After introducing themselves with a couple of songs off of last year’s Red Carpet Massacre, the best synth-pop band to ever grace the planet, Duran Duran, woke even the most casual fans up at the Sleep Train Pavilion on Friday with “Hungry Like The Wolf.” As soon as the opening guitar chords danced across the loud speakers, I felt like I was riding around town in my car, with the windows down shouting, “Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doooooo.” Of course, this is something I do only while leaning to one side or the other, sometimes with others in the car, mostly in residential neighborhoods but only to this particular song. On stage, lead singer Simon Le Bon and bassist John Taylor, wore tight sport coats adorned with a tastefully stained “D” on the left shoulder, proudly announcing Duran Duran’s arrival.
Moving around as if still in their mid-twenties, Le Bon and crew rolled through their bevy of hits, and even stripped the jackets to play “Come Undone.” The crowd loved every minute of it, as all of the children of the 80s that surrounded me cheerfully sang and danced along. If there was any question just what decade DD was from, it was answered with a pretty sweet jump kick executed by the 49-year-old Le Bon during “The Reflex.” I’m 25, in decent shape, and am not sure I could complete the same maneuver with such grace.
In the middle of their set, they walked off stage for a few minutes and came back to a new setup. Here, DD did their best Kraftwerk impersonation, standing behind podiums and turning the bass up to uncomfortable levels. The lights flashed brightly, and I couldn’t tell what I was writing in my notepad, on account of temporary hallucinations (unfortunately not resulting from any kind of drug, alcohol or blow to the head). This bit felt strange, and from what I could tell, the rest of the audience was rather confused by it and was ready for this bizarre set to be over and it ended after only a few songs when the lights turned down for another stage change.
All of the peculiarity was forgotten when DD went right into “Notorious,” causing those pop-loving adults to shake their bodies in a crazed fashion. Once again proving that his band can still kill the ladies with charm, Le Bon found the hands of some demented woman wrapped around his waste, clutching his ass after she ran on stage after him. When security came and took her away, he didn’t waste any time before encouraging the crowd to give her a round of applause. Dude obviously had prior experience.
They ended their set with an encore version of “Rio,” and I was forced to use the recording device on my cell phone. I couldn’t be so selfish as to keep this to myself. There I was, enjoying one of the best synthesizer-laden songs ever, played by the men who mastered the art and who laid the groundwork for bands like The Killers, Barenaked Ladies and Franz Ferdinand. I needed to take down this evidence and share it with someone. It’s not often you see the influencers of many great bands right in front of your face.
Click here for more Duran Duran tour dates.
For more information:
Duran Duran: www.duranduran.com and myspace.com/duranduran – Buy Red Carpet Massacre on Amazon.com.
Your Vegas: myspace.com/yourvegas – Buy A Town and Two Cities on Amazon.com.
