Concert Review: Duran Duran Live in Singapore
Patrick Benjamin
inSing.com - 15 hrs 20 mins ago
The legendary British New Wave outfit wowed the crowd with a fist pumping spectacle of their biggest hits from the 80s and 90s.
If you were under the impression that only tweens with braces wave placards and make brazen declarations of love at gigs, you would have been proven wrong last Saturday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on March 10.
The 5,500 strong gig goers comprising mostly fans in their late 30s and 40s included groups of MILFs clad in the tackiest of 80s Top of the Pops fashion alongside folks shouting the clichéd “Simon, I love you, Marry me” or “John, Play me like a bass guitar” and even corpulent, balding chartered accountant types grooving to the synth heavy inflections of James Bond theme song “A View to Kill”.
Led by the slightly portly but ever charismatic front-man and possibly the world’s first metrosexual Simon Le Bon, the band swaggered onto the stage filled with a screen showcasing the bands music videos and close-ups of the various band members throughout the set.
Opening with the dramatic, melancholic “Before the Rain” from the Mark Ronson produced “All You Need Is Now” LP, one could already sense that the night was going to be unforgettable as the crystal clear; pitch perfect famed vocals from 53 year old Le Bon resonated. He might be 20 kilograms heavier than in 1982 but that didn’t deter him from showcasing his deft dance moves.
But it took a puny fraction of the 40 minute late start for the mass sing-alongs to soar into full crescendo when the band played torch bearers from their early 90s alt rock days in “Come Undone” and “Ordinary World”, which was dedicated to the plight of ordinary Syrians.
Driving the punters into nostalgic ecstasy, their 110- minute set was predominantly a back catalogue of hits from the 80s and 90s, and they delivered it with panache as they played arena staples like “The Reflex”, “Hungry Like The Wolf” and Wild Boys.
In fact their new songs like “The Man Who Stole a Leopard” and “Girl Panic!” shared similar traits to vintage 80s Duran Duran vibes with the hypnotic synth lines, delirious bass poundings and processed live drums.
And the night wasn’t just about the core quartet of Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor, as their supporting artistes of the leggy femme fatale, back-up singer Anna Ross who wouldn’t have looked out of place in any of the band’s famous music videos, saxophonist Simon Willescroft and guitarist Dominic Brown performed with consummate gusto as the usual set ended with the popular “Wild Boys” and a cover of “Relax (Don’t Do It)”, the 80s shag anthem by Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
As far as encores are concerned, the crowd got what they were waiting for as Duran Duran returned to the stage took us back to the joyous decadence and cacophony of “Girls on Film” and “Rio”.
34 years in the business and a discography spanning 13 albums, Duran Duran are still electrifying audiences and it would be no surprise if they are back on our shores for another epic concert soon.
Courtesy Insing.com
