So here's how it went down. Duran Duran were in town last night. We didn't even know that they were coming, but even if we did at $150 a ticket, we wouldn't have gone anyway. A local radio station is having an on-line auction to raise money for charity. On Monday afternoon they added a pair of Duran Duran tickets for Tuesday night's show. I suggested to Hubby that we open up the bidding with the minimum requested bid. Because of the late addition, the bidding period was less than 24 hours. If no-one else bid we would get excellent seats for 1/3 of the ticket price for what was sure to be a fun evening out. If someone else bid over us, we would have helped to raise the bid and earn money for the charity. The bidding closed at 10am Tuesday morning and as it turned out we ended up with the tickets.

I’ve never disliked Duran Duran, but I’ve never been a huge fan of theirs either. Nothing against them, it’s just that when they were in their prime I was spending my time listening to Sabbath, Ozzy, Iron Maiden, Priest and the like. A metalhead like me wasn’t going to get caught listening to Duran Duran. Hubby on the other hand was much more open minded than me and quite liked the band.

So off we went to the show, unexpected, and on short notice. The opening act was a band called Your Vegas. They were decent enough. Catchy tunes and great stage presence. The front man had a pretty good voice in the lower register but kept moving into the higher register and just wasn’t pulling it off well, IMO. They had an autograph session set up between their set and DDs. I thought it was brilliant marketing and wondered why more opening bands don’t do that.

So then Duran Duran takes the stage. I wasn’t ready for the crowd reaction. A standing ovation just for walking out on stage. I’ve seen that happen a few times in my life, Yes, Bowie, Pink Floyd. I just don’t think of Duran Duran at that level. Wow.

And speaking of Wow…what a show! These guys may be geezers but man, they still put on a great show. It was full of energy. They played for just under two hours and never stopped once. They all looked great. They were fit and probably could have still worn the old spandex, but thankfully they didn’t. Although, I’m sure that there must have been a few rugs on the stage. There’s just no way that out of four guys that age, not one of them has thinning hair.

The music was great. The energy was high. The crowd was on their feet through the whole show. They played a good mix of new stuff and old hits. And there wasn’t a dull moment. Considering that I’m not a huge fan, I had a great time!

I was surprised, however, at how young much of the crowd was. There was certainly the 40-somethings reminiscing their younger days, but there were a lot of 20-somethings there too. The girls a few seats down from us had to be in their early 20’s and knew every word of every song. I’m puzzled as to where these kids are hearing Duran Duran. And I’m even more puzzled that they would spend $150 a seat to see them. I was expecting a stage full of has-beens. I couldn’t have been more wrong.