Duran Duran has influenced quite a few bands and artists over the years. One is Portland-Oregon's The Dandy Warhols. I could hear Duran's influence all over the band's "The Dandy Warhols Come Down" when I first heard it in 1997. In 2001, the Dandys released "Welcome to the Monkey House," produced by Duran's Nick Rhodes, and the circle was complete.
(All photos by Christopher Windle)
The Nov. 20 show in Iowa City was my fourth time seeing the Dandys, and the band always puts on a great show. It was the Dandys' first show in Iowa, and it was during a snowstorm no less, as singer Courtney Taylor asked the crowd, "Are we snowed in?"
The Dandys still managed to warm up the crowd with classics like "The Last High," "Bohemian Like You" and "Godless." Other highlights included the haunting ballads "And Then I Dreamt of Yes" and "Well They're Gone." Taylor livened up the slow burn of the show with the solo "Welcome to the Monkey House" and "Everyday Should be a Holiday," with the crowd singing along to both.
The band put a spin on "Monkey House's" "Plan A," with multi-instrumentalist Zia McCabe abandoning the keyboards for bass guitar. It was a totally different take on the synth-heavy album cut that featured vocals by Duran's Simon Le Bon. The Dandys closed with "Come Down's" "Boys Better," an excellent bookend to the opener, "Be In," off the same album.
And then there are the influencers. When Duran formed in 1978, there were a few musicians almost always mentioned as influences: David Bowie, Roxy Music, Chic...and the Sex Pistols. The members of Duran and the Sex Pistols' paths have crossed over the years. Most notably, guitarist Steve Jones formed the band Neurotic Outsiders with Duran bassist John Taylor and even played on most recent album "Paper Gods." Recently, both Duran and Sex Pistol's singer John Lydon's Public Image Ltd. shared the stage at "Later...with Jools Holland."
We caught PiL on tour in Nebraska the day before traveling to see the Dandys. PiL kept the show short and sweet in the smallest venue on its current tour. There was no opener for the show at Knickerbockers in Lincoln. Despite the relatively short set list, PiL played songs off most of its albums, and Lydon commanded the crowd despite feeling under the weather.
