Saw Duran Duran tonight
Well, some of you know I had a 1 in 5 chance of winning back stage passes to meet Duran Duran yesterday through a local radio station (I was the magical ninth caller when they played DD on the radio the other day). However, I wasn't the lucky grand prize winner after all. That's OK I guess. I still had an extra set of tickets I was able to give to my sister and it was fun to meet up with her and her husband for dinner before the show. Besides, my stomach would have been in knots all day if I had won, and there is a really good chance I wouldn't have enjoyed the concert due to the stress of 'oh my gosh - I'm going to meet them after all these years!' And there is always a worry that it could just shatter my image of my favorite band if it was some rushed, insincere meet and greet.
The concert was a lot of fun! We were about 25 rows back from the stage. I didn't think I'd get any good photos because we were still a way back from the stage. But when the light was just right and I managed to stay still... a few came out in focus! I was shocked!
Here are a few favorites:
Simon and Nick share a moment. This might have actually been during the Reflex "why-yi-yi-yi-yi" part where Nick replies "Yeah."
My best shot of Simon:
John:
The rest of my photos that actually turned out OK: http://imageevent.com/kay_dee/duranduranconcordca?n=0&z=2&c=4&x=0&m=36&w=0&p=36
As far as the music goes, I especially LOVED the dance set they did in the middle of the show! I've been to so many of their concerts over the years, hearing the same renditions of the same songs. I love them, but it does get to be overly familiar after a while. Anyway, the dance set was soooo much fun on 2 levels a) they played songs that were older but not really big hit singles. Songs like "Last Chance on the Stairway", "Skin Trade", "I don't want your love"... b) the songs were totally rearranged as dance songs! Perhaps DD was inspired by the recent popular dance remix that was done of "Serious" (a song from the late 80's or very early 90's that never became a hit) that was retitled "Fire"? Why not give the same treatment to some of their other songs huh?
I tried to video tape the "Skin Trade" segment, but the bass was so strong it blew out my camera microphone and is not audible until the end of the song when the heavy drum beat stopped. I uploaded it to image event but it's not showing up. I may have to revert to You Tube and bad compression.
I'm not sure if my sister imagined this or not, but she swears that during "The Reflex" when Simon was giving Nick the microphone to say "Yeah" after the 'why-yi-yi-yi-yi' parts, that he ended with saying "Skywalker Ranch." So either my sister is on crack and imagined it, or Nick gave a fun nod to a place I know the band has visited at least once. Heck, before the show we ran into the gal who works for LFL event promotions in some way (she was our contact when Lucasfilm requested us to appear in costume for the NASA lightsaber thing last year). She said she 'knows someone who works for the band' and she was given free tickets. I'm not sure if she got to meet the band back stage too... I wouldn't be surprised (they had on wrist bands, which often indicates VIP back stage access).
Another totally funny thing - a girl actually jumped up on stage and totally hugged (or grabbed) Simon! I couldn't get my camera turned on fast enough to snap a picture. Amazingly he kept singing and security finally pulled her off of him! I have not seen that since the Sing Blue Silver documentary from 1984! I believe Simon was pleasantly surprised!
*edit* I just found a photo of the girl grabbing Simon on stage! Too funny!
http://image52.webshots.com/652/2/4/34/2110204340101351011PIamjQ_fs.jpg
The concert was a lot of fun! We were about 25 rows back from the stage. I didn't think I'd get any good photos because we were still a way back from the stage. But when the light was just right and I managed to stay still... a few came out in focus! I was shocked!
Here are a few favorites:
Simon and Nick share a moment. This might have actually been during the Reflex "why-yi-yi-yi-yi" part where Nick replies "Yeah."
My best shot of Simon:
John:
The rest of my photos that actually turned out OK: http://imageevent.com/kay_dee/duranduranconcordca?n=0&z=2&c=4&x=0&m=36&w=0&p=36
As far as the music goes, I especially LOVED the dance set they did in the middle of the show! I've been to so many of their concerts over the years, hearing the same renditions of the same songs. I love them, but it does get to be overly familiar after a while. Anyway, the dance set was soooo much fun on 2 levels a) they played songs that were older but not really big hit singles. Songs like "Last Chance on the Stairway", "Skin Trade", "I don't want your love"... b) the songs were totally rearranged as dance songs! Perhaps DD was inspired by the recent popular dance remix that was done of "Serious" (a song from the late 80's or very early 90's that never became a hit) that was retitled "Fire"? Why not give the same treatment to some of their other songs huh?
I tried to video tape the "Skin Trade" segment, but the bass was so strong it blew out my camera microphone and is not audible until the end of the song when the heavy drum beat stopped. I uploaded it to image event but it's not showing up. I may have to revert to You Tube and bad compression.
Click to viewI'm not sure if my sister imagined this or not, but she swears that during "The Reflex" when Simon was giving Nick the microphone to say "Yeah" after the 'why-yi-yi-yi-yi' parts, that he ended with saying "Skywalker Ranch." So either my sister is on crack and imagined it, or Nick gave a fun nod to a place I know the band has visited at least once. Heck, before the show we ran into the gal who works for LFL event promotions in some way (she was our contact when Lucasfilm requested us to appear in costume for the NASA lightsaber thing last year). She said she 'knows someone who works for the band' and she was given free tickets. I'm not sure if she got to meet the band back stage too... I wouldn't be surprised (they had on wrist bands, which often indicates VIP back stage access).
Another totally funny thing - a girl actually jumped up on stage and totally hugged (or grabbed) Simon! I couldn't get my camera turned on fast enough to snap a picture. Amazingly he kept singing and security finally pulled her off of him! I have not seen that since the Sing Blue Silver documentary from 1984! I believe Simon was pleasantly surprised!
*edit* I just found a photo of the girl grabbing Simon on stage! Too funny!
http://image52.webshots.com/652/2/4/34/2110204340101351011PIamjQ_fs.jpg
