What’re three years not being amidst thousands of screaming fans like? Not half as weird as being among some fourteen thousand plus again after three years of not having done so. Yes, as the world lurches forward, scratching and crawling its way out of the COVID-19 pandemic, for all intents and purposes, the Western world is determined to return to normal life. You know, the kind of normal life where over ten thousand of us can be crammed into the same place without a care in the world. It is odd beyond words to be back in such environs after so long of essentially hiding from every human imaginable. And even though there were signs everywhere throughout the historic Hollywood Bowl encouraging patrons to wear masks and stay at least five feet apart, a rough approximation would have the crowd on hand as 95% maskless. There may have been two small sections at the uppermost bleachers on the top left and right sides of the famed venue where some seats weren’t sold, but otherwise, this show was sold out, a daunting level of attendance for a band now forty-plus years into their existence, Duran Duran. But the multitudes present didn’t show any signs of fear or apprehension. On the contrary, these fans were ready to party. They were here to see Duran Duran belt out the best of the cuts that made them famous in the early ‘80s and early ‘90s. Not surprisingly, Duran Duran did not disappoint, in this, their second of a three-night stand at the Hollywood Bowl.
Duran Duran guest spot performer (on 2010’s “The Man Who Stole a Leopard”), Kelis opened the show with a fun set. The singer best known for her 2003 hit single “Milkshake” opted for a band featuring a drummer, keyboardist and most prominently, a DJ using mash-ups of hers and other songs. She played her songs nestled amidst these other tracks, dancing lively on tracks such as “Got Your Money” and “Trick Me.” Expectedly, the biggest reaction came when her DJ started a backing track that mutated between songs using the stems of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” in between her own choruses. Fascinatingly, they segued this into a brief snippet of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
When the headliner was just about to start, a beautiful photo of the just recently deceased Queen Elizabeth II was displayed on the big screen monitors, indicating her lifespan and that this show was dedicated to her memory. Amidst a flurry of electronics, Duran Duran took the stage performing their 1984 single “The Wild Boys.” Losing none of that momentum, the band went immediately into one of their most famous hits, “Hungry Like the Wolf,” the crowd present belting every word furiously. The night largely shifted between cuts of four of their classic albums and new tracks from their 2021 release, Future Past. The point in the set featured of which “Invisible,” which was straight ahead and didn’t distract from the momentum established by the first few songs. A brief video package showing footage from famed 007 movie openings using a few bars of John Barry’s “The James Bond Theme” before shifting into their own beloved James Bond theme, “A View to a Kill.” A close examination of lead singer Simon Le Bon’s vocals here showed he might have been having trouble hearing himself over on-stage monitors and his inner-ear monitors, but as the show went on, his performance seemed to improve with each passing song.
The band brought out legendary guitarist/producer/bandleader Nile Rodgers for just one song, “Notorious” the title track from the album of the same name Rodgers produced all the way back in 1986. This funky little bit was a necessary inclusion in the night, but it felt like Rodgers could’ve been used more effectively on a great number of other songs throughout the night (Rodgers has produced at least sections of many of Duran Duran’s albums over the years). After Rodgers departed, another new song “Anniversary” followed with a super poppy “do doo doo do” chorus. Powerfully, this was followed up by a lovely rendition of their 1993 megahit “Come Undone” where Le Bon took center stage with one of the group’s backup singers. A duo of the band’s most famous early cuts came shortly later, “Friends of Mine” and “Careless Memories.” The former featured a humorous video package of footage featuring all the famous Universal Studios scary monsters (and more than a couple red-eyed visions of Dracula as portrayed by the late great Christopher Lee) and the latter great basswork by the band’s heralded founding member John Taylor.
Perhaps sequenced incorrectly as not being the final song of the night, the evening’s most powerful moment came in the form of their seminal ‘90s hit “Ordinary World.” Le Bon dedicated the song to the people of Ukraine and throughout the performance the video walls were footage laid under a transparent visage of the blue and yellow flag of the country now engaged in a fight for their lives and their borders against the Russian army. The crowd was all on its feet for the duration with a crazy array of bright white lights from cell phones going all the way up through the backbenches. After three years of living in constant fear and frustration due to an airborne virus, and imagining the perils the good people of Ukraine are living under constant threat of right now the words “But I won’t cry for yesterday / There’s an ordinary world / Somehow I have to find / And as I try to make my way / To the ordinary world / I will learn to survive,” felt astoundingly poignant. Hard not to stop and feel sad for all that we all went through these last few years, but as the song says so perfectly, we press on. Four of the group’s most famous cuts finished off the primary set proper, “Planet Earth,” “Hold Back the Rain,” “The Reflex” and “Girls on Film.” “Planet Earth” enjoyed the strongest singalong from the crowd, while “Girls on Film” featured a funky breakdown giving drummer Roger Taylor a chance to show off his skills to a roaring cheer.
The encore break was short enough and the band returned to play a cover of David Bowie’s “5 Years” featuring his longtime pianist, the incomparable Mike Garson. Beautifully, the band followed on the penultimate song with “Save a Prayer,” this time directly stating it was dedicated in tribute to the life of the United Kingdom’s recently deceased Queen Elizabeth II. The more ballad-esque track (at least compared to the bombastic fun of the majority of their material) again featured a giant crowd of white cell phone lights. Keyboardist Nick Rhodes started hammering out the staccato melodies that introduced one of the band’s most famous hits, “Rio.” As the crowd came to rapturous singalong the Hollywood Bowl set off the promised fireworks finale, which pretty perfectly punctuated the song’s soaring melodies. It escalated to a joyous roar of sparks, words and cheers. All in all, this was a wonderful headlining show from the now forty-year veterans. Interestingly, it almost felt as if the show needed about forty more minutes to give the set all the songs it deserved, there was a whopping nine albums of the band’s storied career that not one song was played from, especially the stellar 2010 Mark Ronson-produced All You Need is Now, but after three years of darkness, even truncated this was great fun through and through. All five classic era members—including guitarist Andy Taylor—will reunite later this year for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its annual induction ceremony.
File featured image by Boston Lynn Schulz
Leave a Comment