I am a Duranie

That would be a fan of the band Duran Duran, if you're uncertain.  I know some of you are going to scoff about 80s pretty boys. (And some of you are going to say "Who?"), but if you get past the flashy clothes and the naked chicks on the videos, you will find that there's 3 decades worth of good music created by this band.   True, a lot of their biggest hits were pretty much party music, but the did mature as they aged.   (Well...their music matured, I can't say on the personalities.)  They were also a very innovative band when it came to presentation.  First music videos to be shot on film as mini-movies.  First band to have the big screens on and around the stage so that those in the cheap seats could still see the band members.  So, anyway, I'm not at all ashamed to be a Duranie.  And last night they were at the Verizon in Grand Prairie.

The opening act was very impressive.  Neon Trees had one song hit the airwaves in Dallas and I very much liked it, but I never heard anything else out of them.  They made an excellent warm up band for Duran Duran.  For the first time in any DD show that I've attended, I saw the audience actually react positively to the opening act.  So the warm up band actually did warm up the audience.  A second first (if that makes sense) for me also happened at this show.  Duran Duran took the stage at the posted time.  I love the guys, but they do have a tendency to make the audience wait well past start time while they hash out the playlist or something.

Duran Duran was amazing.  All but one have passed the 50 year mark (and the one is quite close), but they have just as much energy as they did back in the 80s.  And now it's no longer fueled by cocaine so that's saying a lot.  The majority of the show was stuff off their new album, All You Need Is Now, but there was also a good smattering of older hits.  And this MBLF could not stop dancing.  The only time I actually sat down was to grab my purse to see if I could get a decent picture with my cell phone (the answer is "No, I can't.").  And I had a great view of my favorite of the guys - the surreal keyboard player, Nick Rhodes - so my inner fangirl was having as much fun as my inner musicfiend.  My concert buddy for the evening - Mel Hines the writer half of Two Lumps (shameless plug and/or name dropping) - had never seen Duran Duran live before and assured me that the show was worth the price.  So, it's not just me. 

So, here's a sample of something old - "Hungry Like the Wolf "

Something not quite so old - "Come Undone"

And something new - "All You Need Is Now"

And since they were there, too - Neon Trees "Animal"