Brandon Flowers is a bona fide worldwide megastar. As the driving force behind indie royalty The Killers, he is capable of selling out stadiums in seconds.

So to see him up close at Manchester’s Academy is a treat in itself.

His debut album Flamingo has been widely likened to The Killers' sound, but other than his distinctive vocal, I don’t hear the similarities.

He opens with On The Floor, a beautiful gospel prayer.

It is well known that Flowers is a devout mormon from Las Vegas, and as such, his songs are littered with religious truths and a smattering of pretty laboured gambling metaphors.

But there is an endearing naivety about the guy – it is easy to forget that, while he is a big stage veteran, he is still only 29.

He moves on to the effortlessly catchy Crossfire, as yet his only hit, and you wonder, has he gone "all in" too soon?

No. He gets an extended ovation from a sell-out crowd who hang on his every lyric. He is preaching to the converted.

The sixties-inspired Magdalena is followed by a cover of Kim Carnes’ 1981 classic Bette Davis Eyes, which fits right in with his own kitsch sound.

Flowers is undeniably clean cut and, it has to be said, a little bit cheesy.

"Manchester has always been my musical home," he tells us – he was inspired to pursue a career in music after seeing Oasis play live... "but this song is about my physical home..."

Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas is magical – it is topped only by an acoustic version of The Killers’ When You Were Young in the encore.

I would have liked to hear a couple more from The Killers' back catalogue – the only other track he sings is Losing Touch, which isn’t exactly a classic – but apart from that, there can’t be too many complaints.