Duran Duran still Wild Boys
By MATT BENDORIS
SELL-OUT gigs, private jets, burly bodyguards - and groupies breaking into their hotel rooms.
No, it's not Duran Duran in their 1980s heyday - it's the band in 2009.
Founder Nick Rhodes has revealed touring with the pop supergroup is just as crazy as it was at the height of their fame 25 years ago.
The keyboard player, who will play Edinburgh Castle tonight, insists it's as if they have never been away.
Nick, 47, smiled: "It's still as nuts - surprisingly crazy.
"I'd say our fans aren't any better behaved than before - they're just cleverer.
"Instead of trying to break into our hotel rooms and create a racket like before, they'll wear the right type of shoes so they can tiptoe past security without being heard now."
He added: "I think the last time we played Edinburgh would have been the Playhouse theatre.
"The fans screamed so loud we couldn't actually hear our instruments.
"They're still as loud, but the technology has improved with ear pieces and the likes.
"So we can listen to what we're producing. Hopefully that means we sound better."
But Nick reckons lead singer Simon Le Bon, bass guitarist John Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor are all enjoying fame more second time around.
He said: "Being more mature means we can take it all in.
"Edinburgh Castle is such a beautiful venue for a gig. In the early days something like that might pass us by.
"But now we savour these moments because we never know if we'll get the chance to do something like that again."
The group boast legions of followers around the globe.
But not everyone's a fan. For some Duran Duran sum up the dark side of the 80s - greed.
They flaunted their wealth with fast cars and glamorous women. Le Bon even owned a YACHT.
So were they a bunch of Thatcherites? Birmingham-born Nick spluttered: "Nothing could have been further from the truth, especially back then.
"We were just so high-profile we got lumped in with being a symbol of the 1980s.
"But I hope people remember us more for our music than our image."
Nick promises the crowd a blast from the past tonight with the best of their 30 chart hits including Notorious, The Wild Boys, Hungry Like The Wolf, Rio and The Reflex.
But thanks to super-producer Mark Ronson, 33, they'll also be bringing something new to the table. They are currently working together on new album Red Carpet Massacre.
Mark - a life-long fan of the group - will even make a guest appearance at the castle.
Dad-of-one Nick - who once dated socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson - said: "If scientists had gone into a lab and come up with the perfect producer the result would be Mark.
"He's a big fan of ours. So he's knows our history and has a remarkable knowledge of music in general from punk to disco and rock.
"Mark is joining us for a sort of megamix of our greatest hits. The fans will love it."
Nick admits the group watched Take That's comeback with interest.
The former 90s boyband are bigger than ever before. And Nick hopes they'll do the same.
He said: "You've got to offer more than just nostalgia.
"We hope to do just that."
Courtesy The Sun /Scotland
