Duran Duran recently played an enthralling live show marking BBC Music Day at Eden Project, and exactly one month from today, the band will be back on U.S. shores.
This leg of the Paper Gods tour is exciting for me because the band will be in the Midwest, and I'll finally have a chance to see a couple of concerts.
At the BBC show, Duran was in great form, but fans online are noticing a well-worn set list. And Simon Le Bon's voice is sounding a bit worn as well.
Duranies also are noticing that Le Bon's voice is at its best with rest. After a brief Italian tour and a show in Denmark, the band has about two and a half weeks off before the U.S. tour kicks off anew. After that, the schedule is relentless and includes a number of back-to-back dates, including shows in Minneapolis and Kansas City (they'll be reviewed here on the blog). Duran isn't slowing down, recently adding two more U.S. shows.
The crowd at Eden Project was a raucous one and readily filled in any gaps on vocals by singing along at top volume. It's spine-tingling to hear an audience sing along word for word loud enough to be heard on a live recording. The Cornwell crowd was in top form on all of the classics, closing numbers "Save a Prayer" and "Rio" in particular.
That brings things back to the set list, which has been mostly unchanged this year. A new set list seems unlikely, and I'm looking forward to the songs I haven't heard live in a while: "I Don't Want Your Love" and "New Moon on Monday." By all accounts, "Planet Earth"/"Space Oddity" is amazing, and I can't wait to witness it live.
There isn't a lot of wiggle room for new tracks to be added. The band is sure to play "Last Night in the City," which is rumored to be the next single after snippets of the video surfaced on the "Today" show. I wouldn't miss "White Lines" or "Dancephobia," which nevertheless makes a great intro for "Too Much Information."
The general audience at the U.S. shows will expect to hear the hits. "The Reflex" has been missing at recent shows, and there have been a few grumblings about not hearing it live. But it's not possible for Duran to play every hit...there are just too many of them!
