The Comeback 5 or so years ago was awesome. The gigs were amazing, the band were super, and then ASTRONAUT came out. And it was kind of a let down. It felt flat, overproduced, etc. Again, I've been through this. If I learned anything about the Durans was how much in their later years its about the show and not the albums themselves. Webster Hall, MSG, and ASTRONAUT proved that. In my mind, it was a comeback that had super momentum and then had the rug pulled out from under them.
Since then, they've gone and done their thing. They lost Andy Taylor yet again (and supposedly did a whole album with him that will hopefully leak eventually) Played the world, awesome gigs, large places, Diana concert, Live 8 or whatever it was called, and their place in history at this point is pretty much sealed. Kudos to the lads. Anyone should be happy with that legacy. But we're talking about Duran Duran here.
When I heard the first leaked tracks from their collaboration with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake (of whom I am a big fan, almost at the level of Ash), my first reaction was that of dread. Mind you, I didn't hate the songs as much as I didn't like Timbaland rapping over some parts. Big problem. Immediately, my expectations for this new album, frighteningly called RED CARPET MASSACRE. The whole collaboration thing seemed like a very obvious attempt at being "relevant" and get back onto the charts, and guess what, in typical Duran style, they made no bones about this and were quite upfront about it. I sorta respected it. Kinda. Sorta. You know me, if the music is good, then who the fuck cares...
So then they announce a 10 night residency on Broadway to promote this new album. Clever, I thought, until I read they were performing the entire new album and "some hits". For the price they were charging for this, and with my unpredictable schedule, I had convinced myself that this was a pass. Even while in New Mexico, my beloved Aunt (who had taken me to see them literally 20 years ago), called me seeing if she wanted to get me tickets. I passed. However, in a moment of weakness in Newport, I found myself lying around a hotel room pondering the value of family (long story and nothing to do with my own family), and grabbed three tickets. One for me, one for Irene,and one for my Aunt. Man was she excited when I told her about this!!
My excitement for this gig lay more in doing something nice for my aunt, who always been the "cool" aunt and with whom my relationship is similar to that between Irene and Cameron (My aunt has babysat Cam a few times). Also, this made me a hero to my mom, who is my aunts older sister.
Anyhow, we were going a few nights into the series of gigs and I started to follow the reviews, articles etc. about the band, the show and the album. Surprisingly, a lot of was positive. I at least knew we were going to see a good gig cause honestly, they never suck live and to see them in a tiny Bway theatre would be something to brag about to the likes of Vikki, et al. I had planned an evening. I took Irene and my aunt to my fave midtown Italian eatery, cause it was right by the theatre and we had ourselves a very nice dinner. We then proceeded to walk up the block and when I turned the corner and saw the big billboard of them at the theatre, I was officially psyched. Oh and they had a really fucking funny Playbill!
Long story short, they come out and the look awesome, the stage set is great and we have awesome seats. They then play the whole new album in order. And it doesn't suck, again proving my point that them playing live always suits the songs that much better. The stuff I didn't like seemed to make more sense in the context of the album. Oh, and let me reiterate that they play like champs and with the energy of men half their age.
My aunt literally made me google Simon LeBon on my Blackberry just because we couldn't believe this energetic guy is 49 years old. And again, they can PLAY. The fountain of youth is in full effect, but wisely, they are not TRYING to be 25 year olds. The new material is also aided by an excellent multimedia show that took good advantage of the venue without distracting from the music. I didn't love all the new songs but goddammit I respected their playing the whole thing and presenting it this way. 12 songs later and they were off.
If they didn't come back, I wouldn't have been too upset, but these guys are smart. And gutsy. They come back for the second part of the show and it's an ell electronic, Kraftwork-style set. Played live. I want to be clear on that . And what do they do? They open with Kraftworks SHOWROOM DUMMIES and then proceed to play an awesome fucking set up older songs like SKIN TRADE, ALL SHE WANTS IS, LAST CHANCE ON THE STAIRWAY and I DON'T WANT YOUR LOVE. They even slipped in a cover of WARM LEATHERETTE and added a fucking horn section somwhere in there. This literally was one of the coolest Duran things I have ever seen and this set was worth the price of admission. This is what it looked like (Thank you, Irene)
And they come back for the third part of the show, which was the 'hits". And man were the fans rewarded. It's what you expect: RELFEX, NOTORIOUS, PLANET EARTH and even the rarely played DO YOU BELIEVE IN SHAME. massive. There are more, and the crowd goes mental. Total, the whole evening was an amazing, one of a kind, 2 hours plus of the Durans showing that they can be relevant. They didn't need the rapping for that.
I've since gotten my hands on the album and It's a much more spirited affair than ASTRONAUT. Yep there's some good, there's some not so good, but damn they are still here and still impressive and their legacy is intact. Look, they aren't gonna chart in this country, but they still got it.
Well done lads, and thanks to Irene and my Aunt for a fun evening!
F
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