Oh people, my dreams have come true. See that photo over there on the right? I finally got to see those guys in concert in again. Glory hallelujah, praise be.
The last time (and only) time I saw Duran Duran in concert was March 1, 1983. There were five of ‘em then — Andy Taylor, the lead guitarist, left several years ago — and there was not a gray hair in sight. This past weekend, there were four fab rock stars and — thanks to the wonders of the rich British rock god version of Miss Clairol — still no visible gray hairs up on stage.
But let me back up a bit.
As I mentioned yesterday, I took the train up to Washington DC on Sunday. It’s just a smidge over two hours, but the train ticket was super cheap and I didn’t have to deal with any traffic. I arrived in Union Station, then hopped on a Metro to ride up to my sister’s house. I spent a delightful few hours with my sister, brother-in-law, and wonderfully precious but a bit of a daredevil 13 month old nephew. Then my sister and I put on our concert clothes and headed out. Great minds think alike — she and I both had on similar shirts, sweaters, and jeans. (More on that shortly.)
We had dinner, took the Metro into the city, and got to the concert hall. Once there, the crowd was exactly that I thought it would be — women in their 30s-50s, gay guys, and a few very patient and supportive husbands. (In fact, my sister and I spotted two husbands decked out in full Baltimore Ravens regalia.) To see some actual fans, check out this Facebook page with photos from Sunday night.
The concert was in the DAR’s Constitution Hall, which is a smaller, more intimate venue — 3,700 seats at full capacity, but I’d estimate the crowd was around 3,500. I loved this smaller setting. SO MUCH nicer than big arena shows.
The opening act was Neon Trees. Who? Well, you might have heard this song. I have their album Habits, not because I’m hip and with it but because Pete is hip and with it and gave it to me. I’m enjoying it a lot and am looking forward to future albums.
Neon Trees puts on an excellent show. The lead singer — see below, the guy on the right with the amazing mohawk — came sashaying out in an eye-popping outfit that included skin-tight gold disco pants. He proceeded to dance, jump, leap, and do all sorts of acrobatic rock star moves that only someone who’s in his 20s and has very healthy knees can do. (My sister and I suspect he’s into yoga — how else to explain some of his contortions?)
(I found this photo on their Facebook page. It was taken right after the concert, so they’re a bit sweaty and tired.)
Neon Trees finished and then we waited with bated breath for the main event. And then, it started. I took photos with my camera, but none came out, so I grabbed this one from Duran Duran’s Facebook page:
Here’s another photo from their Facebook page of all the musicians:
This is from a different concert, but it’s a nice shot of, from left to right: the woman who did backing vocals (gorgeous voice and seriously stunning long legs), the woman who did backing percussion (high energy from start to finish), Dom (lead guitar), Roger, Nick, Simon, and John.
Here’s the set list:
- “Before the Rain” (All You Need is Now)
- “Planet Earth” (Duran Duran)
- “A View to a Kill” (James Bond theme song)
- “All You Need is Now”(AYNIN)
- “Blame the Machines (AYNIN)
- “Come Undone” (The Wedding Album)
- “Safe (in the Heat of the Moment) (AYNIN)
- “Reflex” (Seven and The Ragged Tiger)
- “The Man Who Stole A Leopard” (AYNIN)
- “Girl Panic” (AYNIN)
- “Tiger Tiger” (SATRT)
- Careless Memories (DD)
- “Leave a Light On” (AYNIN)
- “Ordinary World” (TWA)
- “Notorious” (Notorious)
- “Hungry Like the Wolf” (Rio)
- “Reach up for the Sunrise” (Astronaut)
Encore:
- an extended version of “Wild Boys” with a fabulous cover of “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood in the middle (Arena)
- “Rio” (Rio)
A mix of old and new stuff. I think it covers their breadth of work nicely. I knew going in that this would be the rough set list and I was pleased by the mix. Some people would be disappointed by the heavy emphasis on the new album, but that’s what they’re promoting right now and, hey, I like their newer work too.
The show was nearly two hours of non-stop music. It was high-energy and great fun. Those guys clearly still enjoy their music and it shows.
So, what does a 42 year old blogger and publicly-avowed Duran Duran fan wear to such an event? Here you go:
(These aren’t the exact clothes I wore, but pretty close. For more details, see my Polyvore set.) (Also, for newer readers, relevant explanatory posts about mascara, leopard print, boots, my jeans, and 80s hair are linked.)
In almost three decades of concerts, this is the first one where I’ve known every note of music, including a couple of lesser known instrumentals. It was a great concert, definitely in my top 5 of all time*. I was a leeeetle worried that I might have over-hyped it to the point that I’d be disappointed, but my concerns were for naught. The concert met my expectations and I’m very happy.
Yesterday morning, however, it was back to reality. I got up early and my sister dropped me off at the Metro station near her house. I zipped down to Union Station, bought some java to fortify myself and went to wait for my ride home. Unlike the trip up, even though I had paid for a train ticket, I ended up on a bus. I don’t know why Amtrak switched from rail to road, but there wasn’t a lot I could do about it, except get on and just ride.
The bus was full-ish, so I ended up with a seatmate. He was baby-faced and somewhat unwashed college student with facial hair that looked less like facial hair and more like he needed to wash some lint off his face. Apparently, the baby-facedness extended to his sleeping habits, in that naps are an important part of his daily routine — before the bus pulled out, he pulled out an eye mask that showed an impressively-organized commitment to napping and went to sleep.
So we rolled through the Virginia countryside. I listened to my iPod — I’m sure you’ll never guess what music was flowing into my ears — and thought about the concert I had been waiting so many years for. I am so ready to go to another one.
What about y’all? What are the best concerts you’ve seen? And have you ever seen Duran Duran live?
* My top 5 concerts in chronological order: Duran Duran 1983, Sting 1996, Lady Gaga 2010, Muse 2010, and Duran Duran 2011.
You have to watch the Amtrak site closely as they do switch to Greyhound. Which can stink in bad weather when you have to walk down the road to the train station to get to your car from the bus station. I wound up on a bus once (versus carpooling with a driver with whom I’d fear for my life in NoVa traffic), and it was nasty. It works, but I don’t recommend it. I much prefer the train out of Staples Mill in Richmond; they have about 5 hourly trains out in the morning, and 5 hourly trains in during the evening. Granted, the station is about an hour away, but it’s well worth it considering NoVa traffic, DC traffic, and parking. Plus you can get some shopping done & purchase cheaper-than-Cville gas on the way home.
As for concerts, I’m not a fan of crowds, gaggles of stupid drunk people, and expensive tickets for an event that will likely leave me disappointed. (For that latter, can anyone say R-E-M back in the day? Also, can you tell my concert experiences have not gone well?) I think my favorite concert experience was Hootie and the Blowfish at Strawberry Banks in Hampton and The Smithereens at The Boathouse in Norfolk. But my most favorable concert memory was seeing (for free) Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons at the Va beach oceanfront with my parents. It was SO out of the norm for my dad, and he enjoyed it. And my mom and I danced and sang like fools. It was everything a concert experience is supposed to be. Considering my dad passed a couple of years after that concert, I’m incredibly grateful to have that memory with him.
Favorite concerts: The Police 1981? , Bruce Springsteen 198? at RFK Stadium and the Bodeans 1990-ish. I rarely go to concerts and obviously am not very good with dates!
I have seen D2 twice, as well…once after SATRT (in an arena) and after Big Thing (in an intimate venue, second row, in front of stage). I could not improve on my last D2 concert ever, so I will not see them again. Big Thing was a great album too. Everything since has been so-so for me.
Best concerts? In no order, Michael Feinstein (have seen 2x), Linda Eder (have seen 2x), Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA tour, George Michael’s comeback tour 2008, INXS (have seen 2x).
I have never seen Prince or U2 which are my two great concert disappointments. I wish I had seen them in their hey-day. I would still see Prince, but think I would pass on U2 at this time.
Glad you had a blast! And John Taylor. *swoon*.
The best concert I went to is a really hard question. I think I would have to give it to the Scissor Sisters, London 2005-ish. It was a small venue (Kentish Town Forum) and they rocked it.
The second best was the Concert in Hyde Park back in, I think, 1997 or 1998. It went on for 10 hours and included a bunch of absolutely stellar acts. Eric Clapton and The Who were the superstar names; The Who were amazing, and played the whole of Quadrophenia. Also-ran was Bob Dylan but frankly past his best by that time (god knows what he must sound like by now). Alanis Morissette and Shania Twain were also there, as was Lionel Richie.
The biggest disappointment for me was REM in 2006-ish. It was in Hyde Park again, and we paid a LOT of money to stand in a crowd of 100,000 people with the stage as a pinprick in the distance. It just wasn’t that good.
Oh how this post made me smile! Love seeing the pics of my sexxy boyfriends, love the outfit we picked out, love Neon Trees, ah…am basking in your awesome weekend glow.
I have only been to a few concerts, its by choice, most are just too expensive for my taste, but one that stands out was a couple years ago at Shoreline (outdoor amphitheater) Trace Adkins & Toby Keith…went with a gaggle of girlfriends and had a blast dancing in the lawn.
I’m not a big fan of the stadium concert (although The Boss puts on a damn good show) – I prefer a more intimate venue. BY FAR the best shows I’ve ever seen were Jamie Cullum at the gritty 9:30 Club in DC with the HOT Imelda May as opening act, and then Jamie again at the Newport Jazz Festival under the stars at center court of the Newport Tennis Hall of Fame. Very swoon-worthy.
Glad you had a good time!
At the New Orleans Jazz Festival in the late ’70s, there was a guy pounding on a piano who really got the crowd rocking. It was Jerry Lee Lewis.
I reserve the right to change my mind about this list, but this is (for now) my top 5, in no particular order.
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, two nights at the Paramount in Cville, Sept 2007. I went to both nights, and was in the 2nd row one night, and front of the balcony the next. I can’t describe how fantastic both nights were. The man is a genius.
Brandi Carlile, C’ville Pavilion, Sept. 2011. Now THAT is how you do live music.
Gogol Bordello, The Jefferson, New Year’s Eve 2009. WOW. And, WOW. The crowd was ah-freaking-mazing. I feared for my safety, but in a good way. Every new year should be rung in with Gypsy Punk.
Ellis Paul, Vance Gilbert, Greg Greenway, and Lucy Kaplansky, some high school auditorium in the Boston suburbs, 1996. Not so much that it was awesome (which it was), but that it redefined for me the notion of what a concert should be. Concerts didn’t have to be big stadium affairs! They could be intimate, genuine, generous, and synergistic.
Avett Brothers – The C’ville Pavilion, Oct 2010. Love their music! The place was packed! And I got to meet the band!!
And so many runners-up – David Byrne, Sarah McLachlan before she was super famous (opening for the Chieftans!!), My Morning Jacket, U2, and so many more…
I’m old y’all so I’ve seen a lot of concerts… maybe 25 or 30. My top ?? in no order:
James Taylor 1973, Eagles (3 times?), Jethro Tull around 1977, Eric Clapton (Layla live is an amazing experience) , Norah Jones and Lilith Fair the year it was Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, EmmyLou Harris, Shawn Colvin.
I only recognized one Duran Duran song.
I’ve been waiting and waiting for this post, glad you had a good time!
My favourite gig is My Bloody Valentine at Glasgow Barrowlands, not least because I bumped into Gerry from the band in the hall beforehand (I had interviewed him for out student paper) and chatted away for ages while people went past on either side of us, I couldn’t believe no-one spotted him!
Runner-up would have to be Franz Ferdinand at Nottingham Arena, because the singer’s family and my family have been friends for years and I was just so proud of him while I watched him I thought my heart would burst.
Third would be T’Pau at the SECC – didn’t know anyone in the band personally that time, just loved them!
HUGE PINK PUFFY HEART your outfit, Jen!
Glad you had a rockin’ time.
Like Miss Sunshine State, I’m old. Also, I grew up in Windsor, Ontario, right across the Detroit River from Detroit. Venues like Cobo Hall and Joe Louis Arena were a tunnel bus ride away. I’ve seen concerts, yo. Many, many, MANY concerts, mostly in the 80s. It’ll be hard to pick faves, but here goes, in no special order.
The Rolling Stones, 2005, A Bigger Bang tour, Ottawa, ON. They still have it. Really they do. Mick!! And explosions, and fireworks. And I won the tickets on a radio station. SCORE.
The Who, 1989, one of their retirement tours, lol, Canadian National Exhibition grounds, Toronto. Amazing!
The B-52s, 2010, Bluesfest, Ottawa. The band just gets better and better. Saw them on a hot summer night and danced my feet off.
Blue Rodeo, 2009, Carp Fair. Packed with 999 other locals into the skating arena for 2 solid hours of dancing and singing along.
Rush and Max Webster, 1981, Detroit. I know that you (Jen) hate Rush, but it was awesome. AWESOME. I still get chills every time I hear “Tom Sawyer.”
So many great concerts, I can’t even decide on a top 5. I’m still swooning over Eddie Vedder this past summer. Green Day. Alice Cooper always has a fun show. Alison, thank you for listing Rush. Oh, and front row while Patti LuPone lusted after my husband.
I’m so pleased you worked some leopard into your ensemble.
I’m happy the concert lived up to your expectations!
I’m not a fan of large venues though I did go to some in my younger years. I grew up in Ann Arbor, MI, so we saw concerts in Detroit, like Alison. God knows why, since I don’t even like his music, but I saw a Prince concert at Joe Lewis arena some time in the 80′s. God, that was awful –I was way in the back and all you could really see was Prince being unappealingly sexual with the microphone stand. The acoustics were horrible. I also saw the Indigo Girls in a venue with a lawn in one of the Detroit suburbs. It’s just more of a picnic than a concert, though.
My favorite concerts:
My all-time favorite was seeing Justin Currie a few years ago at this great bar in Milwaukee. (He was the lead singer for Del Amitri, one of my very favorite bands, but I never got to see them when they were together.) He always wrote their songs, and his solo work is even better. Plus, he just had a great personality in this very intimate venue.
Rob and I have seen several great concerts at the Old Town School in Chicago –Richard Thompson, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, and Chris Smither were favorites. And we saw Cheryl Wheeler in a little church in Madison, WI, another favorite concert. Oh, and Steve Earle in the 90′s at a slightly larger bar in some part of Chicago.
So glad the concert was all you thought it would be (although I was hoping you’d actually TAKEN that first photo. What kind of a story would THAT be?!?).
Best Concert? Big& Rich 11/22/2004. Very very small venue. (Followed shortly by their more “private” concert I was fortunate to attend here at Rushmore…I carried their guitars!) Also notable – Collective Soul last year at Deadwood Jam (September). The rest of my concert highlights are small local bands (St. Louis/Chicago/here) that you’ve never heard of. And they probably don’t technically qualify as concerts, but I do much prefer small intimate venues to large concerts. Of course I would be remiss to not mention my first concert experience – The Monkees reunion tour, 1987-ish. 2nd concert – the Beach Boys reunion. Same year. : )
Be honest. You’re a little bit jealous you didn’t bring an eye mask.
Have seen Duran Durn live. Failing to have the memory that you do, Jen, I lack the ability to provide the exact date but it was in the ’80′s and in Norfolk- I think. (I am a child of the ’60′s, you know, “if you remember it, you weren’t there”.) Anyway, I am sooooo jealous that you got to see them and one of my new favorite bands, The Neon Trees!
Thanks for the blow by blow-you made me feel as though I was there.
Saw DD 3 times in the early 1980s (once in a fairly small club). Hard to say which is the best gig I have ever been to – so many to choose from and so varied! Gary Numan was awful in the 1980s and BRILLIANT recently, Great Big Sea last year on PEI were fab. Possibly the best fun concert ever was the Barachois (PEI folk group for those who don’t know them) when they came to Glasgow a few years ago. Amazing musical versatility and the funniest show I have ever seen. I thought my husband was going to hork up a lung he was laughing so hard.