Duran Duran‘s Wedding Album was the first cd I ever bought. I was absolutely in love with the songs Ordinary World and Come Undone at the time and decided to bite the 12 dollar bullet and bought the cd with my allowance when my parents got cd player. I still love those two tracks today so when I was offered a chance to see the legendary English band live on Thursday, I jumped at the chance. It was also my first show ever at the ACC
Duran Duran took the stage at 8:30 (respecting the advanced age of the crowd) and delivered a very solid two hour set that followed the retro band template to a tee. In case you were wondering what that was:
a) Start out with a bang
b) deliver your new material in the beginning, sprinkling a few hits in there to keep fan interest level afloat
c) deliver a hit heavy set to close off the second half of the set
Aside from Girls on Film, the band delivered all the hits you expected – Rio, Hungry like the Wolf, Planet Earth and of course the two songs that delivered me to Duran Duran in the first place.
Here are some highlights of the show:
It was Simon Le Bons 54th birthday and for a man of such advanced age, the dude looks good and can move rather well, although his high kick is now a mid kick and the whole running from the back and bursting onto the stage move looks a little more tender now.
Nice nostalgic touch by Duran Duran before the start of their new single, encouraging all the fans in the crowd to call their radio stations to play it. When was the last time something like that happen? 1993? Side story: When I was 8, I fell in love with the Beach Boys song Kokomo, had my mom call in to request the song, then she recorded it when they played it. So I blame her for all my mp3 pirating habits of the early internet age.
New track The Man Who Stole A Leopard, with it’s weird news clip ending, was an utterly confusing mess
In what started off as a heart felt introduction to the track Ordinary World, Simon Le Bon explained how he wrote the song when a good friend of his passed away and there was all kinds of chaos going around the world right now. He then tells the crowd how lucky we are to live where we live when there was so much suffering in actual quote: “countries like Africa”. Probably just a word mistake (he probably meant continent) but still I was laughing so hard it almost derailed my enjoyment of one of my favorite Duran Duran songs. Luckily, Simon Le Bon and crew just slayed that song – the vocals sounded great, the guitar was top notch and it was probably the best song of the entire set.
Anyone downplaying Duran Duran’s importance in the 80s only needs to attend a show of theirs to realize that the band is responsible for two of the most iconic images from that time. The first is obviously the music video for Hungry Like The Wolf and the other, which caught me surprise was this:
A simple flash of this image on the screen and everyone knew what the next (and set closing) song was. I’m not even that familliar with Duran Duran’s eighty music and I knew what that image was. Both songs brought people to their feet and inspired as much uncoordinated awkward dancing as you would expect.
Big up points to the man beside me who brought both his kids to the show, tried to get them to enjoy the band, trying to play the cool dad, giving up as soon as the biggest hits barrage hit and dancing/sinking in all his glory while his teenage daughter sinks further and further into her chair.
All in all an entirely pleasant time and another band I can check off my list.
Before The Rain
Planet Earth
A View To A Kill
All You Need Is Now
Blame The Machines
Come Undone
Safe (In the Heat of the Moment)
The Reflex
The Man Who Stole A Leopard
Girl Panic!
Is There Something I Should Know?
Tiger Tiger
Careless Memories
Leave A Light On
Ordinary World
Notorious
Hungry Like The Wolf
(Reach Up For The) Sunrise
Encore:
Wild Boys/Relax
Rio