of the biggest and most credible televised music events in the world to spring-load the next album tour campaign with. There was a little healthy discourse around it given the unique timing but they ultimately said, ‘Let’s do it’.”
Brandon Flowers admits he took some persuading to get on board. “My first thought when we were asked was to say no,” he admits. “We were in the middle of downtime and it was a little nerve wracking to be thrown into it like that. But our people rallied behind the idea and them having that faith helped us and it ended up being a great experience.”
“We’re always doubting ourselves,” says Ronnie Vannucci. “We always want to be delivering something new and fresh and we were worried that, having been [in the UK] such a short time before Glastonbury, we were a little at risk of overstaying our welcome.”
The night was an unequivocal triumph, propelling Direct Hits 66-5 in the charts in the wake of the performance, with an immense 323.4% week-on-week sales increase. Ironically, after their 2007 bow was marred by sound issues, the 2019 gig was reportedly the loudest in the event’s history.
Both band members consider the show, which saw them joined by childhood idols Pet Shop Boys and Johnny Marr for the climactic encore, an all-time live highlight.
“I really believe it’s No.1,” grins Flowers. “Not to downplay any other experience along the way, but it’s such an iconic gig. I equate it with something like the Wimbledon final or the Super Bowl and I was so happy with the outcome. The crowd were great and we were a well-oiled machine. We were able to celebrate our career and pay a nod to a couple of our heroes and inspirations. Talk about the stars aligning, they did for us that night.”
An excerpt from Fran Healy's interview in the same issue:
I came to co-write The Killers single Here With Me with Brandon Flowers because…
“We hit it off many, many years ago. He’s amazing. He came to a show that we played with Oasis in Las Vegas and it was a very memorable show for him. All his band members were there, independently of him, before they were in The Killers. I did a solo record in 2010 and I asked Brandon if I could support him on his solo tour, just over in America, so I travelled about and slept in a bunk on his tour bus for a few days. One night, I came in at the back of the bus and went, ‘Oh shit, I’m sorry, man’. He was like, ‘No, come in. I’m writing this song’. He played the melody and I was like, ‘Can I make a suggestion?’ And then we wrote it together. I basically barged into his songwriting session and elbowed my way in.”
Music Week

A year and a half ago, I won $19k on a slot machine, on a dollar bet. The biggest jackpot I've won by far, I mean that's a like winning a car. I owe $55k in student loans and I could've wiped out a big chunk of it. Instead, over the next year, I spent it all plus another $40k out of my retirement account and racked up $21k in credit card debt. Makes me so sick. I have an MBA and bought my own house when I was 30. I did 20 yrs in the military. I'm 41 now and have a very respectable job. I'm a whiz with numbers. I should know better.
I'm single with no kids and the casino is about an hour from my house. I felt like I was getting away with something naughty. I could go to the casino and no one would know where I was. I acted like the dealers were my friends, everyone knew my name. I would sit at a table and all the regulars knew who I was. I would get down a grand and take out another $300-400, saying this was the last time for a long time. I'd leave way too late and be pissed at myself, making deals with myself. "Okay... you're not allowed to come back before Aug 1 (or some date two months away.)"
Then a week later, the pain of the loss was out of sight and that urge would come back. It would creep in on a Tuesday night. Then it would come around on Thursday. No, no, I would tell myself. I have too much to do and I really can't afford it. Friday would be here. What's a couple of hundred dollars? You work hard, you deserve it, the devil would whisper to me.
I make another deal with myself. If you go to the casino, only $200 and be back by midnight. I'll get up on Saturday and get a ton of chores done. It'll be a productive weekend and it's okay to unwind first. Deals, deals and more deals with myself. Complete bullshit.
I haven't gambled in 3 weeks and I don't plan on ever playing a slot again. I could literally lose everything. I think I'm pretty close to it if I don't quit now. We'll see what happens.

As the world goes through vast change, and the structures of the past appear to be collapsing all around us, the idea of Socialism has re-arisen in western democracies.
It seems today that when anybody speaks about the benefits of Socialism they reference the Nordic countries in how wonderful and progressive they are with Utopian social welfare policies. One only has to look briefly at the history of these places to see that the governments that have evolved in these countries did so over lengthy periods of time with highly homogeneous communities. Looking at America travelling from east to west then south and the middle, the variations can be so great it is like living in different countries. In the Nordic countries they base social policies upon the populations seeing themselves as the one thing: Swedish, Finnish, Danish, etc. This type of unity doesn’t exist in America. The mixture of people from all lands on earth with different cultures, religions, philosophies has created the most amazing technological, scientific, literary, film and musical innovation the world has ever seen, but the Americans don’t see themselves as one people. In such a new country there are still huge divisions in the populace as to what precisely the definition of an American is.
Socialism has many variations, but can narrow down to two main role models/sources of origin. In the European counties it is Evolved Socialism which uses the free market and has great social welfare programs, and in other places such as Venezuela and Cuba where it is Enforced Socialism, which draws its roots from Marxist ideals. The biggest difference between the two besides one being enforced and one naturally evolving is that the Marxist version is based in an ideology of an oppressor e.g. The ruling elite/rich, Land owners, Bourgeoisie etc did this to me, so when they are gone my brothers, sisters and I can be happy to lead a peaceful Utopian way of life. The European version doesn’t have an oppressor type of foundation that has to be eradicated, instead it is about focusing on what is best for the society.
So the question arises with this new wave of socialist politicians appearing in America and around the world; what form of Socialism do they believe in? Listening to the new Socialists, they will point to the benefits of Socialism in Nordic countries and how fantastic such programs will be once implemented in the United States. But one merely has to follow their educational tree backward to know where these people picked up their brand of Socialism from, and in most instances it wasn’t Europe.
By following the history of these new wave of Socialists it allows us to have a better understanding into what motives them. If you want to look at Socialism today you have to start by examining modern Feminism which has had a lot of influence over the new Socialist movement.
Looking to its history, there have been four waves of Feminism defined as the following:
First-wave feminism: early 20th century 1900 to 1959, focusing on women’s suffrage, property rights, and political candidacy
Second-wave feminism: 1960s to 1980s, focusing on reducing disparities in sex, family, the workplace, reproductive rights, de facto inequalities, and official legal inequalities
Third-wave feminism: 1990s to 2000s, focusing on embracing individualism and diversity.
Fourth-wave feminism: 2008 to present-day, focusing on combating sexual harassment, assault, and misogyny, the #metoo movement and removing “The Patriarchy”. This latest group are known as the Kali’s, Neo-Suffragettes or 4th Wavers.
Waves one and two almost entirely dissipated when they achieved most of their aims. Wave three was left shell-shocked when the USSR collapsed leaving those that had allied the ideology to Marxism (academics, protesters) ineffective. The fourth wave reawakened and radicalised quickly with the use of social media and movements such as #metoo, its agenda now is to remove the Patriarchy.
The question then arises if the current wave of feminists want to remove “The Patriarchy” then what actually is it? A dictionary definition is “A system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it”. In both the animal and human worlds there are hierarchies in place. We as humans are adaptive animals who have mastered living in environments across the earth. In the last few thousand years humans have moved through extremely rapid and unparalleled transformation in population increase and how our communities live together, and one of the components in allowing them to do that are highly adaptive hierarchical structures. From the feminist perspective these hierarchies have been controlled by men and oppressed women to maintain control and power, and while there is some accuracy in this, if human history is examined closely one discovers that this is a biased representation.
Territorial fighting underlies both human and animal existence. In the majority of cases the groups that will dominate this fighting will be those led by males, so the hierarchical structures that evolved did so around male leadership. There are some examples of matriarchal hierarchies in both the animal and human world, but they are fairly rare due to males being naturally superior in their fighting and hunting abilities and that women bearing children need to be protected and fed. Men’s brains are hard wired to perform single focused tasks, which makes them better hunters and fighters, while women brains are wired more around communication, multi tasking and co-operative tasks which makes them better at raising children. The society and government groups that developed did so through an evolutionary trial and error process, for whatever worked best for that community at the time. As the environments and populations changed so did the hierarchical structures that held them together.
Examining the history of the women's movement and what motivated them into action starting with the Suffragettes, most of the men and women at that time lived very hard lives working 12 or more hours a day in dangerous and menial jobs such as working in factories and coal mines. Alcoholism was endemic and men lived in shell shocked states from being used as cannon fodder in wars. The average working class jobs involved brutally hard work for little pay and no labour or safety regulations, which many today would call a form of indentured slavery. It was common for woman to have eight or more children. Life expectancy was low for everyone and mother and infant mortality rates were high. In 1910, 60% of men, and 0% of women could vote. So both men and women had it very tough, with such repression it was both the Labour and Suffragette movements that made huge strides in raising the quality of the average person life, often through violent confrontations.
As more women were freed from having to be mothers at home, many went on to study in universities and were able to freely document their experiences.
Examining the history of many of the original feminists academics, one notices that many were sexually molested or suffered through some other violent abuse at some stage of their lives.
Andrea Dworkin who wrote “Women Hating”, was molested at the age of nine and severely abused by her first husband. Shulamith Firestone who wrote “The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution” had severe mental illness in the form of schizophrenia. Valerie Solanas who was considered one of the most radical feminists ever, writing the famous work “Scum Manifesto” rose up to fame after shooting the famous artist Andy Warhol. Her father molested her as a child and she ended up being committed to a psychiatric hospital after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Many of the other early feminists were first generation children from holocaust survivors with Epigenetic (traits inherited through the genes) trauma from their parents. Many feminists’ fathers had PTSD after returning from service or prison camps in World War 2 and continued the cycle of violence upon their children. PTSD inducing incidents cause the sufferers' brains to become hard wired to permanently hate and fear certain groups or types of people, and because the neurons become hard wired, there is little they can do to alter this long-enduring fearful revulsion. This type of reaction is also common to many war veterans after returning from combat. When someone has PTSD their perspective of the world is often very fixed to an alerted Amygdala flight or fight response. One has to ask how much of the opinions, and all the initial feminist doctrines and ideology relating to male patriarchal power, oppression, gender studies and related issues were written by women suffering PTSD or similar related conditions? There is no objective view possible if it is tainted through the lens of a fear and hatred from past traumatic events, in which the pain continues to be replayed thousands of times through self revised traumatic repetitions of the original episodes. This would be highlighted even further when it is echoed within groups who have all had a comparable experience, thus reaffirming and strengthening the belief collectively of what the original source of their trauma was.
People who have lost their power through a traumatic episode want someone to blame for the pain, suffering and disconnect they now feel, and will often fight for an alternative source of power to fill the vacuum of helplessness they feel. Old World War 2 and Vietnam veterans will often talk about hatred they still have for the “Japs”, “Krauts” and “Charlie”, even though many decades have passed since those wars had finished, many will drink, engage in dangerous behaviours and self medicate with various substances to temporarily fill the void. The psychological damage these early feminists had is no different to the ones the veterans face except who they identified as the enemy, in the feminist case it was men as a group who became known in feminist lore as “The Patriarchy”. So while there are hierarchies in the world and many of them are run by men, the concept of one great underlying oppressive group that subjugates and oppresses society and government is a paranoid and irrational view of someone absorbed in psychiatric distress, who is seeking for strategies to protect themselves and explain the origins of their perpetual despair and torment. If a world war two veteran suffering from PTSD were to tell you that “All German people are all evil” you could explain to them that it would be impossible for all members of a specific society to be that way, and how the populous had been indoctrinated to evil ideologies by dark prophets. This rational explanation though would not be enough because those damaged by trauma become deaf to logical reasoning surrounding it.
Many of those feminists who were suffering from deep trauma authored the original books and papers that became the bedrock of the feminist movement. Since then the mythology has endured and developed into a huge unverifiable here-say pseudo science, that has corrupted and held back studies within disciplines such as Sociology over half a century now.
If individuals are lost in an ideology, providing evidence contrary to their core belief threatens the ideology’s existence, so research bias (the process where the scientists performing the research influence the results in order to portray a certain outcome.) has become endemic to these feminist dominated sciences. The core of many feminist Sociology departments’ research has been based around the erroneous assumptions that patriarchal hierarchies and systemic oppression are the main source of most of the problems and dysfunction within our culture, while in truth it is really trauma that it is the foundational source of it.
By collecting the statistical data from an average town, calculating that only a small percentage of the men in this population need to be violent or have predatory tendencies for a large part of the women’s population to suffer at some point in their life some kind of traumatic episode. So even though there are men that do horrible things to women they only make up a small percentage of the total population of men. Those female victims of assault and trauma develop an unconscious bias, where they begin to see most if not all men in that population as bad, fearful or evil. This is why when the concept of the Patriarchy is mentioned many women resonate with it, because it seems to provide a very plausible explanation behind what has happened to them and other women.
Over a slow process feminists views intertwined themselves with Marxists’ ones creating a new hyper-normalisation where those lost within the ideology can no longer see the difference between the two. So if you want to be a Feminist fighting for women and other minorities rights you have to believe their Marxist ideology around an oppressor which it turns out is the Patriarchy. Traditional Feminine traits such as gentleness, empathy, sensitivity, caring, sweetness, compassion, tolerance, nurturing are not valued anymore as women can’t be seen to be weak or vulnerable. Once indoctrinated into the cult like ideology you can not rest or be at peace until the Patriarchy has been eliminated, so your mind and actions become swayed like an automaton with an individual objective, that justifies any unsavoury actions you may have to take in the process. A T-800 from the Terminator films would be the closest analogy in our contemporary mythology, in that you can’t plead, debate or negotiate with it, and it will destroy all that stand in its path to achieve what someone has programmed it to do.
This is even further muddled by movements such as climate change protesters, environmentalists, vegans, animal rights all blending into the 4th wave, and then all vying for influence and power within the movement. With all of them now believing the Patriarchy plays a great part in who is to blame in all their separate battles. Around the world many white straight women, Gay men and Jews are being removed from positions of power or are being dumped and replaced by trans, black lives matter and other minorities.
It is no secret that 1 in 5 professors in many modern American universities are openly Marxist and a high proportion of the rest of them have extreme left-wing views, particularly in the Humanities. In a country that doesn’t have a peasant underclass to manipulate into a revolution this has led to most of these educators treading water for decades. With the radicalised victim culture that social media has created in the last decade, it has now developed into a feasible task to mobilise those who see themselves as victims, and as they are educated to believe victims of of an evil Patriarchy. The many Women, Lesbian, Gay men, Transgender and other minority groups, who it has been statically shown to have suffered a higher rate of traumatic incidents in their lives than the general populace, are searching for someone or something to attribute that on. They ask “Why am I in so much pain?”, “Why is all of society stacked against me?”, “What is the source of all this misery in my life?”, “How do I heal from the hurt of my past and live in freedom?”. When they ask these type of questions along come the Gender studies and Marxist professors to point out that it is the Patriarchy that has done this to you. So instead of helping individuals in trauma and empowering women, men and minority groups they are instead recruiting them to an army of suffering in a never ending ideological battle with the promise that their current pain will only end when the fight against the Patriarchy is over. This is very similar to George Orwell’s book “1984”, where the masses were fighting never-ending wars against other enemies and the Inner Party, through an act of doublethink, believes that such a victory was possible. The professors isolate these new pupils from foreign views indoctrinating them into their new family’s values as they are the only ones who care or know of the anguish their members have been through. Universities which were once dynamic training grounds to educate the new leaders of the future have sections portioned off as safe spaces to isolate and indoctrinate its members to the 4th wave ideals.
Like the Ruling Elite or Bourgeoisie within Marxist ideology it is easy to distort the Patriarchy definition, and then anyone striving for power can make the term refer to anyone who challenges them, thus creating tyrannical rule. Simply look at the present insanity on social media and main steam media to see how this is taking place right now. Blacks, Whites, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, Indians, Gays, Trans, and both men and women are being called out for their privilege and their alliance to the Patriarchy because their viewpoints disagree with a 4th wave narrative.
Several ex KGB defectors spoke of a process known as “Ideological Subversion” which was practised by USSR against the US, and still continues to be used by Russia today. The intention behind ideological subversion is that Marxist ideas are implanted within the general populace, starting in newspapers and media as well as of centres of higher learning. As time passes these concepts become accepted and adopted across society, as those who have been indoctrinated in universities graduate they circulate through the workforce taking on many jobs such as educators teaching children at schools, positions throughout the public service and government in law making and management, journalism and so on. So every facet of society ends up being tainted by a subverted ideological agenda. Although the Russians did this for many decades with some success, it wasn’t till the combination of the Internet, iPhone/smart phones and Social media appeared that this subversion went into hyper-drive, spreading these ideas in seconds as opposed to decades; the seeds originally sowed by the Marxists in the universities and throughout society over many decades blossomed. What started off in social and alternative media has now graduated to mainstream media with many male and female reporters holding 4th wave feminists’ viewpoints unknowing they carry the seeds of Marxism within them. As the revenue for Newspapers, Television and other forms of mainstream media collapse, instead of using trained journalists, news makers are now turning to cheap churnalism opinion pieces instead, with rage bait headlines to get more views, many of which carry a huge 4th wave bias.
No matter what your occupation is, be it Politician, Public servant, Charity organiser, CEO, Entrepreneur, Journalist, Teacher, Waiter, Toll booth attendant, etc; if you don’t now represent and push the modern 4th wave female narrative you are criticised as the enemy of women and are labelled a misogynist, privileged, a mansplainer, sexually hostile, a femaphobe, anti-feminist, uncompassionate, a gas lighter, alt-right, an extremist, toxic male, or simply an angry man/woman and then publicly outed and shamed.
Gender studies graduates who were once unemployable are now holding leading positions as consultants and in human resource positions in the largest tech corporations worldwide, educating major players such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Instagram, YouTube Twitter and Apple, as to what is appropriate behaviour. These 4th wave beliefs then get placed within the companies’ standard operating policies and practices, and influence how they run their businesses.
Individuals with an anti 4th wave bias have their accounts cancelled from these modern platforms at a much higher rate than any other group, and in the process lose their right to freedom of speech in social media. So individuals are not given a trial through common law in this new world, but are instead tried and convicted by the standard operating procedures of these huge corporations instead.
Huge conglomerates such as Procter & Gamble (owners of The Gillette company) & Nike virtue signal with their 4th wave narratives in their advertising, while overlooking their abysmal workplace practices. Many major Corporations are now terrified of the social media backlash they will suffer if not perceived to be 4th wave friendly and will remove their advertising or sponsorship from anyone who dares to criticise or tries and communicate a different narrative. Eco-protest groups, Climate change groups, Vegans, Animal rights groups and an extensive array of assorted minority protesters seeing how influential the 4th wave shame and blame techniques are have adopted then modified them to their own movements.
PETA the animal rights group provides a prime example of this 4th wave speak adapted to their cause, here in this passage taken directly off their website “As feminists, we’re working to put more women in office and in corner offices. We fight for equal pay, tax-free feminine hygiene products, an end to sexual harassment, funding for women’s sports, and streets safe enough for us to walk alone. We push for strong role models who don’t objectify women on television and in movies. We work to end sex trafficking, slavery, genital mutilation, and “honour killings.” We rail against sexism in all its many forms—except, perhaps, when it comes to what’s on our plates. Can food really be sexist? Yes, when it’s the product of imprisonment, rape, reproductive control, kidnapping, and abuse”.
The twisting and curtailing of free speech to a 4th wave agenda has now become common in both government policy, commercial organisations and in protest groups.
Tim Cook provided an example of this when he recently addressed a media crowd on what Apple will and won’t tolerate being disseminated through their entire network, so you have a huge multinational company with its own agendas dictating what free speech is now.
PETA again demonstrated this when they tweeted the following “Words matter,”. “And as our understanding of social justice evolves, our language evolves along with it. Here's how to remove speciesism from your daily conversations." The animal rights organisation then included chart with what they view as offensive phrases on the left and what they view as acceptable substitutions on the right.
Instead of “kill two birds with one stone,” say “feed two birds with one scone”
Instead of “Be the guinea pig.” say “Be the test tube.”
Instead of “Beat a dead horse.” say “Feed a fed horse.”
Instead of “Bring home the bacon," say “bring home the bagels.”
Instead of “Take the bull by the horns.” say “Take the flower by the thorns."
In a later tweet, PETA compared the use of the original phrases to racist and homophobic language, writing: “Just as it became unacceptable to use racist, homophobic, or ableist language, phrases that trivialise cruelty to animals will vanish as more people begin to appreciate animals for who they are and start 'bringing home the bagels' instead of the bacon.”
A quick Google search with the words “Patriarchy” and “Vegan”, “Climate change”, “Animal Rights”, “Activism”, “NGO”, or “Advocacy” etc will highlight the armies of protester groups that erroneously believe that the Patriarchy is the source of their organisations dilemmas and only its removal will solve that.
The #metoo movement while having a noble intention at the beginning has now twisted into the 4th waves lynching tool to annihilate those who don’t conform to their agenda. Like middle eastern terror groups it has no centre of control and anyone with access to a computer or phone can be part of the revolution and bring down whom ever they choose. The film and entertainment industry are now terrified to produce anything that doesn’t promote some type of social justice message. The new archetype for women in the movies is one where she has to be an empowering role model, talks tough, handles a weapon, she is a martial arts professional, kicks ass better than the guys, even if it’s playing Maid Marion. The worlds biggest steaming service Netflix vigorously promotes their 4th wave agenda and removes narratives that would disagree with that. So we now have a flood of new programs such as “Sabrina” the Social Justice Witch and “Orange is the New Black” a series originally based on Piper Kerman’s memoir of her life in prison, that has subverted itself into a peculiar form of 4th wave fan fiction, attributing the Keystone Cop guards and Patriarchy for all the women inmates problems. Award shows highlight female accomplishment, and then actresses belittle and protest when award nominations do not have enough women or minorities in them. The actress Roseanne Barr lost her own Television series after one misrepresented Tweet. Kevin Hart was removed from hosting this years Oscars because he refused to apologise for some tweets which he had posted years prior, while Female comedians such as Hannah Gadsby receive standing ovations and rave media reviews for their “I hate men” message. Even a movie called “Suffragette” which detailed the struggles of Suffragettes, had its actresses shamed for having t-shirts with the slogan 'I'd rather be a rebel than a slave' to promote the movie, as according to the tsunami of hatred on social media, four 'privileged white women' wouldn’t be able to understand what slavery or oppression was.
Martina Navratilova the legendary female tennis player, was recently called out as being Transphobic when she said that people who were born male should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports events as it was unfair. The 4th wave “sociology/science” says there are no difference between the genders so it makes no difference. People now are waiting for Mike Tyson to go through a gender transition so he can take up women's boxing and compete on a “no difference” playing field.
As the 4th wave take over the various sciences they begin to twist the narrative of them to their own agenda, often using pseudo science or fake research in the process. In 2018 a group of academics exposed the corruption in Grievance Studies. These people wrote the most absurdly ridiculous hoax "studies" and got 7 of them accepted into highly respected academic journals (with one receiving an award) even though one was a re-written passage from Mein Kampf.
https://youtu.be/kVk9a5Jcd1k
In a slow trickle almost every type of study in universities and the workforce are being taken over by those with the 4th wave agenda, warping all their narratives in the process.
Schools are now having 4th wave narratives forced upon the pupils, inducting a new generation to the ideology, as students learn how gender doesn’t exist and how toxic masculinity is the source of all societies ills.
When Academics or old school Feminists such as Germaine Greer try to speak out against the problems within the present movement, it labels them bigots, racists and Nazis, and they have their events cancelled because of violent protesting against them.
To be seen as a persecuted victim to a violent oppressor has now developed into the leading trading currency on social media as the recently staged Jussie Smollett attack shows. If you believe you are a victim all the algorithms built within the social media platforms will reinforce that back to you, to keep you permanently on their platform. Like an addicted slot machine player the individual absorbed in the victim mentality only feels pleasure when they win a prize, in their case it is not money but attention or pity they receive instead. The victim mentality takes power away from someone so they seek to obtain that power back by tearing others down and feel like they have won the jackpot when they do so, but it is a hollow victory that demands another hit not long after. So we have the new wave of algorithmically brain washed social media junkies that are perpetually anaesthetised into unconscious echo chambers of victim hood, living only to receive their next hit. With the average person under thirty using social media on their phone seven to eight hours a day (many are using it much more), this has generated a disastrous epidemic with each user now as seduced by their phone as Gollum was with The Ring of Power. It is no surprise the creators of these systems won’t allow their own children to use them.
As victim culture has developed in the last decade, Socialism has now evolved into a mainstream viable choice for the millennial generation. If you listen to the interviews from the new wave of far-left politicians who are working to soothe and heal like a salve the pain of the past with their caring new type of leadership and revolutionary green political programs. In the end politics is a numbers game, just as Donald Trump exploited the right (aided by genius rage baiter Roger Stone) these people take similar actions within the left under the guise of benevolence and battling for minorities/women’s rights. New left-wing groups have appeared that recruit their leaders as you would a reality TV show celebrities. These fresh recruits are being singled out based on being youthful, Instagram/Facebook friendly and from a particular ethnic group. But these modern political candidates are just puppets who have been promoted to a position so they may carry out their creators agenda. What is that agenda? To fragment and create holes within the democratic party and then fill all the gaps until they hold majority power. Many of the leading players behind Bernie Sanders last election bid have been poached by those with even darker agendas than the 4th wave’s. When compared to these radical 4th wave politicians Bernie Sanders comes out looking like a moderate; if there is long term strategy behind this, who knows? But it was Bernie who was holding their hand, promoting and encouraging them throughout their campaigns up to when they entered office.
This may evolve into an even scarier scenario when you realise how government organisations such as the NSA now can monitor all our calls and internet traffic. Our smart phones store our lives including every location we have travelled, who we have spoken to and all our messages. Through recent decades we have been using it with social media platforms such as Facebook or Google. Through their extensive data collection pools they now can map our psychological profiles, our IQ, sexual, political and religious preferences, books we have purchased, the people we associate with and the clubs and organisations we belong to, every email and text we have ever sent and received, every website we have visited and every search we have carried out on a search engine. The amount and breadth of data now collected would leave an old school Russian KGB agent breathless. Not even at the peak of the Soviet Union was such a multitude of data collection feasible. This data has been used by the US to gain military, intelligence and financial advantage around the world, but now imagine a Government that was not interested in the military, foreign intelligence or financial gain and instead was controlled by those who only believe in a 4th wave agenda. Then there would be a forced surrender of that data from these government entities and huge corporations to wield against its citizens. This would consist of the vicious blame and shame social media insanity we currently see, now made manifest in the form of a ruling government. It would remove everyone that didn’t conform with its narrative as a dissident. You either accept what the 4th wave says or you are the enemy of the state. There is no middle ground, because like all those lost within a cult like ideology they believe they are serving the highest purpose.
The modern Socialism this recent wave of leftist politicians wish to introduce has nothing to do with European Socialism. Even the heads of many European countries have told Bernie Sanders to stop labelling their countries as a Socialist for his own agenda. But like the KGB defectors said you can show them the Gulags and the people starving, but the only thing that will change the minds of those lost within the Marxist ideology is when an army boot comes crashing down on their head. Then and only then do they finally realise what has transpired. Whenever the USSR took over a country in the past, they always placed the individuals who supported the revolution in re-education camps, Gulags or simply shot them in the back of the head, because they were the first to revolt and become dissidents when things didn’t turn out even remotely like they had envisioned.
Like the Nordic countries, Australia and New Zealand have fairly progressive social welfare policies and are very multicultural, but again both of these evolved over long periods of time, they were never thrust upon them in one tremendous surge of change. Coming from Australia I know that currently just under 20% of our populations is on some form of welfare in the form of old age pensions, disability, unemployment benefits, etc. Many individuals within the country are now coming out to question this once called “Welfare Safety Net” which seems to have transformed into a “Welfare Hammock”. We have a Universal health care system which is good, but with the combined Welfare and Health systems are now costing around 50% of government total expenditure. With a population of around 25 million that is ageing rapidly and living much longer, this system is only just working. But as most of our trade is with Asia, the next time that region has an economic equalisation we will suffer horrendously and will struggle to preserve this welfare state without producing massive debt. Then Australia similar to the Nordic countries will be just as susceptible to far left Marxist ideals as the US is. Many countries in Europe with the present economic and political uncertainty (including the Nordic ones) are becoming more vulnerable to Marxist ideals, with their own constantly growing left-wing parties, who shelter under the cloak of 4th wave feminist movement. The Nordic and other countries are no less immune to this risk than anybody else even though they are labelled as model nations by the 4th wavers.
In many respects America is an Oligarchy now with an enormous inequality in its distribution of wealth, as many individuals seek to fill an empty void with power and wealth. America also has an extreme Right, who are trapped in their own prejudices which they make no effort to hide and like feminism have their roots in trauma.
But if America were ever to become a Socialist nation headed by an ideology of an oppressor, there is a great possibility it could start a Civil War that could lead to the downfall of democracy for the US and its allies around the world.
I imagine now that anybody who doesn’t agree with what I have just spoken, will be jumping up and down saying “What about Trump and the hysteria he brought to the White House?” But if you look at Trump what you call his shadow side it is utterly out there in the open and that is the reason many people flock to him and his ideas. He worships wealth, discredits and chastises those who cross him, hates criticism, revels in being the biggest man in the room, loves to win at all costs, will distort the truth to prevail, loves being applauded and cheered by a crowd, is narcissistic, lives to make a deal, loves beautiful women and “grabbing the pussy”. So there are no great hidden mysteries in Trump’s psychological make-up. But if you look to the new left their shadow is obscured by a smiling veneer of compassion and desire for equal rights, but removing that you will recognise a victim identity. The Victim identity is the most treacherous and vicious one of all because it grants those entrapped within it to take violent actions under the justification they are always serving the highest motive, it is a form of Martyrdom. The victim identity fighting against a perceived oppressor is what allowed the horrors of the holocaust to take place as the Germans fought to wipe out their perceived oppressor the Jews. Under Marxism hundreds of millions were tortured and died, leaving those left behind to live in Stasi Police states, all in the name of eliminating their Bourgeoisie oppressors.
The trauma/victim mentality is exceptionally well summed up by the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre quote “Hell is other people”. A better translation might be “Hell is the others”, an exceedingly dangerous idea because it sets up the assumption that once you eliminate “the others” the Hell won’t be there any more. And it was Jean Paul Sartre and his students’ ideas that provided the template for Pol Pot’s torturing and murdering of millions in Cambodia in the name of creating a fresh perfect society. The evil part of being inducted to an ideology is that the only way an individual recruited to it will receive respite from their suffering is once the believed perpetrator is eliminated, but this is the lie used to manipulate the indoctrinated into committing atrocious acts against humanity, in the name of trying to achieve a carrot on the stick goal.
A voice and equal rights for women should be the premiere goal of our societies, but if it is attained through tyranny, a tidal wave of rage will be the only outcome, as hate begets hate. Blaming all the worlds problems on an imaginary oppressor has tainted everything from children, education systems, our media, social service systems, workplaces and government and has helped to lay the foundation for the ultra polarisation on both sides of the political spectrum. The women's movement has been built on the modern freedom of western democracies and the industrial, economic, scientific revolutions of the last few hundred years. If our societies were to go into a major decline then so would these freedoms and much of the progress made over this time go. Then we could see the rise of a dystopia so horrific that in comparison it would make “The Handmaids Tale” look like a Disney adventure.
If I was to take all the above and sum it up in one sentence, I’d say “If you want some form of Socialism (Even if it is Democratic Socialism) makes sure it doesn’t come with an attached ideology of an oppressor, because if it does, it has nothing to do with a Nordic or any other country’s government and progressive social policies, then there is a great possibility it could be the end for your country’s democracy and freedom”.
People always ask how good German, Russian, Chinese or Cambodian people could carry out some of the most atrocious acts against humanity the world has ever known, well here we go again.
P.S. There is a linchpin to all this madness/polarity we have on both the radical left and right, in the media, politics, etc. And it will only come into play if we focus on the healing of the trauma, both ours and our forefathers, which has run through our societies for thousands of years, and is the fundamental factor in humanities disconnect from themselves, others, nature and life. People are only ‘triggered’ if they have trauma in them to begin with to trigger. When the trauma is gone so is the capacity to be triggered. People only get lost in Ideologies if they have a disconnect from themselves. There is an old African proverb “You can outrun what is running after you, but not what is running inside of you”. Peace will only ever be achieved if we are brave enough to end the war in ourselves first and let it flow out into the world.
“Wanting to reform the world without discovering one’s true self is like trying to cover the world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on stones and thorns. It is much simpler to wear shoes.”
- Ramana Maharshi