By Billy Thieme | April 21st, 2011 |
Nick Rhodes hasnât changed at all in more than three decades. Neither have John or Roger Taylor. Simon Le Bon? Aside from growing a rough beard that makes his face just a little more round (and a voice thatâs missing some of its youthful squeal from time to time), he also looks timeless. Up close in the tightly packed confines of the Ogden Theatre on Wednesday night, the original members of Duran Duran might have looked even better than I remembered.
And their performance didnât disappoint. Through 16 songs over 80 minutes, the iconic group delighted a gathering of fans that looked like theyâd been at the same party since the video of âHungry Like The Wolfâ was first broadcast. Rhodes and Le Bon sported signature suits with sparkling lapels and boots, and led the band through a set that depended a tad too heavily on material from the new record, this yearâs âAll You Need Is Now.â It may have been a general lack of familiarity with the new stuff, but the connection to the performance was visibly troubled until the recognizable first notes of their mega-hits jolted the audience back to life.
Nonetheless, no doubt due to their thirty plus years on stage, Le Bon and the rest balanced the set to take advantage of that see-sawing. They first warmed up the sold-out house with âPlanet Earthâ and âHungry Like The Wolfâ â which impressed me. I appreciate superstars that play mega-hits early on, as if theyâre trying to sate the one-hitters in favor of true fans. Next, they worked through the new albumâs title song and âBeing Followed,â a funky meditation on paranoia, before diving into âNotorious.â Le Bon danced as he sang, full of James Bond swagger, and If he werenât an actual â80s icon himself of at least equal stature, Iâd have said he was the spitting image of George Michael.
They wrapped up the set with an absolutely explosive version of âRio,â which dinged my regard for their getting âHungryâŠâ out of the way early on, and then returned for an encore that included the film hit âView To A Killâ and an extended remix of âGirls On Film.â The lengthy number included old-school band member intros, a drum solo and a completely unnecessary mini-cover of Lady Gagaâs âPoker Faceâ that pushed the envelope just a hair too far.
Still, and especially since they admittedly âdonât get out here much,â as Le Bon uttered toward the showâs end, the performance was satisfying, even powerful. While too many bands with similar musical tenure have long been sent out to satisfy the state fair and amusement park crowds by this time in their careers, the show seemed to prove they still have enough mojo to stay safe. For now.
See photos here
Courtesy HeyReverb.com