Duran Duran: Lvrpl Echo Arena: Sat 10th Dec!

So what happens when you are a chart band that’s sold over 80 million albums and you put out a great new album and you have always had a reputation for being a great band? Answer: You continue to do what you always have done and get out on the road! So I’m in my favourite city in the world tonight with Penny Lane who is my fave Scousewife! We get into what is also one of the best arenas in the world and there is a support act (cockandbullkid) she’s quite pleasant, but nothing more and not even a good starter for the main…

That main is Duran Duran and when they do hit the stage it’s obvious that you are watching a band that knows exactly what its doing, the pace, the delivery, the setting, this is an act that’s refined their live show to suit themselves while knowing what works with their audience. Three songs in and we already have hit ‘Planet Earth’ and ‘View To A Kill’ which are two of the best songs ever!

They of course roll out some ‘new’ numbers’ after all like I said before, they are a band who continue to make albums and the latest one (All You Need Is Now) can definitely stand next to any of their previous work guitarist Dom Brown fills the guitar part with ease jumping in and out of all the styles of past and present Duran with the help of extra backing vocalist, saxaphonist and percussion, every song is spot on, I am a fan of that new record and I hate the word ‘Re-Invention’ yet this band has brought their forward thinking sound kicking and screaming into the 21st Century with a new sound and vision which they certainly deliver live… Now if only we can get a bass heavy dubstep re-mix!

It has to be noted that as musicians Roger Taylor is an effortless drummer, the kind that makes you believe drumming is so easy because he makes it look so, Nick Rhodes soundscape keyboards fill all the gaps within the Duran Duran spectrum, you really don’t notice he is there, but you would if he wasn’t, in my opinion he is as important as Brian Eno in the influential keyboard player stakes, just as Brian defined Roxy Music, Nick defines Duran. John Taylor is a different monster altogether, his good looks and sex appeal have often overshadowed what an amazing bass player he is, when the band go from pop to funk through rock and beyond, Join drives the whole sound forward creating a rhythm section with Roger that’s second to none, watching him play is such a joy and he is without doubt in my top ten of all-time list. Then there’s Simon! Ahh Simon Le Bon, perhaps not the greatest vocalist of all time, but like Jagger, Ozzy and many more before him no one else can do what he does, nobody can sing these songs like him, his vocal style is now second skin and he seems more comfortable than ever with who he is, the swagger is still evident as is the attitude (he is a singer!) but more than ever now he is the frontman of a great band, and he now knows it and just delivers his role with ease and a cheeky grin that let’s face it with an audience of mostly females is no bad thing. They are now the perfect amagimation of Duran / Power Station / Arcadia, they have no need for solo or side projects because they have become all the things they wanted to be both inside and outside, this is the the place they were born to be.

People can sneer at this band and joke about them being just another pop act, but trust me I have seen most of the so called ‘legends’ and ‘greats’ over the years both old and new and Duran Duran have earned their place at the top table and are still able to deliver at this level, oh and I haven’t even mentioned all the songs yet! Songs that when they come on the radio you just turn them up, songs that make you want to drive faster, have sex, dance, sing and believe you can do anything, and above all else THAT is the legacy of any great band, make no mistake, Duran Duran are a great band! Jj: Dec 2011

Before The Rain / Planet Earth / A View To A Kill / All You Need Is Now / Blame The Machines / Come Undone / Safe (In The Heat Of The Moment) / The Reflex / The Man Who Stole A Leopard / Girl Panic! / Is There Something I Should Know? / Tiger Tiger / White Lines / Careless Memories / Ordinary World / Notorious / Hungry Like The Wolf / Reach Out For The Sunrise / Wild Boys/ Rio