Duran Duran

Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield on Wed 14th Dec 2011

When I said to my friends we were going to see Duran Duran, I expected a tirade of "You what??" Instead; and bare it in mind a lot of my friends are punks and rockers, said they were so jealous! The appeal it seems stretches across the board with the 80's stars. Everyone I meet who has seen them say they have an incredible live show.

Duran Duran

And tonight is no exception; moving stage sets, talking holographic faces, videos for each song (I especially like the Captain Planet meets Godzilla manga cartoon). It certainly is a dazzler. The band come across as very down to earth, letting fans text in (to fill a gap where most of the band go for a costume (well shirt) change). Le Bon even jumps into the crowd to get a couple of excited ladies to introduce him, and lets a guy sing the start of 'Reflex'.

It's a hit laden set; the only song missing that I can tell is 'Girls On Film'. The first hit is 'Planet Earth' followed swiftly by James Bond theme 'A View To A Kill'. 'Is There Something I Should Know' is a great sing-a-long tune halfway through the set.

There is a sad moment where Le Bon tells us the reason for the song 'Ordinary World', about a friends death from heroin, but this follows a cover of Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel's 'White Lines'!

Duran Duran


'Notorious and 'Hungry Like The Wolf' of course raise the crowd from their seats, and the encore of 'The Wild Boys' with a mixture of 'Reflex' and of course 'Rio' raise the steel city’s arena roof.

Some things distract me away from the stage, like a guy wearing a santa hat and doing star jumps in the middle of the floor, and Le Bon's trainers look to have the bounciest soles I have ever seen on any footwear. But Duran Duran surely do put on an amazing live show, I am with the punks on this one.

Set list:

Before The Rain
Planet Earth
A View To A Kill
All You Need Is Now
Blame The Machines
Come Undone
Safe
Reflex
Leopard
Girl Panic
Is There Something I Should Know
Tiger Tiger
White Lines
Careless Memories
Ordinary World
Notorious
Hungry Like The Wolf
Sunrise

The Wild Boys / Relax
Rio

Duran Duran

article by: Danielle Millea

photos by: Danielle Millea

published: 19/12/2011 10:18



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