The Straits Times
by Ong Soh Chin
December 18th, 2003
Tuesday night was pure alchemy for Duran Duran fans when the British band, which reigned supreme in the 1980s, took over the Singapore Indoor Stadium for the last show on its tour.
In retro-crazy Singapore, where Lobo and Brian Hyland are still viable concert acts, it was perhaps a given that the group that is most synonymous with the 1980s would draw a fevered response. And perhaps if the tickets had been a bit more competitively priced - the cheapest seats were $70, the most expensive $181 - the stadium would have been packed to the rafters. But I quibble. At the end of the day, when it came to the audience, quality trumped quantity, making the show one of the better moments in Singapore's concert calendar this year.
From the minute Simon Le Bon, 45; Nick Rhodes, 41; John Taylor, 43; Andy Taylor, 42; and Roger Taylor, 43, walked onto the stage, it was pretty much all systems go. The girls in the audience screamed. And the boys screamed too.
Launching into Friends Of Mine, the band, all dressed in permutations of black and white, had the crowd up on its feet and singing along all the way till the end of the show some 90 minutes later.
"DURAN DURAN has always suffered brickbats for being pretty and vacuous. Still, the five Brits were the undisputed pop kings of the Decade of the Shoulder Pads.
This was very evident on Tuesday as the audience - a mix of locals, expats and a few tourists in their 20s to their 40s - was knocked over by a tidal wave of hit after hit. For those who grew up in the 1980s, long-forgotten songs floated by like precious flotsam, triggering careless memories of vertiginous haircuts, eyeliner and frosted lip gloss.
Sure, it could all easily have gone horribly wrong - the show could have been a sad burlesque of yet another 1980s act performing monkey tricks for peanut money. But it wasn't. It was a tight concert which delivered all it promised, with no need for fancy pyrotechnics or an elaborate stage set. Visually, it was just five wild boys on a lit stage, even if they showed the trappings of middle-aged men - lined faces, less than lithe physiques and a certain mellowness. While Le Bon's hip-swivelling and attempts at rock star posturing still can't hold a candle to Mick Jagger, the man whose moves he had obviously nicked, he gave as good as he got.
On Save A Prayer and Beautiful Colours, a new track which will be released next year, he even shared axeman duties with John and Andy by strapping on an electrified acoustic guitar. He also teased the crowd with a little hormonal double entendre: 'It's so warm and moist here. You know how singers love that. It keeps the tubes wet. If Le Bon was channelling Jagger, then Andy Taylor was surely doing a Keith Richards. Arguably the wild man of the group from its very beginnings, he conspicuously kept his sunglasses on during the whole show and dangled, somewhat awkwardly, a lit cigarette from his lips. Maybe the sunglasses were there to protect his eyes from the smoke. The other band members, however, chose to hang elegantly in the background. John Taylor, the poster boy of the group and still in possession of the finest set of cheekbones this side of Planet Earth, beamed beatifically and kept his clothes on even as the girls (and boys) yelped: 'Take it off!'.
SO WHAT is it about Le Bon and gang that has made their reunion tour - of which Singapore was the last and only Asian stop - a huge success in the United States, Britain and Australia? Simple, apart from the fact that they have hits coming out of their ears, they are also the only big 1980s act in which all the original band members are: a) still talking to each other, b) still interested in making music and c) still alive. They have had several reincarnations and breakaway projects - they've come undone, only to regroup, with new members. This tour is the first time in 18 years that the original members have played together and it has not been an easy road to get to where they are now - on the cusp of a revived career where they are looking at a new album next year.
Although their fans will argue that they never really went away, this has the potential to be their second big return, after 1993's successful Duran Duran (better known as the Wedding Album), which spawned Ordinary World. And they are coming back with guns a-blazing. In August, they picked up a Lifetime Achievement Award at the MTV Video Music Awards, and received the same honour at the British Q Awards in October. Early next year, they will pick up a third similar accolade at the Brit Awards.
Longevity and stamina are rewarded in this business. But Duran Duran also deserve a prize for showing maturity in an industry known for infantile behaviour - for finally realising that a good band can be saved, if individual egos can be contained. The ultimate winners? Their fans, old and new for whom Tuesday night was pure alchemy. Who cares that Le Bon couldn't hit the lower registers on Save A Prayer or that the counter-melodies on New Religion came out muddied and garbled? Who cares even, that they only played one encore and that the night went by too fast? Some people may call it a one-night stand, but we can call it paradise.
DURAN DURAN'S SET LIST.
1. Friends Of Mine
2. Planet Earth
3. Hungry Like The Wolf
4. Come Undone
5. View To A Kill
6. What Happens Tomorrow
7. New Religion
8. Is There Some1pxg I Should Know
9. Beautiful Colours
10. (Waiting For The) Night Boat
11. Ordinary World
12. Save A Prayer
13. Notorious
14. Girls On Film
15. Careless Memories
16. Wild Boys
17. The Reflex
18. Rio
TIME FOR MINGLING.
THE Wild Boys were tired but the night was far from over. After their concert on Tuesday night, Mr Alan Collins, the British High Commissioner, held a reception for them and some 100 guests at his residence at Eden Hall in Nassim Road. John Taylor, Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor arrived first, at about 11pm, followed by Nick Rhodes and Simon Le Bon 15 minutes later. While guests nibbled on finger food and drank wine, HSBC presented a cheque for $5,000 to the KK Children's Hospital for its Outreach to Kids Fund, which looks after and treats kids with HIV.
Fans swarmed the band members, who obliged with autographs and photos. After cutting a special celebration cake with the Duran Duran tour visual on it, the boys left soon after, at around midnight..
While word had it that they would repair to Velvet Underground for some partying, they were nowhere to be seen at the club.With early flights to catch yesterday, it was no wonder..
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