02 November 2024 (gig)
2 h
Hot on the heels of a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Halloween night, where the band, in costumes, performed a concert laced with cuts from their 2004 disc, "Dance Macabre". The group's Big Apple show generated so much interest, that it would be a great tradition if they mounted the show every October 31st.
Post-concert, Duran Duran made their way east to continue their short US tour to play an epic show on November 2, 2024 at the SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire (the grandest venue in the state of New Hampshire).
Wasting no time, the English-based legends opened the show with "Night Boat" and "The Wild Boys", before churning out their best-known cut, "Hungry Like The Wolf".
Sporting four of the five original members (Simon Le Bon, vocals; Nik Rhodes, keyboards John Taylor, bass and Roger Taylor, drums) Duran Duran are becoming one of the longest-surviving bands ever (they were formed in 1978).
1985's "A View To a Kill" was one of many peaks in the group's career, being the theme song to the James Bond flick of the same name. It sounded amazingly fresh on Saturday and Rhodes' synthesized notes gave the song a powerhouse feel, while still maintaining its 80's motility. A rendering of 1987's groove-filled, "Notorious", focused on the band's funk influences (even more so on "Lonely In Your Nightmare", which melted into a killer cover of Rick James' quintessential,
"Super Freak").
Duran Duran meshed in a few cover versions during the night, the most unexpected was a phenomenal version of Electric Light Orchestra's "Evil Woman" (which is actually the band's new single).
The group's 1983 disc, "Seven and The Ragged Tiger" was represented quite well this night. In addition to "The Reflex" (the ensemble's first number-one hit in the US) they pulled out the fantastic "Union of the Snake" and "New Moon on Monday", all of which were inescapable ear-candy delights in 1983-'84.
A bass-heavy cover of "White Lines (Don't Do It)" by Grandmaster Melle Mel, greatly raised the temperature in the room during an already-hot night. The band's ultra-talented backup singers, Rachael O'Connor and Anna Moss, took to the front of the stage elevating the song to a heady level.
Moss also shined during a duet with Le Bon on a powerful rendition of "Come Undone". Moss' talent is on par with other classic rock vocalists as Merry Clayton (best known for the Rolling Stones' "Gimme' Shelter") and Clare Torrey (who laid down the astonishing word-free vocals on Pink Floyd's "The Great Gig in the Sky").
The night wrapped up with early tracks, "Planet Earth" and "Girls on Film". "Girls on Film" was extra special, as a shortened cover of Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer" was inserted in the middle of the tune, before returning to "Girls on Film" again.
A two-song encore of the atmospheric "Save A Prayer" and the slick beach vibes of "Rio" ended the night on a sizzling note (despite being a chilly early November night).
