Duran Duran in Everett

Came in from a rainy Thursday on the avenue to see Duran Duran last night. The arena was maybe two-thirds full. Sound quality was pretty bass-heavy on some songs, but the band's performance was spirited. They definitely weren't phoning it in. Their medley of "Planet Earth" and Bowie's "Space Oddity" worked a lot better than most fans of either act probably would've expected.

DURAN DURAN SETLIST:
Paper Gods
Wild Boys
Hungry Like the Wolf
View to a Kill
Come Undone
Last Night in the City
What Are the Chances?
Notorious
Pressure Off
Planet Earth/Space Oddity
Ordinary World
I Don't Want Your Love
White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)
Reach Out for the Sunrise/New Moon on Monday
The Reflex
Girls on Film

ENCORE:
Save a Prayer
Rio

Chic (or, more accurately, Nile Rodgers and his band) was the opening act. The band was very tight, and recreated those Seventies hits very well, but the set was mostly a self-driven love-fest. Rodgers tooted his own horn about how many hits he'd written or co-written for other artists. (He announced "Get Lucky" as "a song I wrote with these two French dudes who call themselves Daft Punk, and a guy named Pharrell Williams. It went to Number One in a hundred and seventy-two countries!") Still, it's hard to argue with the guy's success, and considering his bout with cancer, it's hard to begrudge the fact that he's survived to celebrate it.

CHIC SETLIST:
Everybody Dance
Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowzah, Yowzah, Yowzah)
I Want Your Love
I'm Coming Out
Upside Down
He's the Greatest Dancer
We Are Family
Get Lucky
Let's Dance
Le Freak
Good Times (including "Rapper's Delight" segment)

Interesting that the Durans did "Wolf" so early in the set - I'd figure that would close to last, or even in the encore.

I have to say that "Let's Dance" sounds better as a Chic track than a Bowie one. I never liked that song until I heard Chic perform it. It's still not a great song by any measure, but it just hurt less not hearing Bowie slumming with it. Sounded like a good night out overall. The last Duran album was not too inspiring but I wonder how those tracks came over live? I see they did four songs from "Paper Gods." Unfortunately, one of these was the egregious "Last Night In The City;" a strong contender for worst DD song ever [and there are so many].



Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

Quote

a strong contender for worst DD song ever [and there are so many

Two of my nominees for that dubious honor also made the setlist, "Wild Boys" and "The Reflex."

Odd that they didn't do "The Chauffeur," as that one seems to have become a favorite over the years of "I don't like Duran Duran but that's a great song!" types. I would've figured that would be a fixture in their set lists these days just to give snooty types a cover for being at a Duran Duran show.

What about their version of "White Line," which also made the setlist?

Yeah, this wasn't my ideal setlist. That one would've included more from Rio, along with "Is There Something I Should Know?" and perhaps "Girl Panic," and dropped "Paper Gods" and the Grandmaster Melle Mel cover.

Perhaps I should've mentioned that Nile came back out to perform "The Reflex" with the Durans. Simon told the crowd what a tremendous influence Chic had been on the band. He said they fell in love with INXS' "Original Sin," and when they found out that Nile Rodgers had mixed it, they handed over "The Reflex" to him for a remix.

"The Original Sin" is the first Nile Rodgers production for another artist that I thought was great. It still had that plastic "Nile Rodgers Sound" but somehow it worked for me.



Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

I saw them last spring and they didn't do "The Reflex" (no problem for me, I agree with Brad on "Wild Boys" and this one) but most of the comments I read after the show complained about that omission. So I guess the band hastily added it back.

Toland - If you don't like the studio version of "White Lines" (which I don't), you would've hated it live. It was very loud and all over the place.

I really had lost touch with DD since the `80s and I was shocked to see that they've been churning out a new album every three or four years so I didn't know most of the later ones. Apparently 'Come Undone' is a big crowd favorite. As for the new album, it's ok with the exception of 'Pressure Off'; I think that one stands right up there with their best.

Near the end of the show, most of the people around me that were standing wihen the show started now were sitting while I was still standing. The woman standing next to me (who was probably more than 20 years younger than me) asked me how long I'd liked DD and I said since the early `80s, she then said to me "You are a true fan" - High praise, indeed!