DURAN DURAN TICKET MANIA! FIRST CONCERT IN 18 YEARS SELLS OUT IN 1 HOUR! 78-03
Pop legends DURAN DURAN are set to perform together for the first time in 18 years with the original line-up of SIMON LE BON, NICK RHODES, JOHN TAYLOR, ROGER TAYLOR and ANDY TAYLOR, in a series of special and exclusive dates. The first of these shows to go on sale a concert at Tokyos Budokan Arena - SOLD OUT within less than 30 minutes!
Some 8,000 tickets went on sale last weekend for the first Tokyo concert (July 11th) and were snapped up immediately by fans in a mad frenzy. The bands official website has since been inundated with hundreds of requests from fans across the globe for further dates and tickets, as have all the ticket outlets in Japan.
The four 78-03 Japanese dates announced so far (July 7th Osaka, July 8th Fukuoka, July 10th Nagoya and Tokyo July 11th - all of which will go on sale over the course of the next ten days), have been scheduled in celebration of DURAN DURANS 25th Anniversary, marking 25 years since the band first formed in Birmingham, England in 1978.
Alongside these shows, a handful of additional dates will soon be announced in both the US and UK, together with the bands plans for a major 2004 World Tour.
Promoter Naoki Shimizu of Creativeman, who is putting on all of the Japanese dates, is particularly thrilled to be working with DURAN DURAN again, having first been hired by the band some 18 years ago as their driver. Now in 2003 he is one of Japans leading and most innovative music promoters and has the chance to work with his heroes again.
Commenting on the forthcoming dates Shimizu said It has been very big news that Duran Duran will tour Japan after 18 years with the five original members. It is also big news that this is the first place anywhere it the world that theyll be performing. The sales of the Budokan show are fantastic. I believe this phenomenal success is not only because theyre a great live band with a wonderful catalogue of hit songs but also because fans are unbelievably excited about this next phase of their career and the bands much anticipated new album.
The upcoming shows also coincide with the worldwide release of EMIs 13 CD Singles Box Set The Singles 81-85. This exquisitely packaged collection spans the phenomenal early years when the original five members were first together and includes such timeless hits as A View To A Kill, Planet Earth, The Reflex, Rio, Wild Boys, Hungry Like the Wolf and Girls On Film. In Japan, the dates are also being marked by the release of a special commemorative tour Greatest CD, that will be in stores July 2nd.
Duran Duran, who have made 11 multi-platinum albums and sold a staggering 70 million records to date, are once again enjoying an unprecedented renaissance, with their eagerly awaited new artist album and forthcoming World Tour both slated for 2004.
