Duran Duran are finally here for their long-awaited Australian tour to support their 2010 release “All You Need Is Now” and by all accounts the band is still winning over their long-time fans in a big way.
Duran Duran - Photo By Mary Boukouvalas
Karen McLellan was there and filed this review for Noise11.com:
Duran Duran are finally here for their long-awaited Australian tour to support their 2010 release “All You Need Is Now” and by all accounts the band is still winning over their long-time fans in a big way.
On Monday night they performed a two hour set to a very excited Rod Laver Arena audience which included all of their classic hits such as “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Is There Something I Should Know?” along with several cuts from their newest album.
The current line-up consisting of lead vocals- Simon LeBon, keyboards- Nick Rhodes, bassist- John Taylor, drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist- Dom Brown -had their world tour interrupted in July of 2011 when Simon LeBon was faced with some serious vocal troubles -from which he had to undergo physiotherapy treatment. After a 2 month hiatus, the band resumed their tour with dates in the US, UK, Europe and Asia before finally making the trip down under.
The band opened up in Melbourne with a haunting new track “Before the Rain” from their latest album then went straight into two true classics- “Planet Earth” and “A View to a Kill’. Simon was most engaging with the audience when at one point- he jumped down into the crowd to ask a fan to help him sing the introduction their next song – “The Reflex”.
The band’s newest single “Girl Panic” whose video clip (with now over 5.3 million views & features a string of famous supermodels posing as the member of Duran Duran)- seemed to go over fairly well with scenes from the popular clip playing in the backdrop.
Bassist, John Taylor made mention of the fact that the band actually recorded parts of their third album “Seven and the Ragged Tiger” in Sydney and then performed the rare instrumental track “Tiger Tiger” which hails from that release.
Two touching notes were when Simon LeBon made mention of the problems in Syria which was followed up by performing one of their biggest hits from the 90s- “Ordinary World”. Then during the encore- John Taylor said “We never dedicate our shows to anyone but tonight, this one’s for “Molly” which received a huge roar from the crowd as band ended with and extended version of “Girls on Film” and “Rio”.
Duran Duran will continue to tour Australia over the coming weeks with the following shows:
March 20 – Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
March 24- Sandalford Estate, Perth
March 27- Sydney Entertainment Center, Sydney
March 31 – Tempus Two Winery, Hunter Valley Australia
Set list from Monday, March 19th, Rod Laver Arena Melbourne:
Before the Rain
Planet Earth
A View to a Kill
All You Need Is Now
Blame the Machines
The Reflex
Come Undone
Safe
Is There Something I Should Know?
Girl Panic
The Man Who Stole a Leopard
Tiger Tiger
Notorious
While Lines
Ordinary World
Hungry Like the Wolf
Sunrise
Wild Boys (with Relax medley)
Encores:
Girls on Film
Rio
Review with thanks to Karen McLellan.
