These top 80s pop veterans have earned the right to present themselves as they wish.
Early on in this well-appointed show, the huge screen behind Duran Duran carried a cool Roy Lichtensteinesque pop art animation of the band, depicted as their younger heartthrob selves. More than forty years on, the haircuts and style have not changed that much and they remain in ridiculously fine fettle for a group in their mid-60s. All that gadding about on yachts in the early 80s clearly did no harm as they were still able to rock a degree of camp glamour across this thoroughly entertaining two-hour set.
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Wild Boys was as ridiculous as ever, accompanied by a Lord of the Rings-style visual more suited to an old school metal gig. But these top 80s pop veterans have earned the right to present themselves as they wish, be this frontman Simon Le Bon exorting the crowd to howl for Hungry Like The Wolf or dedicating their second best ballad, Ordinary World, to the victims of conflict.
Barring a couple of deep cuts, such as Winter Marches On (making its first live outing since the 80s) and oddball cover choices, including a discofied rendition of Evil Woman by fellow Brummies ELO, this was a satisfying greatest hits romp, ranging from serviceable newest tune Free To Love right back to audacious debut single Planet Earth.
The New Romantic pretension of beloved album track The Chauffeur has aged surprisingly well, Nick Rhodes’ shivery synth line bolstered by atmospheric bombast. New Moon on Monday was revisited as the sleeker reworked version from most recent album Danse Macabre, while Girls On Film survived its splicing with their take on Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer.
They saved two of their best for the encore, the phone lighter-waving ballad supremo Save A Prayer, stylized but poignant with Le Bon on acoustic guitar, and the euphoric rush of Rio, always the most judicious choice for a feelgood finish.
Duran Duran setlist:
Is There Something I Should Know?
The Wild Boys
The James Bond Theme
A View to a Kill
Hungry Like the Wolf
Evil Woman
(ELO cover)
Union of the Snake
The Reflex
Only in Dreams
Winter Marches On
Ordinary World
Come Undone
New Moon on Monday
The Chauffeur
Notorious
I Don't Want Your Love
Free to Love
Planet Earth
White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)
(Grandmaster Melle Mel cover)
(Reach Up for the) Sunrise
Girls on Film / Psycho Killer
Encore:
Save a Prayer
Rio
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