The last time I had been to a concert at the Palace was 1999 when I saw Phish there. I have seen Grand Funk Railroad, Page & Plant, the Dead, Dave Matthews and every Phish show (4) at the Palace. Duran Duran, the show I attended 2 weeks ago, was probably the last show that I thought would break my hiatus from the Palace of Auburn Hills. For this, I thank a kind ladyfriend from work who was kind enough to guide me into the world of Duran Duran.
Let’s get a few things straight first. I am not much of a fan of 80s music and Duran Duran was about as 1980s as you can get. I admire some 80s bands like the talking heads, and later 80s bands like Guns N’ Roses, but other than that, my attention to 80s music is a bunch of one hit wonders or bands that actually were born in the 70s. I am trying really hard to expand my musical horizons, but I’m sorry JCT – those Indie bands are just not gonna cut it. So as my music tastes lie in a funk since Phish ended, I really want to go see new music and revisit those bands that I had not really given a chance (moe. & Widespread Panic) and those bands who I would have discounted as not something that would fit my musical tastes.
In any case, I went to this show with a ladyfriend (CK) from work and her older brother who seemed like that cool concert going kind of dude. We got to the show pretty early and spent an hour or so sipping those wonderful domestic $7 beers and did some people watching. This is your crowd at a Duran Duran show: hot refined chicks, 35 to 40 something ladies with butch cuts or mullets, a few 80s rock stars, some dudes, but the ratio overall was probably 4 or 5 ladies for every one gent. Oh yeah, and DB – your atypical high-school football dude, yeah, he was there too.
There was an opening band, but they sucked. CK tells me they sounded somewhat like the Cure.
The only the song I could connect the title to Duran Duran was Come Undone, but I had not heard the song since the days of MTV. They played it and it was sick – the keyboards and the base were toit and emotional. I wasn’t so high on the soul filled singer they had doing the ladies part, but otherwise it was great. And listening to the album version more closely, you can really hear the great keys and bass.
And I recognized several other songs including Ordinary World and Rio Rio, which they encored with. It all sounded pretty amazing. CK was giving the live feed with her cell to her sister in Texas. Apparently, this was the best Duran Duran show she had ever seen – and this is coming from someone who saw them at St. Andrews Hall in the big D, a much, much smaller venue. The Palace was not filled like it had been for most other shows I had been to, but it was a surprisingly dance-happy crowd at the show. The light show was really cool; it consisted of 5 screens behind the band with Japanimation and other moving pictures along with the other moving lights rising and lowering above the band.
For a self-proclaimed music snob, I was really impressed by Duran Duran. I really appreciate the how cool CK and her brother were that night for introducing me to something not necessarily new, but definitely rocking. Afterward, we made the ride back to the eastside having really been impressed by the music, and I had a very good time on my first quasi-date in awhile.
(Note: I tried to find a setlist for this show but was unsuccessful. I will keep checking.)
No comments:
Post a Comment