I was waiting for pics but Shannon hasn’t posted them to me yet! Ahhh! Damn you woman, hurry up!

Anyway, if you’ve never been here before, or been hiding under a rock, I saw Duran Duran in Cleveland on Tuesday with Shannon! (And where else would you see a proper rock show but Cleveland anyhow?)

You can stop now if you don’t care… otherwise click on! (it’s long!)

I sweet talked a security usher for better location for Shannon and myself in the handicapped section directly next to the section where our seats were ticketed. It was three rows further back but far far FAR superior. Oh yeah baby, primo, tons of space to dance even! And not even the tallest person in the chair on the other side of the rail could block our view. For once I could SEE a concert! Woo!

We had all 50 feet of rail space to our lonesomes, if we wanted to roller skate around in there we could have, and it was 20 yards from the door and the bathrooms (not that we needed them, we were not missing a thing!) Every time someone got next to us the security scared them off - we were like freaking royalty. I actually heard folks talking to each other after being asked to leave “they must have won some contest” - that’s how nice our spot was. Good thing I had a railing to hold on to too, I wasn’t quite ready for this outing as my lungs are still pretty weak and found myself coughing a lot still. Did that stop me? Nope.

It was next John’s side of the stage, which made us even more excited, and it was the furthest left section they sold. Close and great view. There was a long platform the and Simon would come over and taunt us all and made it an even better spot. One thign I learned in reading some reviews, the sax player is Andy Hamilton, the same guy who played on Ragged Tiger and toured with them oh so long ago. THAT” a reunion! The only folks missing form the Tiger tour were BJ and Charmaine the back up singers they had then.

They played, and played and played, and played, it was over two hours without a stop (and only very short costume changes) full of extended mixes and some cool vintage music sequeways. They put in a kind of short intermission with the instrumental from Ragged Tiger called “Tiger Tiger” and a couple slow songs to give us old ladies a sitting break and Simon a costume change so he could come out dressed in a new suit and jaunty hat for “The Chauffuer”. People just sat back and appreciatively enjoyed the mellow breather. Minutes later they had us on our feet hopping the rest of the time. Simon encouraged folks to pull out lighters, and cellphones if they didn’t have a lighter, for Save Prayer. It was cool seeing so many blue screens waving. He even would time to time mug for cellphone camera shots.

One thing I haven’t seen in other reviews is that Simon, when it came to the finale, introduced the band and instead of introducing himself he went into the floor crowd and picked a hot brunette girl in the dead middle and had her introduce him. Twenty years ago he’d not have escaped that with a single shred of clothes on. The security thugs did pick up a few overly excited women to clear his way and help part the sweaty pink sea for Moses, but it was a real cool thing to see. I hated every single one of those bastards who got to touch him. He really enjoyed it, he’s a slut for attention, and that’s why we love him. I wouldn’t have expected a THING different from him.

Here is a nearly identical series of events and raving from a show a few days before… and another… and another… and another… and another… and another… and another… and another… and another… and another…and another… with a picture! And more tour pictures

I have seen Duran four other times, but never with the original five members which I missed it by mere weeks in high school - I was SOOOOO ticked.

Last time I saw them was in 1994 where they played in downtown Cinci for FREE with Human League and Chris Issac. (who impressed the heck out of me, but thats another story) This was JUST after Duran’s Wedding Album got them thier first hits Come Undone and Ordinary World provided their first top10 hits in almost ten years so this was a contract obligation concert as they later went on a larger world tour as the Album went Platinum soon after…. (anI have an autographed copy of it I won online when it came out, the only thing I have won online even now, I just wish I knew where I put it!!!!)

30,000 people showed up for that free Riverfront show - all crammed into an outdoor area for no more than 10,000 - can you say OUCH!? (People were actually being rescued over the fence for being squished almost to death.) I was front and dead center, 2 bodies between me and the stage. That’s right, 12 feet from my head to Simon’s crotch (and baby trust me, I know more about him than I ever wanted to after that with him wearing pink leather pants.)

Anyway, I wasn’t as close this time, but I wasn’t far away either as it was NICE and close just in a different and better way (one not requiring a mind wipe ot a confidentially agreement). As a lifetime studier of their faces, I can say they looked better now than they did 10 years ago.

They looked GREAT. Simply great. See? That picture was from the Cinci gig on Sunday.

John looked healthy which would be for the first time ever since it looks like he might actually eats something other than Cocaine now. I think I saw a thin patch of scalp when his back turned to us, but I told myself I was wrong and refused to talk to myself about it anymore. Simon looked better from where I was this time, last time he looked like a lifetime of hard rock star drinking had caught up with him at last. Nick always looks Drag queen runway beautiful so no change there, and his taste in operating systems is perfect as usual (as evidenced by the number of Powerbooks onstage and in the pit). Roger looks good in the pics, can’t really see him on stage with all the drums, but the video screen close ups were nice. Andy looked as good as Andy ever did in all the videos and junk, a little ratty guy in black baggy clothes and dark shades (I was never an andy fan, so I’ll just say that.), but he sounded great!

They never stood still, and watching them it was like flashing back to every old performance I ever taped. Anyone who might have thought they were washed up was certainly silenced. It was fantastic. I didn’t see anyone not dancing their butt off.

It was the old band, only mullet-free this time around, and much better dressed in their Armani designed outfits. If only that could have been said for the audience where black shirts and jeans were the uniform dujour (myself and Shannon included!). And on mullets, I mean really, technically any haircut that’s not a clean shave can be considered a mullet… right? Oh back to the concert…

If you haven’t heard it, the current album, Astronaut, is the best they’d made since The Wedding Album a decade ago for sure. Possibly better than the old stuff considering the lyrics make sense without chemical help. The less Taylors the worse the albums got I realized on the long drive home as I concluded I HATE all the songs from Pop Trash album on my ipod, and so next sync they all die. (Sorry boys, it’s true… as if they read this)

The opening band, VHS or Beta is localish to me, and let me say if you love the Cure, you’ll like them, they are just stinking of Robert Smith. And Since I LOVE the Cure, that’s a GOOD thing! iTunes Music store has thier stuff as well. Check them out.

The DD pop-up tour book is FABULOUS! As a designer it’s just a inspiration plaything. I’ll take a picture later as it has a pop up stage and little band members to play with. Not kidding, it’s awesome. I’m not just saying that because I’m extremely biased.

Book comes with a little japanese Anime comic of the animation shown during the show of DD fighting evil ninja henchmen with instruments and speakers turned to 11. Again not kidding. The crowd roared when “John-san” turned the dial to 11. Then, Simon grew to be 100 stories tall and fought Godzilla then destroyed the EMI building (which as any Duran fan knows was their former label) with a punch to the cheers of the crowd.

I hate anime, but THIS I have to find online! Oh yes, I will find the file. I can find anything.

Oh, What did they play Tuesday?
Duran Duran Tour, Cleveland, March 29, 2005:
The iTunes iMix of the show’s set list.