It’s all up to you now
Find yourself in the moment
Go directly to the voodoo
Now the channel is open- Duran Duran, “All You Need Is Now”
Before I move forward with the final chapter of my Fortypalooza jaunt to see Duran Duran in concert for the first time, I think I need to check and see where I’m at with NaBloPoMo. I think I am behind a post or three? Oy vey. But really, who’s counting? If I manage to publish 30 posts this month, I will consider it a success. A lot of it has to do with sleep. I usually get my bursts of inspiration in the evening, after the kids have gone to bed. But lately, with the erratic weather, I’ve been passing out on my broken-down La-Z-Boy love seat before my daily allowance of trash TV is even over and done with. (That’s my story, and I am sticking to it. I will catch up. Count on it.)
Now, let’s move on to the real reason for this post.
(L to R): John Taylor; Roger Taylor; Simon Le Bon; and Nick Rhodes
I had never heard of Neon Trees before learning they were the opening act for Duran Duran on this leg of their North American tour. And after I did, I wasn’t even sure what to expect, as Provo, Utah (the band’s point of origin, by way of California) is better known to me and millions of other moms as the heart of scrapbooking supply country. I don’t think its reputation has ever extended to birthing rock stars.
But, for my ignorance, a quick glance at Wikipedia gives me this short list:
Paul Engemann
Julianne Hough
Bert McCracken
The Osmond Family (+ Donny, Marie, and The Osmond Brothers)
Janice Kapp Perry
Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband
Branden Steineckert
Now, I know who Julianne Hough is. (I’ve been known to watch Dancing With The Stars, on occasion, and she was one of Brad Paisley’s opening acts a couple of years ago.) The Osmonds – duh! I had both of the Donny and the Marie dolls back in the ’70s. They performed a fair number of ABBA and Donna Summer cover songs in my family’s living room way back then. Sometimes they would hang out with Ken and Barbie, lounging in a hot-tub fashioned out of our dog’s water dish, for a “post-concert after-party.” (Freak out! La freak, she’s chic!)
(Source: Google)
Anyway, back to Neon Trees. When examined against the other Provo-based acts on that list, Neon Trees looks like a misfit punked-out cousin. Refreshing, really. I found their music to be edgy and energetic and reminiscent at times of early ’80s Duran Duran. Tyler Glenn, the band’s lead singer, is quite the showman. Their set lasted 40 minutes and had I had the cash, I would have purchased a copy of their CD on the spot.
(Neon Trees, live!)
As for Duran Duran, I have been a fan for close to 30 years. I even liked what many other so-called fans consider to be The Forgettable Four: Thank You, Medazzaland, Pop Trash and Red Carpet Massacre. One of the first music videos I can remember watching on MTV and MuchMusic in the early ‘80s was for “Hungry Like The Wolf.” The songs that hooked me and reeled me in, however, came from their third album, Seven And The Ragged Tiger, namely “The Reflex,” “Union Of The Snake,” and “New Moon On Monday.”
The fan crush was reserved for John Taylor, as I thought that Simon Le Bon, while equally handsome and charming, was also something of a cad. (This was apparently a viewpoint also shared by Claire Stansfield, his fiancée at the time, and her telephone handset. Ooh-la-la!) My locker in junior high and high school was covered in posters torn from the pages of Smash Hits and other fan-girlie magazines. I had all of their albums, whether on vinyl or cassette or CD. But the love, strong as it was, never quite made it to the concert-goer/groupie stage, chiefly because the last time Duran Duran performed live in Ottawa was in March of 1984, and my parents were definitely not of the mindset to allow their 12-year-old daughter to go to a rock concert at the Civic Centre. (In fact, my first concert involved me sneaking out to see Leonard Cohen at the Ottawa Congress Centre in June of 1993. I told my parents that I was going to an on-campus poetry reading at Ottawa U. Yeah.)
So, all that said, I had no idea what to expect from our first time together on October 23rd. I read tidbits here and there, on their Web site and on their Facebook page.
I can certainly say that I was not disappointed.
Apart from a killer set, I liked the integration of social media with their stage set-up. Just before the show, and during a brief break mid-way through (allowing Simon Le Bon the chance to change his outfit and perhaps drink some tea with honey to soothe his throat), a live Twitter feed was displayed on a video screen (band’s hashtag #duranlive / my hashtag #DDinMtl) where the fans could post messages. I was quite pleased that four of my Tweets made it past the moderators.
(Source: Duran Duran - Facebook)
Sadly, ‘twould appear that my Twitter timeline for the 23rd of October has passed its expiration date, so it is now impossible to link to what I had to say before, during, and after the show. That said, I think I am starting to get the hang of this live-Tweeting thing. I hope that some of my followers enjoyed it, too.
*
SET LIST – Montreal (Bell Centre):
Before The Rain
Planet Earth
A View To A Kill
All You Need Is Now
Blame The Machines
Come Undone
Safe (In The Heat Of The Moment)
The Reflex
The Man Who Stole A Leopard
Girl Panic
Is There Something I Should Know?
Tiger Tiger
Careless Memories
Leave A Light On
Ordinary World
Notorious
Hungry Like The Wolf
(Reach Up For The) Sunrise
[ENCORE]
Wild Boys/Relax (Frankie Goes To Hollywood)
Rio
