It ws a rainy day, actually a terrible day. But that didn't scare us off the drive to Germany. I was in the middle of my final exams, on the day of the concert I had two exams in the morning and the morning after I had my psychology exam. But nothing could stop me from traveling to Germany to see Duran. My friend Guy found out that Duran would come to Germany for promotion that day, so it was a real rush to get everything fixed. And thanks to my German friends, Doro and Steffie, we got our tickets. Duran would do a concert in a club that night with a support band called Blur. The show would be recorded for TV.
Guy picked me up close to a parking lot on a highway at 12 and off we went in the rain. Around 2:00 p.m. we arrived in Cologne. There we were meeting another friend of ours, Caroline. She was already at the hotel where Duran would stay. It was kind of strange because we weren't sure if Duran would stay there. We just figured that they would sleep there because it was the most expensive hotel and all the famous people sleep there.
We got more hope after a while when we saw their tour manager leaving. So we decided to stay longer. In the afternoon Warren left the hotel, but we couldn't talk to him because he was in a hurry. Around 5:30 p.m. we decided to go to the club because we hadn't seen Simon, Nick or John. We knew they had come from Paris because the night before another friend of ours called guy from Italy. He told him Simon, Nick and John had gone there (Paris) to see the Velvet Underground in concert.
When we arrived at the club, I met my German friends and they told me that Duran were inside for rehearsal. It was still raining and they finally let us in. The support band was terrible! I got a headache and believe me, I am not the only one! It was kind of punk, all you could hear was the guitar.
We kept on waiting and there they were, finally back on stage! They sang most of the songs from the acoustic tour, except "Success", but they did "Wild Boys" live now. Incredible! Unfortunately the guards were very strict and they took my camera away. In the middle of the show they stopped playing and guess why? The batteries in the TV cameras had to be reloaded! But it was quite funny and of course, Simon and John took care of the fans:
John: "Simon, why don't you tell them what happened to us at the hotel this afternoon."
Simon: "Oh, yeah, we had a really funny thing going on at the hotel. John and I had ordered two girls to give us a massage. A few minutes later we had some real 'chickens' standing at our door. When they started undressing, we saw that THAT was not the kind of massage we wanted. So we sent them down to Warren's room. You should have heard himpoor Warren."
So after the break, they went on with the show. After the show, they did "Ordinary World" again because of some technical mistakes. Well, we don't know what the technical mistake was because we didn't see or hear anything wrong! The show was really great! Incredible! But unfortunately, they left the stage after an hour and a half. It was a great evening, I will never forget it.
After the concert, we went straight back to the hotel. My friend had rented a room there and we went up with her. But suddenly the lift stopped, the doors opened and guess who got inside the elevator! John! He smiled at us and said, "Having fun? Ha ha", like we were following them up. It was kind of embarrassing because it was not meant to look like we were following them. Anyway, he was very kind. Later we went to the lobby to wait a bit longer.
Then John came into the lobby and sat with fans for 10 minutes. He was very nice and answered all the questions. We left back for Belgium after midnight. Guy, when you read this, I am sorry I fell asleep in your car. But guess what? My psychology exams were the best I have ever done! Probably because of the great night before!
The stage was nicely balanced with a lot of movement implied in the layout. Even when everybody was still, it was still "active". Simon sounded great. His voice was fresh and crisp. He did a lot of moving and couldn't seem to decide what to wear, ending up in just shorts before it was over.
John was his superb bass-playing best, handling his stand-up bass like a kid with a new toy! He definitely was not intimidated by what page was in his bands. Can't say that about most of those clumsy oafs in other bands!
As for Warren? What is there to say? He is very, very good. I think Warren's maturity tempers his style with a grace that does not overpower. Rather, it blends everybody's instruments together for a near-perfect sound.
Fergus' drumming was strong and consistent, laying a solid foundation for the rest. He sounded pretty good (I am not a drummer, or I would say more).
As for Nick, well, having a string section in the ensemble on one hand took some of the work off him, but on the flipside of it, it seems as though Nick had to rework a lot of his material. His set-up in Tampa included three boards, a module, a music stand with a notebook filled with information to sight read (probably chord progressions and such) and he wore a click track. Andy MIDI used at this gig appeared to be nominal. His intro to "Rio" was excellent, and his portable board was one hell of a surprise!
One last thing to comment on: hearing the crowd sing nearly every song, in some cases, almost louder than Simon. I have never seen that at a concert before, I thought it was pretty cool! I read somewhere that Duranies don't know the words to the songs - BULLSHIT! My first Duran concert. Now I feel like a Duranie!
On July 23, 1993, Duran Duran were at the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia, PA> The stadium was packed as fans of all ages prepared to witness a show beyond their imaginations.
After the dubious but entertaining opening act by Terence Trent D'Arby, we waited with baited breath for nearly 45 minutes while the stage was changed - all minutes well worth the wait. When Simon's voice filtered out over the crowd and Duran appeared through clouds of manufactured smoke, the audience roared.
The stage looked like an elaborate theater set, and Simon covered every inch of it, more energetic than ever! John was blasting a very talented bass line (complete with fire-engine-red hair), Nick was majestic as usual (via shoulder strapped keyboards and lavender 'do), and Warren's guitar was electrifying, to say the least.
Visually as well as musically stimulated, the audience was entertained byu many new mixes of the Duran oldies like "Rio" and "Hungry Like The Wolf", etc. (Congratulations, Warren, for the personalized groove!) They even blessed us with an amazing, orchestrated version of "The Chauffeur" (my lighter just couldn't stay in my pocket, nor could the tears stay in my tear ducts).
The musical program (backed by the sultry-voiced Lamya) was like Decade with hot fudge topping, and the performance of "Too Much Information" was definitely moving. By the time the encore rolled around and no one in the audience was in their seat, and when they finished with their performance of "Wild Boys" (complete with whips, chains and bars) and Simon ran through the audience, I knew it was the best performance I'd ever seen. No Shakespeare play, no Andrew Lloyd Webber billion-dollar-budget, high-tech musical could even compare to a night with Duran Duran and their mature, artistic look and music. (Lilac and orange hair is mature? - ed. note)
And as the audience reluctantly filtered out of the music center, the gentle strains of the instrumental version of "A View To A Kill" (called "That Fatal Kiss") filtered into our ears.
My first concert was on July 28 at Madison Square Garden at the Z-100 Birthday Party. They were one of five bands playing: the Proclaimers, Terence Trent D'Arby, 10,000 Maniacs, Duran and Bon Jovi, in order of appearance. Of course Duran didn't get on stage 'til 10:00 p.m., but it was worth the wait!
They were beyond great! People went wild and Simon didn't have to sing because the audience did. They did an hour set that went by much too fast. They did all the old hit songs (with nothing from Big Thing or Liberty). Admittedly, most of the audience was there to see Bon Jovi, but the Duran Duran fans ruled!
I had to idea it was going to be as wild as it was - I thought I was going to be a minority fan, and I was definitely part of the majority! The only down side was that Simon was a little uncoordinated - he dropped the microphone twice and tripped over something (think it was a speaker) three times. John kind of stood there and played his bass and his that lovely hair of his. A person behind me said Simon was a little tipsy (I'm rephrasing him to be nice) before the show. That made me mad, but I kept my tongue.
Everybody around me said, "Oh, I love this song!" and "This is my favorite song". Well, where were these people three years ago?
Geneviève: The Star. To me, evidence of the value the record company and the press place on fans. After waiting for over three hours in the sun, my view was finally blocked by cameramen of all shapes and sizes. Do they need the entire ceremony when in fact they'll show all of 10 seconds one night in the middle of a dozen entertainment stories?
The people who would most appreciate the ceremony, the people who MADE this honor possible through their support, are tossed aside and completely ignored. I feel very used by the parasitic press and the self-absorbed greedy record company. I have no respect for the industry (yeah, but tell us how you really feel! - Barb). Anyway, for what I saw, I'm glad I went. Between other fans, cameras and microphones, I managed some decent photos. And I'm left with an I-was-there-for-history-in-the-making afterglow.
Eileen: There I was looking like somewhat of an idiot with my friend waiting for Geneviève. I had my Polaroid camera around my beck, a 35mm in my hand, binoculars in my bag (just in case), Duran folders and the old People Magazine with Simon's boating accident on the cover in my bag and my 6'2" friend had a video camera - ALL THIS at 10:30 a.m. - three and a half hours before Duran would be there. At that time, Geneviève met us there as the crowd built in size. All three of us were dying because of the heat but weren't willing to leave in fear of losing our place. WE both met a lot of interesting people there, some of whom we are corresponding to - they want my video!! HA! HA!
Finally an hour later, Richard Blade of the "World Famous KROQ 106.7 FM" came out to a group of teenybopper fans screaming like crazy. He was doing some live broadcast for the radio along with Rodney Bingenheimer ("Rodney on the ROQ"). Johnny Grant, the honorary mayor of Hollywood spoke at the mike to hundreds of screaming voices. He tried to be kind by telling the audience to hush a few times. He introduced Richard Blade and Rodney who both said a few words. In the background, someone from their rival station (KIIS FM) threw the KIIS "balls of summer" and were nicknamed the "KIIS lemons". Everybody started yelling "KIIS sucks" and we slowly inched minute by minute closer to the blessed event. Richard announced that everything would start up again in about 20 minutes! Geneviève and I both groaned with disappointment (it's on the video!).
Next the police brigade walked toward us and I knew the "Wild Boys" were here at last! I first saw Amanda pop her head out of the limo once, then again taking a picture of the fans atop Capitol Records. Then I saw Eddie, then Simon (with his blue/black suit again!), Warren with his gold pants (OWWW!), then the tuft of red hair, of course it was JT!!! And then Nick with his red baseball cap which covered his face with a shadow. I also saw many photographers, news people, Atlanta of course, and Simon's brother, David. The fans were screaming like there was no tomorrow, my brain was baking in the sun and the screaming was giving me a headache!
Mayor Grant, Bill Welsh of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Gary Girsh and the CEO and president of Capitol Records all spoke. The CEO gave a little synopsis history of the band. Hearing the sounds around me reminded me of the beginning of "Girls On Film", with all the cameras clicking.
The band was presented with a huge picture framed with DURAN DURAN in big letters and little pictures of all their albums. They were also given another award by the mayor with each of their names, their history and he told the band to keep these in the back windows of their car and "while in town they will receive no parking tickets!" Next, the band walked to the podium and the front man always, Simon, gave a very well-written speech. Simon was very pleased to be honored with those of TV, movies, and music who lay beside him. He mentioned that the band had come out of small cities in a small country and they never dreamed of this. He thanked the fans (!!!) and of course God, "who is Black, wears black stockings, a garter belt and plays the saxophone like Charlie Parker!" He ended with, "When you walk by us, give a smile down at us because we'll be smiling back at you!"
Next, Johnny Grant declared it "Duran Duran Day" in the city of Los Angeles - and their star was unveiled. And before I knew it, WHOOSH!! They were off in a flash! I looked at Geneviève and we both didn't have to say a word - it was in our eyeswe just witnessed "history in the making" - something I can't put into words. Next, we walked over to get some pictures of the Star right near John Lennon's star on the corner of Yucca/Vine right near Capitol Records. WE talked to a few old Duranie buddies and then went our separate ways: Geneviève off to work and my friend and I to pick up our tickets to the Forum.
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