Simon Le Bon confessed his band has learned ‘a little trick’ from Sabrina Carpenter as Duran Duran brought lots of Halloween treats to Manchester’s Co-op Live.

The band’s Danse Macabre Halloween Party spawned in Las Vegas, in 2022, and the iconic group brought it to the UK for first time on Friday night - resurrecting it in Manchester. The night pitched as a one-of-a-kind opportunity for diehard fans of the act which came to prominence in the 1980s.

Devotees treated to pageantry aplenty with Duran’s calling card songs given seasonally appropriate ghoulish reworkings. Many fans didn’t miss the memo regarding Halloween attire.

Among the thousands, there was an army of zombies, monsters and characters featuring all-manner of illuminated glowing lights. John Taylor, Nick Rhodes, Roger Taylor and frontman Le Bon went toe-to-toe with their audience as they swanned on-stage adorning regalia inspired by the French aristocracy.

Striking visuals and devilish displays formed part of something wonderfully unique with a real sense of fun. It is hard to imagine too many acts breaking away from the norm and showcasing something like Duran’s Danse Macabre Halloween Party.

Soon after openers Masque of The Pink Death and Night Boat, the aforementioned Sabrina Carpenter lesson was revealed to the masses. Le Bon began howling before stating ‘we learnt this title trick from Sabrina Carpenter’.

Duran Duran then thrashed into Hungry Like The Wolf. Le Bon’s cheeky remark in reference to the pop princess welcoming the band on-stage, at London’s Hyde Park earlier this year, to perform the 1982 hit.

The unmistakable James Bond theme then played as Duran’s lead Bon, Simon Le Bon, showed off his still-impressive vocal range during an airing of 007 anthem A View to A Kill from the 1986 Roger Moore flick.

Le Bon declared: “Look at you. You are beautiful.” Deafening cheers coming in return from those in their fanciest of dress.

While, of course, for so many, it was a delight to hear an abundance of Duran Duran classics there was also a sense of real assurance and contentment, honed after several decades, to see the icons chuck more than the odd cover into their set. Honouring many of their contemporaries with most numbers having a Halloween flavour.

Ghost Town by The Specials, Super Freak by Rick James and Evil Woman by Jeff Lynne’s ELO, who appeared at the Co-op earlier this year, all forming a packed Danse Macabre setlist.

An airing of Spooky, which came to prominence through Dusty Springfield, gave Duran’s splended backing singers time to shine. This came while Le Bon underwent a costume change where he returned wearing some rather impressive antlers.

The run of Planet Earth, arguably the evening’s highlight, The Reflex and Girls On Film being quite the dash to the conclusion of Duran Duran’s main set. Keyboard player Nick Rhodes, who helped create much of the night’s distinctive sound, took a momentary break ahead of the latter song to snap the audience with his camera as Victoria De Angelis, from Måneskin, joined the notorious collective. Trick or treaters, from top to bottom of the vast arena, were delivered an extra helping of sweet reward when a sample of Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer dropped into Girls On Film.

The encore opened to a fire dancer bringing the heat for Wild Boys. The choreography throughout the Danse Macabre festivities was somewhat stunning. The first of the two additional Duran Duran helpings featured a nod to Manchester with the instantly-recognisable chords to Joy Division anthem Love Will Tears Us Apart being played.

The spooktacular splendour closed with dancefloor favourite Rio before bassist John Taylor delivered a message, to the Co-op Live, as the band took their bow. He said: “Manchester has been with Duran Duran since 1981. We f**king love you guys.”

Setlist

• Masque of The Pink Death
• Night Boat
• Danse Macabre
• Hungry Like The Wolf
• A View to A Kill
• Ghost Town
• Union of The Snake
• Notorious
• Super Lonely Freak
• Supernature
• Shadows On Your Side
• Friends Of Mine
• Spellbound
• Spooky
• Confession in The Afterlife
• Secret Oktober
• New Moon On Monday
• Evil Woman
• Planet Earth
• The Reflex
• Girls On Film/Psycho Killer (feat Victoria De Angelis)

Encore

• Love Will Tear Us Apart / Wild Boys (feat Victoria De Angelis)
• Rio

Courtesy Manchester Evening News