Post by ©DURANMANIA Board Team on Feb 27, 2005 1:15:02 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]The reunited Duran Duran's Astronaut Tour soars musically, crashes visually.[/glow]
By HOWARD COHEN/ Sat, Feb. 12, 2005
CONCERT REVIEW:
Would an expensive steak taste delicious on a paper plate?
Perhaps.
A fine restaurant, however, would serve it on an artfully-arranged china plate. The aesthetically pleasing presentation doesn't detract from the flavor of the main course. If anything, all the senses are entertained.
Unfortunately, Duran Duran, on the opening night of its 45-date reunion tour Friday at Sunrise's Office Depot Center, was the former -- a tasty dish served with no flair. The end result: boring.
Pity, because as a band Duran Duran has never sounded this superior. Lead singer Simon LeBon was in better form than in the halcyon Duranmania days of Hungry Like the Wolf two decades ago. Similarly, guitarist Andy Taylor and the rhythm section of John Taylor and Roger Taylor reinvigorated oldies like Careless Memories and Hold Back the Rain and sent the seven cuts from the fine new Astronaut CD soaring.
Yet, there has always been a pretentious streak to Duran Duran. The surest sign such things haven't changed in the 20 years since these five last performed a major tour together was that the once-Fab Five didn't allow themselves to be shown on the video screens on stage. Duran Duran has always been prickly about being perceived as an ''MTV band'' or pin-ups (because, well, these guys were in their '80s heyday) so it was quite apparent orders came from headquarters to keep as many people as possible at a distance so word of mouth wouldn't fixate on the fact LeBon and his egotistical cronies don't look 24 anymore.
So what? Neither do the fans. Get over it.
Astronaut is a good name for this tour because as in outer space, it was chilly and remote. One gets the impression these individuals would have been happiest playing behind a wall. If you weren't sitting close to the stage you saw four vague figures near their instruments -- except for the singer who proved in 20 years he still hasn't learned to dance very well.
Instead of band close-ups some pointless patterns of light resembling Rorschach tests in a blender flickered on the five vertical video screens. The visuals never commented on the songs so that an ostensibly sexy new tune like Bedroom Toys was performed to something that looked like smeared fireworks. The ballad Save a Prayer played to an accompanying image of, I don't know, slowly falling yellow snow.
Sound and vision can work harmoniously. Ask U2 who, on its Elevation Tour a few years ago, mastered the art of combining the visual and musical without either taking away from the other. It's a shame Duran Duran was so obsessed with being taken seriously for its music because in forgetting its celebrated fashion sense Duran Duran overlooked that a concert is an audio-visual experience.
But even if Duran Duran had given us something to look at and even though the musicians played the individual songs expertly and the pop hooks are razor sharp this two-hour show never truly found an exciting pace. Lulls between numbers sapped momentum; a segment featuring saxophonist Andy Hamilton meandered.
There was one human moment and, alas, it won't likely be repeated on the tour. Someone forgot to plug LeBon's guitar in before he played the zippy title track to Astronaut. He repeatedly hollered for his partners to halt, then said, ``I'm only just beginning to realize why I'm a singer, not a guitarist.''
By HOWARD COHEN/ Sat, Feb. 12, 2005
CONCERT REVIEW:
Would an expensive steak taste delicious on a paper plate?
Perhaps.
A fine restaurant, however, would serve it on an artfully-arranged china plate. The aesthetically pleasing presentation doesn't detract from the flavor of the main course. If anything, all the senses are entertained.
Unfortunately, Duran Duran, on the opening night of its 45-date reunion tour Friday at Sunrise's Office Depot Center, was the former -- a tasty dish served with no flair. The end result: boring.
Pity, because as a band Duran Duran has never sounded this superior. Lead singer Simon LeBon was in better form than in the halcyon Duranmania days of Hungry Like the Wolf two decades ago. Similarly, guitarist Andy Taylor and the rhythm section of John Taylor and Roger Taylor reinvigorated oldies like Careless Memories and Hold Back the Rain and sent the seven cuts from the fine new Astronaut CD soaring.
Yet, there has always been a pretentious streak to Duran Duran. The surest sign such things haven't changed in the 20 years since these five last performed a major tour together was that the once-Fab Five didn't allow themselves to be shown on the video screens on stage. Duran Duran has always been prickly about being perceived as an ''MTV band'' or pin-ups (because, well, these guys were in their '80s heyday) so it was quite apparent orders came from headquarters to keep as many people as possible at a distance so word of mouth wouldn't fixate on the fact LeBon and his egotistical cronies don't look 24 anymore.
So what? Neither do the fans. Get over it.
Astronaut is a good name for this tour because as in outer space, it was chilly and remote. One gets the impression these individuals would have been happiest playing behind a wall. If you weren't sitting close to the stage you saw four vague figures near their instruments -- except for the singer who proved in 20 years he still hasn't learned to dance very well.
Instead of band close-ups some pointless patterns of light resembling Rorschach tests in a blender flickered on the five vertical video screens. The visuals never commented on the songs so that an ostensibly sexy new tune like Bedroom Toys was performed to something that looked like smeared fireworks. The ballad Save a Prayer played to an accompanying image of, I don't know, slowly falling yellow snow.
Sound and vision can work harmoniously. Ask U2 who, on its Elevation Tour a few years ago, mastered the art of combining the visual and musical without either taking away from the other. It's a shame Duran Duran was so obsessed with being taken seriously for its music because in forgetting its celebrated fashion sense Duran Duran overlooked that a concert is an audio-visual experience.
But even if Duran Duran had given us something to look at and even though the musicians played the individual songs expertly and the pop hooks are razor sharp this two-hour show never truly found an exciting pace. Lulls between numbers sapped momentum; a segment featuring saxophonist Andy Hamilton meandered.
There was one human moment and, alas, it won't likely be repeated on the tour. Someone forgot to plug LeBon's guitar in before he played the zippy title track to Astronaut. He repeatedly hollered for his partners to halt, then said, ``I'm only just beginning to realize why I'm a singer, not a guitarist.''