Post by ©DURANMANIA Board Team on Mar 23, 2005 11:02:49 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Duran Duran fans hungry for '80s ...[/glow]
Concert review: by Jim Meyer, Special To "The Star Tribune"/March 23, 2005
At this point, you've gotta hope that Duran Duran reunited for the musical joy and the camaraderie, not just for the money. Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the 1980s Brit favorites' fans didn't fill half the seats. Worse, the concert practically left Duran's shaky musical reputation in a shambles.
The small audience of maybe 5,000 seemed to put a damper on the former dandies. The absence of guitarist Andy Taylor may have brought the band down further; he suddenly returned to England last week to be with his ailing father. Dominic Brown filled in, as he has in the recent past.
Vocalist Simon LeBon, sporting sensible trousers and a dark jacket, looked like he was dressed for a day at the office. The workman-like musicians often played as if they were on the clock. Say what you will about Duran's glossy image and MTV-driven fame, the band in its prime played with a certain sexy excitement that ladies loved and even square boys couldn't deny. But, during Tuesday's lackluster two-hour performance, those days seemed long ago.
Early on, LeBon announced that the next song is "Come Undone" as his bandmates played the heavy beats of a different tune. "I mean 'Union of the Snake' " he corrected. In more ways than one, the band just did not seem present.
The reunion of the five famous members was met with excitement when it was announced in 2001. In the three years it took them to write and record a new album (the first studio disc in 21 years with the original lineup), a handful of dance rock bands including Franz Ferdinand and the Killers have surfaced, echoing a bit of Duran's Chic-meets-Sex Pistols style.
As if to stay ahead of the game, Duran itself has ventured beyond synth-pop into arena-rock, with mixed results. Last year's comeback album, "Astronaut," comes close to being a mature, optimistic view on world affairs and the human condition, as if to give U2's Bono a run for his (substantial) money. But key tunes like "Reach Up for the Sunrise" are slight and superficial. Surprisingly guitar heavy, the album lacks the creative band interplay of Duran's classics. LeBon and Co., never known as great lyricists, could not capture the maturity and musical sincerity to pull off the transformation.
Opening band VHS or Beta is another of the new groups that echo Duran's funk-rock style. On disc, V or B could not sound any more like the Cure, especially singer Craig Pfunder, a total Robert Smith soundalike. In concert, Pfunder's strange voice was nicely balanced by huge guitar textures that brought the band to another level.
Concert review: by Jim Meyer, Special To "The Star Tribune"/March 23, 2005
At this point, you've gotta hope that Duran Duran reunited for the musical joy and the camaraderie, not just for the money. Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the 1980s Brit favorites' fans didn't fill half the seats. Worse, the concert practically left Duran's shaky musical reputation in a shambles.
The small audience of maybe 5,000 seemed to put a damper on the former dandies. The absence of guitarist Andy Taylor may have brought the band down further; he suddenly returned to England last week to be with his ailing father. Dominic Brown filled in, as he has in the recent past.
Vocalist Simon LeBon, sporting sensible trousers and a dark jacket, looked like he was dressed for a day at the office. The workman-like musicians often played as if they were on the clock. Say what you will about Duran's glossy image and MTV-driven fame, the band in its prime played with a certain sexy excitement that ladies loved and even square boys couldn't deny. But, during Tuesday's lackluster two-hour performance, those days seemed long ago.
Early on, LeBon announced that the next song is "Come Undone" as his bandmates played the heavy beats of a different tune. "I mean 'Union of the Snake' " he corrected. In more ways than one, the band just did not seem present.
The reunion of the five famous members was met with excitement when it was announced in 2001. In the three years it took them to write and record a new album (the first studio disc in 21 years with the original lineup), a handful of dance rock bands including Franz Ferdinand and the Killers have surfaced, echoing a bit of Duran's Chic-meets-Sex Pistols style.
As if to stay ahead of the game, Duran itself has ventured beyond synth-pop into arena-rock, with mixed results. Last year's comeback album, "Astronaut," comes close to being a mature, optimistic view on world affairs and the human condition, as if to give U2's Bono a run for his (substantial) money. But key tunes like "Reach Up for the Sunrise" are slight and superficial. Surprisingly guitar heavy, the album lacks the creative band interplay of Duran's classics. LeBon and Co., never known as great lyricists, could not capture the maturity and musical sincerity to pull off the transformation.
Opening band VHS or Beta is another of the new groups that echo Duran's funk-rock style. On disc, V or B could not sound any more like the Cure, especially singer Craig Pfunder, a total Robert Smith soundalike. In concert, Pfunder's strange voice was nicely balanced by huge guitar textures that brought the band to another level.