There are very few people on Earth who can insist that you not monkey with their business and make it sound like theyre inviting you in for a randy cup of tea with a side of foreplay. Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran is one of those people. Maybe the only one. And on May 4th at the third stop on their Red Carpet Massacre tour, he did with fashionable pizazz. The show at the Nokia Theater in Downtown L.A. had exquisite sound. I can imagine anyone would sound good, including Your Vegas, who opened. All I have to say about them is that I liked them better when I thought he said, Your Vagrants, one song sounded like Big Country, the singer had a broken foot, they could all play their instruments, and it was generically solid. The kind of band that if I found them myself in the 99 cent bin of a thrift store in the desert, Id probably be a fan.
The set included quite a few newer songs and 7 or 8 classics. Among the classics were Hungry Like the Wolf, Save a Prayer, Last Chance on the Stairway, and A View to a Kill. Sadly, no, a giant wave of digital water didnt rush forward and drench the audience. They played their Taylor-less mid-90s hits, Ordinary World and Come Undone, and Simon even appealed to the audience to light up their cell phones for World. How romantic.
After a brief break for a set change, the band came to front stage for an all-keyboard medley of classics with the 4 original members. Roger on electric drums, John & Nick on keys, and Simon on dancing. At first the audience was unsure what to do, but as soon as they realized they knew the words, everyone was back up and awkwardly shaking their cell phones and margaritas. And you know? When bands are as notorious as Duran Duran, you forget that these guys can actually play the hell out of their instruments. It was impressive in a oh-hey-look-at-that kind of way to watch Nick Rhodes actually wiggle the bender on Save a Prayer. Oh LOOK, hes really playing that! Neat!
The songs choices separated the crowd into die-hard fans and people that stopped listening when they lost all their Taylors (none of whom are related, FYI). It was like 50% of the audience was on levers set to spring up for anything pre-1989. I suppose all concerts for mega-bands still recording are like that. (stand up!) Oh yay! I know this song! (sit down) Ew, whats THIS song? One thing that was universal among the crowd everyone was old enough to feel comfortable clapping along or filling in the ba-ba-ba, b-ba-ba-b-bas when baited by Simon. Yeah, I clapped. AND ba-bad. Even though I was totally alone. Middle-aged crowds do that to you.
Its hard to guess who came up with the idea to reimagine the band as the Electro Poppin Grandaddies, complete with expertly constructed deconstructed suits, but it seems it was a successful operation. Duran Duran always had the misfortune of being so handsome that no one believed they wrote the music themselves, and the elitists in the music industry never admitted to the genius in their pop treats. So as Im listening to the squeaky clean new songs, Im thinking, This is just too perfect. But, I suppose it always was.
