Herkie the Dog's World Musings
Some People Call It A One Night Stand, But We Can Call It Paradise
These last few days have probably been the closest I'll ever come to hopping in a time machine. Along with my reminiscing, thanks to Bowling For Soup, and the zit I developed on my nose, we also went to the Duran Duran concert last Thursday night. All I would have had to do to complete the evening was wear my Members Only jacket. Yes, I still have it.
I had never seen "Double Duran" (R.I.P. J.J. Jackson) live before. In fact, when they were at their hugest, I could not stand them. I couldn't get past the pretty boy image which seemed to drive all of the girls absolutely insane, thereby ignoring any attempts by a shy, awkward adolescent to start any conversation. But as time went on, I realized there was much more to these "pretty boys" than slick (albeit very cool) videos and teen magazines. And I finally began to appreciate the music these guys put out. By the time I had even a slight interest in seeing them live, they were down to a trio and waning fast.
But, as Jake and Elwood would say, "we're putting the band back together." And the fab five were back together, recording and touring again. They had been here once before at a venue that was very, very close to my house. But somehow we elected not to go, and I'll bet it had something to do with ticket price at the time. But on this second go around, I was given the chance to check it out and took advantage.
I obviously missed out on a lot in the 80's. Because the Duranies were just killer on stage. These guys may have been and still may be pretty boys, but they've got chops. Knowing how to make an entrance, they came out under dim dramatic lighting, flanked the stage and motionlessly took in the wild high pitched squeeing of the fangirls for a few minutes before moving one by one to their positions on the stage.
Making a statement that this was no nostalgia act, Duran opened with a new song-the first single from Astronaut, and pretty much demanded that while you may love the old stuff, they weren't here to retread old ground and live off the past. And once that was said, the past came back in a big way with "Hungry Like the Wolf." I should mention that at this point, Paul had to point out that he had predicted this as the show opener and was pretty pleased to point out that he was only one off!
The entire playlist for the show, and all of their shows actually, can be found here, but suffice it to say, they mixed in the new album deftly with old favorites, many played with quite an edge not necessarily present on the original recordings. The rendition of "I Don't Want Your Love" in particular stood out for me, as the synth dance tune was transformed into a monster rocker thanks mainly to the presence of Andy Taylor's guitar chops and Roger Taylor's steady drumming. The two weren't initially present when that song came out, so their return instantly transformed any dynamic that song had. Similarly, many songs by the Duran Duran trio, such as "Notorious," "Come Undone" and "Ordinary World" were instantly fleshed out by having the two Taylors back in the fold.
Meanwhile, the old standards sounded as good as ever. "Wild Boys" was very intense, and songs like "Planet Earth" and "Girls On Film" were also moved away from the 80's synth pop/new romantic sound and transformed into something more edgy while still retaining their essence. John Taylor's bass playing, particularly in reprising the riffs from "Rio" displayed just how good he really is but doesn't seem to get credit for. And even pushing 50, Simon LeBon showed no loss in his voice. And he still got all the women to swoon as he moved through the audience looking for someone to introduce him during the band introductions. Strangely enough, although he unquestionably provided most of the sonic backdrop for the show, Nick Rhodes didn't seem to be a very obvious presence behind the keyboards. However, he did seem to have a good time using the handheld video camera onstage, the feed of which was shown on the video screens behind the stage.
There wasn't much question that the band were enjoying their second go round together. Older, wiser and smarter, Duran Duran definitely seem like they mean to make this ride last.
I had never seen "Double Duran" (R.I.P. J.J. Jackson) live before. In fact, when they were at their hugest, I could not stand them. I couldn't get past the pretty boy image which seemed to drive all of the girls absolutely insane, thereby ignoring any attempts by a shy, awkward adolescent to start any conversation. But as time went on, I realized there was much more to these "pretty boys" than slick (albeit very cool) videos and teen magazines. And I finally began to appreciate the music these guys put out. By the time I had even a slight interest in seeing them live, they were down to a trio and waning fast.
But, as Jake and Elwood would say, "we're putting the band back together." And the fab five were back together, recording and touring again. They had been here once before at a venue that was very, very close to my house. But somehow we elected not to go, and I'll bet it had something to do with ticket price at the time. But on this second go around, I was given the chance to check it out and took advantage.
I obviously missed out on a lot in the 80's. Because the Duranies were just killer on stage. These guys may have been and still may be pretty boys, but they've got chops. Knowing how to make an entrance, they came out under dim dramatic lighting, flanked the stage and motionlessly took in the wild high pitched squeeing of the fangirls for a few minutes before moving one by one to their positions on the stage.
Making a statement that this was no nostalgia act, Duran opened with a new song-the first single from Astronaut, and pretty much demanded that while you may love the old stuff, they weren't here to retread old ground and live off the past. And once that was said, the past came back in a big way with "Hungry Like the Wolf." I should mention that at this point, Paul had to point out that he had predicted this as the show opener and was pretty pleased to point out that he was only one off!
The entire playlist for the show, and all of their shows actually, can be found here, but suffice it to say, they mixed in the new album deftly with old favorites, many played with quite an edge not necessarily present on the original recordings. The rendition of "I Don't Want Your Love" in particular stood out for me, as the synth dance tune was transformed into a monster rocker thanks mainly to the presence of Andy Taylor's guitar chops and Roger Taylor's steady drumming. The two weren't initially present when that song came out, so their return instantly transformed any dynamic that song had. Similarly, many songs by the Duran Duran trio, such as "Notorious," "Come Undone" and "Ordinary World" were instantly fleshed out by having the two Taylors back in the fold.
Meanwhile, the old standards sounded as good as ever. "Wild Boys" was very intense, and songs like "Planet Earth" and "Girls On Film" were also moved away from the 80's synth pop/new romantic sound and transformed into something more edgy while still retaining their essence. John Taylor's bass playing, particularly in reprising the riffs from "Rio" displayed just how good he really is but doesn't seem to get credit for. And even pushing 50, Simon LeBon showed no loss in his voice. And he still got all the women to swoon as he moved through the audience looking for someone to introduce him during the band introductions. Strangely enough, although he unquestionably provided most of the sonic backdrop for the show, Nick Rhodes didn't seem to be a very obvious presence behind the keyboards. However, he did seem to have a good time using the handheld video camera onstage, the feed of which was shown on the video screens behind the stage.
There wasn't much question that the band were enjoying their second go round together. Older, wiser and smarter, Duran Duran definitely seem like they mean to make this ride last.
posted by Jon at
8:40 PM
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