Nostalgia rocks Duran Duran fans
By TRAVIS HAY
SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Concertgoers in Everett got their fix of 1980s nostalgia Wednesday night when pop legends Duran Duran played a greatest-hits set peppered with songs from its latest record, last year's "Astronaut."
MUSIC REVIEW
DURAN DURAN WITH IMA ROBOT
WHEN: Wednesday night
WHERE: Everett Events Center
The band, once dubbed "The Fab Five" by Rolling Stone magazine, is on a reunion tour of sorts. While some semblance of the group has been pumping out records for the past 25 years, this tour features the original lineup of keyboardist Nick Rhodes, bassist John Taylor, singer Simon LeBon, drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor.
Although the five are nearly two decades removed from their last Top 40 hit together, the band's influence can be heard today in groups such as The Killers, Franz Ferdinand and No Doubt.
During parts of the show, if you closed your eyes, it was like a DeLorean ride back to 1983. But it was apparent time has taken its toll on the group and its fans because once you opened your eyes the trip back to the future made for a startling awakening.
Gone were the wild boys who once wore skinny ties and makeup. In their place were five stylishly dressed metrosexual men. The crowd was still filled with adoring fans, but the screaming 20-year-old groupies had turned into a middle-age crowd of bad-dancing white people.
The set started with "Sunrise," the first single from the new record. From there the band kicked it into high gear by playing a barrage of its hits -- "Hungry Like the Wolf" and all the other expected songs that were a major part of the soundtrack to a decade of decadence.
The five appeared to be enjoying themselves on stage and it was especially apparent during the hits. "Union of the Snake," "Wild Boys," "Save a Prayer" and "Notorious" all sounded great, as did fan favorites "Hold Back the Rain," "Planet Earth" and "The Chauffeur." The only time the set lost its pacing was during the new material.
Compared to the band's earlier material, the new record is mediocre at best, but the songs do spark memories of past glories. It just would've been nice if some of the newer tracks were replaced by songs such as "The Reflex" and "A View to a Kill." Disappointingly, those two songs were not performed, but the group has enough hits in its catalog to make due without them and the crowd of 5,500 didn't seem to mind.
The encore included a poorly done cover of Grand Master Flash's "White Lines." But the irony of a band from the 1980s covering a song about cocaine seemed appropriate. Two of Duran Duran's biggest hits, "Girls on Film" and "Rio," finished the night.
Ima Robot, a Southern California rock band that sounded more like Devo than Duran Duran, opened the show. The group's retro appeal was well-received by the crowd.
Courtesy Seattle Post Intelligencer
