I indoctrinated my 9 yr old daughter into the wonderful world of concerts in 2007 with two Duran Duran shows. As with all children, they are “forced” to listen to all the music their parents listened to. This included a ton of 80s “new wave”. My daughter got a heavy dose of Duran Duran during those years.
The first show was at Roseland Ballroom. It was originally scheduled for the Ethel Barrymore Theater as part of a 9 performance run. When this show had to be rescheduled and moved to Roseland, I was able to swing 2 GA tickets. Knowing I had a child with me, being in front was key so I took off work early to get on line. I hung out with all the die-hards that follow the band around. We ended up front and center in the GA section. Unfortunately, there were many VIP’s that were in the section in front of the barricade. I was flabbergasted by the number of women that arrived dressed to the nines. It’s like we were back in the 80s!
While the band has aged, Duran Duran exceeded our expectations. The band included the original lineup except for Andy Taylor. Simon LeBon sounded almost as good as he did in the old days. They played a good combination of old hits and songs from their latest “album” Red Carpet Massacre. Moment to remember was right before they played “She’s Too Much” from the new CD. The song was about Simon’s daughter and right before the song, he yells “Are there any Dads out there?” and points right at us!! Very fun and my daughter had a great time. She was hooked!
In between the two Duran Duran shows, I did see Evanescence at the Izod Center. Waiting on line in sub-zero temperatures was crazy. We took turns going back to sit in the car. There were a lot of people that had been on line for hours in the cold. In my experience, Evanescence fans will wait earlier and longer than fans of any other band. They are seriously hardcore. The other side benefit of the Evanescence concert was the amazing opening band, Sick Puppies. Much more to come on Sick Puppies!!
The other Duran Duran show was in May 2008 at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. It was mostly the same setlist as the Roseland show but the beautiful weather in an outdoor setting made the show superior.