We're quickly approaching the 45th anniversary of Duran Duran's first single, "Planet Earth."

That made it all the more remarkable to see Simon Le Bon work the room with a boyish exuberance most frontmen half his age would have a hard time faking when the New Wave veterans took the stage on Monday, Jan. 5, at Mortgage Matchup Center.

Le Bon was in rare form. The loveable goof has done his best to navigate the potentially perilous leap from his days as a locker-room centerfold in Tiger Beat to sexy elder statesman of the New Wave generation, a role he’s assumed with an offhanded charm that stops just shy of self-effacing.

He’s a joy to witness — cracking silly jokes at every opportunity and striking poses with a look that says, “I know I’m striking poses here.”

He was just as effective when wearing his heart on his sleeve, as he did while introducing “Ordinary World,” the concert's emotional centerpiece, telling the audience, “I would like you all to spare a thought for the people around the world whose lives are not as fortunate as ours."

He added, “There are people in this world struggling just to feed themselves and their families, people fighting for freedom, people desperate just to survive.”

It doesn’t hurt that his vocals have held up surprisingly well, a point made abundantly clear by the time he slipped into his upper register on “Night Boat,” the opening number, holding the notes at the end of each chorus for what seemed like an eternity.

“Night Boat” was the first of five songs in the set they played in downtown Phoenix that were taken from their first self-titled effort in a hit-filled journey through their catalog, from “Planet Earth” through “Ordinary World” and “Come Undone” to their latest single, a disco-fied romp through Electric Light Orchestra’s “Evil Woman.”

Guitarist Andy Taylor is no longer in Duran Duran. He left the fold in 2006, his bandmates issuing a statement at the time that said “an unworkable gulf” had developed between them.

Taylor guests on several tracks on “Danse Macabre,” their latest album, but had to pull out of their long-deserved induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022 while suffering a setback in his battle against stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer.

The other four musicians pictured on the cover of Duran Duran’s first album (Nick Rhodes on keyboards, John Taylor on bass, Roger Taylor on drums and Le Bon on lead vocals) are still out there doing their legacy proud with the help of four touring musicians (Dom Brown on guitar, Simon Willescroft on sax and backup singers Rachael O’Connor and Anna Ross).

John Taylor’s bass has always been a key ingredient in everything they do, and that was certainly the case in Phoenix, from the throbbing heart of “Friends of Mine” to the nimble fretwork of the encore-closing “Rio.”

His understanding of the groove is undeniable and like James Jamerson, the Motown bassist he admires, his lines do more than drive the rhythm, creating indelible hooks along the way.

It could be argued that the groove relies as much on drummer Roger Taylor, the unsung hero of Duran Duran, who powered through the climax of that encore-closing “Rio” with a reckless abandon that flirted with garage rock.

Rhodes remains a fashion-forward New Romantic icon. In introducing his bandmates, Le Bon referred to Rhodes as both “our keyboard god” and “the queen of the shoulder pads.” He played a significant role in defining Duran Duran’s signature sound in the ‘80s and commanded the spotlight in Phoenix when they kicked off the encore with a haunted “Save a Prayer,” where the audience took the lead at one point on a cellphone-waving singalong.

The touring members all contributed to making this a memorable night, from Brown’s electrifying lead guitar on “(Reach Up For the) Sunrise” to Willescroft channeling the essence of Andy Hamilton’s solo on “Rio.”

The setlist touched on nearly all their most iconic moments (and lesser-known gems as inspired as the nearly punkish “Careless Memories”) while leaving a handful of their finest moments by the wayside.

I can’t imagine I’m the only one who wonders they seem to have forgotten “Is There Something I Should Know?” But it’s always nice to hear a few things you might rarely get the chance to hear again, from “Evil Woman” to “Invisible” from “Future Past,” their 2021 release.

And by the time they brought the evening to an awe-inspiring close with an epic rendition of "Rio," I can't imagine many fans were questioning the setlist.

Duran Duran tour setlist 2025: All the songs they did in Phoenix

These are the songs that made the setlist when Duran Duran played Phoenix.

• “Night Boat”
• “The Wild Boys”
• “James Bond Theme” (John Barry song played from tape)
• “A View to a Kill”
• “Hungry Like the Wolf”
• “Union of the Snake”
• “Notorious”
• “Evil Woman” (Electric Light Orchestra cover)
• “Lonely in Your Nightmare” / “Super Freak” (AKA "SUPER LONELY FREAK")
• “Friends of Mine”
• “Careless Memories”
• “Ordinary World”
• “Come Undone”
• “INVISIBLE”
• “(Reach Up for the) Sunrise”
• “White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)” (Melle Mel cover)
• “Planet Earth” (preceded by band introductions)
• “The Reflex”
• “Girls on Film” / “Psycho Killer”
• “Save a Prayer”
• “Rio”

Article courtesy AZ Republic