I was so exited when I heard my favorite band Duran Duran was coming to tour California… I was invited by to see them at the Hollywood Bowl last Thursday, but I opted for Agua Caliente Casino Resort and Spa in Rancho Mirage instead.
I figured the world and its wife would be attending in Hollywood and since I know the band personally I didn’t want to be lining up to say my backstage hellos in LA.
Instead I texted drummer (and friend) Roger Taylor on Friday and told him I would see him in the desert!
Just before the show I popped behind the scenes for a quick chat with Nick Rhodes and Rog, catching up all the latest tour gossip, and was thrilled to hear their new album ‘Paper Gods’ had just entered the U.S top ten… Yay…bring it!
And the band didn’t fail to impress on stage either, they nailed it in fact, giving the fans exactly what they wanted. The show opened with their new track “Paper Gods” which I love, but no sooner than the song ended we were on an Eighties and Nineties rollercoaster ride bopping in the isles and swinging our tighty-whities high in the air celebrating pop music at its best.
From “Hungry Like the Wolf ” to “A View to a Kill” then it was “The Reflex” followed by “Come Undone” … The audience was rocking and the boys on stage gave the crowds the best show they’ve seen from them in years!
Even Simon Le Bon looked so hot as his hips swung from side to side while singing “Planet Earth”… I was a teenager all over again completely forgetting that that I knew members of the band in my adult life.
And throughout the 90-minute show, Le Bon’s vocals were equally thrilling – clearer, crisper, and more forceful than ever, the happy result of years of work with a vocal therapist.
Freed from the vocal problems that forced the band to cancel a run of concert dates in 2011, the already quite self-assured Le Bon now sang with almost superhuman confidence when he hit that helium-high note.
Also surprising, or actually downright shocking: When Duran’s performance of Grandmaster Melle Mel’s “White Lines (Don’t Do It)” – off their infamous “Thank You” covers album, arguably the biggest blunder of their career – turned out to be one of the top highlights of the night, with the band making the classic 1983 hip-hop jam thrillingly their own.
A night to remember that’s for sure… I sent Rog’ a message after to say thanks for a great night… He replied “lovely to see you” and that I looked as “fit as a butchers…” Meaning, I guess that the years have been kind to me… Well Roger… I have to say; the years have been kind to you too!
Duran Duran’s critically heralded Paper Gods – is out now on Warner Bros. Records.
