The one-time biggest pop band on the planet belatedly celebrate their 40thanniversary as a group in relatively limber style – with hairlines, if not waistlines intact, alongside their reputation as a credible commercial band. Judging by the audience on the final date of their UK tour, Duran Duran are even seducing a younger generation of music fan with their (mostly) 80s pop nuggets.
But first, a palpable star who first shimmied forth a mere twenty years ago. Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears was a smart choice of support act, warming up the crowd with some equally beloved pop tunes. Dressed like a disco spaceman, his falsetto was in full helium effect on Comfortably Numb, one of the all-time great transformative cover versions. Take Your Mama was segued seamlessly with George Michael’s Freedom and the prime Bee Gees pasticheI Don’t Feel Like Dancing remains infernally catchy. Abetted by his cool pink-shirted band, Shears also showcased some solo material, including the Sparks-like art disco concept tune Do The Television.
Duran Duran’s music is not built for dancing in quite the same spirit but there was a certain fist-pumping energy to Wild Boys and a propulsive groove to Hungry Like the Wolf. Across a two-hour set, the core quartet (with guitar, saxophone and backing vocal reinforcements) ticked off most of their hit singles while happily leaving room for some connoisseur album cuts such as the Bowiesque storm Friends Of Mine and, less happily, their unfortunate take on rap classic White Lines.
Many tunes were of their time, such as the overwrought synth pomp of A View to a Kill and the mannered remixology of The Reflex. Ordinary World, meanwhile, remained a class act, a timeless tune about working through grief. But the New Romantic stylings of Planet Earth, Girls On Film, Save a Prayer and Rio proved hard to beat as the set revved up in the closing stages.
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