Duran Duran Future Past Radio’s run extended. Are Duranies making a difference?

Duran Duran Future Past Radio will be available for at least another month on the Sirius XM app.

The channel was originally slated to end its run on the app on June 2 and had also been added to the satellite radio station’s on-air lineup for a week in May. Future Past Radio will now be available on the SXM App through July 4.

The channel is a celebration of Duran’s ongoing U.S. tour. Highlights so far have included three episodes of “Celeb Fan Takeover,” featuring Nile Rodgers, “The Goldbergs” actress Wendi McLendon Covey, and Bastille, an opening act on Duran’s summer tour along with Rodger’s Chic. The streaming channel has also been playing a mix of band and fan favorites, hits, and remixes, including Erol Alkan’s reworking of “All Of You.”

It’s not known whether further episodes of “Celeb Fan Takeover” are planned. And it’s also unclear whether a grassroots campaign by Duranies played a role in the monthlong extension for the channel. Fans have been clamoring for Sirius to make Future Past Radio a permanent part of its lineup.

Sirius subscribers can send feedback directly via the app. Or send your positive feedback via the link here! There are handy drop-down menu options. Just select “Music,” Rock,” and “Duran Duran Future Past” before submitting your message.

Photo by Christopher Windle

Duran Duran’s ‘spontaneous’ new project starts to take shape

Duran Duran’s latest studio effort, described as a Halloween-themed project, is taking shape.

Members of the band say the project will include old and new Duran songs, as well as covers, according to recent media interviews. The idea for the project was sparked by the band’s successful show last Halloween.

In Las Vegas on Oct. 31, the Durans donned costumes and played songs a bit on the spooky side, including “Night Boat,” “Secret Oktober,” and a medley of “Lonely In Your Nightmare” and “Super Freak.” The band has since added the latter to its set list.

Duran also played covers at the show, including the Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” and Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Spellbound.” In a short interview on Duran Duran Future Past Radio, Nick Rhodes revealed that the band has recorded a version of “Spellbound” that would be out in a bit. Guitarist Andy Taylor, who features on the project, has called the Siouxie cover “particularly great.”

Other covers reportedly in the mix: the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black,” The Specials’ “Ghost Town,” and Cerrone’s “Supernature.”

Also on the band’s Sirius XM channel, producer Nile Rodgers said he and Duran had just wrote a couple of songs together. In addition, the band spent time in the studio with “Paper Gods” producer Mr. Hudson, John Taylor says. The new songs, three in total, may or may not make the finished product, according to Taylor.

The project is “spontaneous,” Simon Le Bon told the NME, and the Halloween theme behind the new music is one that the singer says he had to be talked into.

Le Bon also spoke about his working relationship with Andy Taylor. Le Bon traveled to Ibiza this year to work with the guitarist, who has Stage 4 cancer. “Music is the king” in the room when the two are together, Le Bon said.

The fact that the band booked studio time before heading out on a summer tour bodes well for a planned Halloween 2023 release—though the specter of “Durantime” always looms.

The band’s North American tour kicks off this week in California with a performance at BottleRock Napa Valley and runs through September. Highlights along the way include two nights at Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado, and a closing show at Forest Hills Stadium in New York.

At top: Le Bon wore a “Queen Sioux” T-shirt onstage in Dallas last year. Now, Duran Duran has recorded a cover of a Siouxsie and the Banshees song.

Photo by Christopher Windle

Duran Duran Future Past Radio takes Sirius XM by storm

Duran Duran added yet another accolade to its collection with the debut of a radio channel dedicated solely to the band on Sirius XM.

Duran Duran Future Past Radio has been streaming on the Sirius app for a couple of weeks, but it was officially added to the satellite radio airwaves on May 18.

In honor of the channel’s first day on the air, Duran producer and superfan Nile Rodgers staged a celeb fan takeover. Rodgers, who described himself as “like the other dude in Duran Duran,” got the party started by playing Duran favorites and sharing stories from his more than 40 years as a friend of the band.

The streaming channel has been playing a slew of Duran fan favorites and rarities, songs as varied as “Winter Marches On” (played by its producer, Rodgers), “Ball of Confusion,” and even “Fragment” (a “Pop Trash” instrumental). Duran members’ faves are played as well; an atmospheric remix of Tame Impala’s “Is It True” worked particularly well before Duran’s own “Mediterranea.” Of course, all of the band’s biggest hits are represented, too.

Meantime, a grassroots campaign is brewing to make Future Past Radio a permanent fixture on Sirius. If you’re a Sirius subscriber, you can send feedback directly via the app. 

As one longtime Duranie says, “Let’s do a RRHOF fan vote and tell Sirius to make Future Past Radio permanent.” Last year, Duranies made a huge difference by scoring Duran a decisive first-place finish in the fan poll and helping propel the band into the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame.

So send your positive feedback via the app or the link here!

Top five live shows of 2022

Duran Duran

Live music was back to a new abnormal in 2022: More bands returned to touring, but many did shorter stints with fewer stops. Among those was Duran Duran, who embarked on a 14-date North American tour as summer turned to fall. 

It's no surprise that the band leads our list of top live shows of the year. The new wave icons impressed the crowd in Fort Worth, Texas, on Aug. 30 with its biggest hits and a few "old friends." Duran leaned in to nostalgia, playing "Union of the Snake," "Friends of Mine," and "Careless Memories" back to back, a new holy trinity of its 2022 U.S. shows. But even the most time-worn songs, when performed live, restored all faith in this band. Read more: Duran Duran leans in to future, past in Fort Worth

Cy Curnin, right, and Jamie West Oram of
The Fixx. All photos by Christopher Windle

The Fixx 

The Fixx returned to Omaha on June 28 with its "Every Five Seconds" tour, treating fans to new and classic songs. The Fixx, with its socially conscious music, moved the audience lyrically as well as rhythmically with its show at the Waiting Room. Cy Curnin and the band were in top form as they showcased several tracks off the new album, which fit seamlessly with the band's slew of new wave hits. Read more: The Fixx dive deeper with new songs and classic hits

Mudhoney

Growing up in the grunge era, I never got to witness Mudhoney live, even though "Superfuzz Bigmuff" and "Mudhoney" were some of my favorite albums of the time, especially from the genre. But in 2022, Mudhoney made an unlikely stop in Omaha, playing the Slowdown in May. The band did not disappoint, playing classics like "In And Out of Grace," "Touch Me I'm Sick," Vortex of Lies," and set closer "Here Comes Sickness." — Christopher Windle 

Boy Harsher

Boy Harsher has been an obsession of mine for years now. The electro-pop group’s sold-out show in Kansas City in July proved that many others are just as obsessed. Boy Harsher turned the recordBar into a pulsing dance club on a Monday night with songs like "Fate," "Modulations," "Morphine," and "Pain." And singer Jae Matthews encouraged the crowd to dance even more ("We make dance music, so dance!"). If you haven't yet, be sure to check out Boy Harsher. — Christopher Windle

 

Circle Jerks

Circle Jerks played Lawrence, Kansas, in March with 7 Seconds and Negative Approach opening — how could this combination not hit the top five? Negative Approach kicked off the show in full force, playing classics like "Fair Warning," "Live Your Life," and "Why Be Something That You're Not." Then 7 Seconds came out swinging with trademark songs like "Regress No Way," We're Going to Fight," and "Here's Your Warning." But the headliners were not going to be outdone. Circle Jerks played a 33-song set, including tracks from all six of the band's albums. The crowd, along with the Jerks, went bombastic throughout the set. The band played classics like "I Just Want Some Skank," "Wild in the Streets," "Moral Majority," "Red Tape"... I could keep going, but you get the gist. — Christopher Windle

Honorable mentions: 

Frontline Assembly at the recordBar (pictured), The Cult at the Admiral Omaha

Duran Duran’s top moments of 2022

More than four decades into its career, Duran Duran had a banner year in 2022. 

At times in between the band's highest points during the '80s and early '90s, and many times afterward, it was hard to believe that things might someday unfold like they did this past year. Duran is finishing 2022 as new inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — as well as the fan vote winners — headliners on stages around the world, and at last, the elder statesmen of new wave.

RRHOF

In the spring, Duran finally made the roster of nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and it didn't take long for the band to soar to the top of the fan poll. Duran traded the lead a few times with rapper Eminem before pulling away for good. In the end, the band won with a commanding 934,880 votes. But the fan vote was just one piece of the puzzle. While good for publicity, it counted for little in the overall scheme of things. But no matter: Duran was indeed selected to be inducted in November. 

When the day finally arrived, the band opened the show, no less. Duran was inducted by actor Robert Downey Jr. and performed "Girls On Film," "Hungry Like the Wolf," and "Ordinary World." But something was missing: guitarist Andy Taylor, who had announced that he was planning to perform. (The sixth inductee, guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, never officially confirmed plans to be there.) But Taylor's news stole the show: He has stage four metastatic prostate cancer, and a setback prevented him from being there on the big night. Singer Simon Le Bon shared a heartfelt note from the guitarist. Later that evening, Le Bon returned to the stage for the show-closing jam with Dolly Parton.

DuranLive

Duran played some big shows in 2022: BST Hyde Park, the Queen's Jubilee, and the opening of the Commonwealth Games, to name a few. But the biggest show for me took place in Fort Worth, Texas, during the band's U.S. tour. The concert on Aug. 30 was a culmination of a more than six-year wait between live shows. The "Future Past" tour opener in Minnesota was how it was supposed to start. But that concert was canceled at the last minute due to storms, and the show at Dickie's Arena in Fort Worth turned out to be a totally worthwhile pivot. Two months later, the band mixed up its act big time with a Halloween-themed show in Las Vegas that received glowing reviews from fans, even ones left a bit jaded over the band's live set list.

Resurgence

More than anything in 2022, there was a feeling that Duran's time as a respected force in music had finally come. In the days leading up to the Rock Hall induction, the band had a concert film playing in theaters around the world and were on the cover of a publication on most major newstands, a special edition of Life magazine. Once again, it was a great time to be a Duranie.

The future

2023 is likely to include more live shows, the band's bread and butter. A brief tour of the U.K. is certain to be followed by more U.S. shows. Duran seems ready: The band will ring in the year in New York's Times Square as the main act for "New Year's Rockin' Eve."

At top, Duran Duran plays to a packed arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Christopher Windle

Film review: 'A Hollywood High' offers snapshot of Duran Duran's LA story

 “A Hollywood High,” now playing in select theaters worldwide, captures Duran Duran near the start of what would become a heady year for the band, and it arrives just in time for its biggest honor.

Tonight, Duran will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a recognition that’s the pinnacle of many big moments. This year alone, Duran has toured the U.S. in support of the critically acclaimed “Future Past,” played a concert celebrating the royal Platinum Jubilee, headlined at Hyde Park, and opened the Commonwealth Games. Leading up to the rock hall honor, Duran handily won the fan vote.

But before all of this happened, Duran played an exclusive show on the rooftop of the Aster Hotel in Los Angeles, in March. The 12-song concert was filmed for a television release. It is ultimately being presented in movie theaters with a brief career synopsis focusing on the band’s ties to LA and its ongoing 40th anniversary celebration.

“A Hollywood High” is not a career-defining movie (and wasn’t sold as such). Neither was the last Duran film to play in theaters: the David Lynch-directed "Unstaged.” But “A Hollywood High” serves up an enjoyable appetizer before tonight’s main course.

The short documentary-like opening of the film touches on the band’s career highlights in LA: early shows at the Roxy, the infamous press conference as seen in “Sing Blue Silver,” its deal with Capitol Records, and its star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It even includes a shoutout to ex-guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, something that has been sadly missing from other recent documentaries on the band.

The concert features Duran in top form, playing an intimate show highlighting many newer songs and a few old hits. The visuals are at times stunning: the Capitol Records building illuminated in the colors of Ukraine’s flag, a neon sign flashing, “Fame is fleeting. Perfection is forever.” (“Just don't scratch the surface.”)

The show is bookended by two of the band's biggest hits: “A View to a Kill” and “Hungry Like the Wolf.” In between, it’s mostly a showcase of the singles off “Future Past.”

“Paper Gods” single “Pressure Off” feels fresh after a few years have past. “White Lines” proves it’s the crowd pleaser that just won’t go away. But “Ordinary World” is the highlight, with the blue-and-yellow backdrop that eight months later is sadly still timely.

One can hope Simon Le Bon sounds as good on the song tonight, which the band will inevitably play. A long-deserved honor will finally come to fruition, in Los Angeles, of all places. 

Duran Duran has been around for more than 40 years and is once again in the limelight. It’s time to celebrate.

Review: Duran Duran leans in to future, past in Fort Worth

 

As Duran Duran took the stage to the strains of "Velvet Newton" and launched into "The Wild Boys" in Texas on Aug. 30, it was a culmination of a more than six-year wait between live shows.

For me, the "Future Past" tour opener was how it was supposed to start. A week and a half prior, the ill-fated show in my home state of Minnesota was canceled at the last minute due to storms. The show at Dickie's Arena in Fort Worth was a pivot, and one that definitely proved to be worthwhile.

Chic opened the show masterfully, drawing the solidly numbered crowd to their spots in the 14,000-seat arena. Nile Rodgers and his band of skilled musicians put on a tour de force of Chic songs and assorted hits from the songwriter/superproducer's past. Everything from Diana Ross, Madonna, Bowie and Daft Punk was played. Rodgers always gets the party started for his brothers in Duran Duran.

Duran also rarely disappoints live, but there was something different this time. There seemed to be a new energy behind the band, now soon-to-be-inducted members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"The Wild Boys" was a commanding burst of energy, aided by video-game like onscreen graphics in which the band members seemed to dance in and out of the fire. New graphics were also employed during "Hungry Like the Wolf" before the band played its first two songs off "Future Past." "Invisible" is always a solid live track, and “All of You" a pleasant add to the set list (though Simon Le Bon flubbed the first line of the chorus).

Le Bon sounded mostly in top form, only straining a bit on some high notes during "All of You" and "A View to a Kill." Le Bon, wearing a "Queen Sioux" T-shirt from Punk Masters and the beginnings of "Le Beard," was an energetic presence onstage. Between songs, he joked about how the neighboring city of Dallas was "booted and suited," while Fort Worth was more laid-back, though he was willing to give Dallas a shout-out later in the show.

Duran also played "Notorious," but this time without Rodgers, who joined the band onstage at prior shows. "Come Undone" was a showcase for backup singer Anna Ross, while Rachael O'Connor shined on the "Future Past" single "Give It All Up."

But the show really took off as Duran leaned in to nostalgia, playing a few "old friends" that compelled the crowd to dance and sing along. "Union of the Snake," "Friends of Mine" and the cracking "Careless Memories" may be the holy trinity of the "Future Past" tour. "Union" is a recent welcome addition to the set list, a song that's too often overlooked. "Friends of Mine" pointed to the band's upcoming Halloween shows in Las Vegas with clips from Hammer's "Dracula" playing on the screen above.

The band slowed things down with "Ordinary World" and a heartfelt dedication to the people of Ukraine. It was well-received in Fort Worth, where Duran seemingly could do no wrong with the audience, even when playing its newest and perhaps weakest single off "Future Past," "Tonight United."

"Planet Earth" led into "Hold Back the Rain" as images from Duran's early days flashed onscreen. The sound and vision brought fans back to when the Fab Five "were a gang, a SWAT team, best friends," as Nick Rhodes writes in the "Future Past" tour book. "Nothing seemed out of reach." 

As expected, Duran saved its biggest hits and a crowd-pleaser for last. "The Reflex" had the audience singing and dancing with abandon, and it made no difference that "White Lines" wasn't a Duran song. The band and an impressive Dom Brown made the song their own, on this night, at least.

"Girl on Film" closed the main set with a batch of fresh graphics and a segue into the Calvin Harris hit "Acceptable in the '80s." The encore of "Save a Prayer" and "Rio" delivered what the crowd wanted. Those songs may seem a bit stale to some diehard Duranies, but seeing them performed live restored faith in this band.

Over the past decade, Duran Duran has evolved into a Hall of Fame-caliber act whose music now belongs to a wider audience than the band enjoyed even during its heyday. Duran must continually straddle the line between its future and its past, its best-known songs and its fan favorites. The band manages to accomplish all that, and does it exceedingly well. See it, and believe it.

All photos by Christopher Windle