Duran Duran: It’s Always Their Time

Duran Duran w/ Chic feat. Nile Rodgers
Washington State Fair, Puyallup, WA
09.23.15

I sat in the infield of the outdoor stadium, behind a row of middle-aged ladies double-fisting white wine in plastic cups, earplugs at the ready for the inevitable screams of enthrallment. And then it began. To the sounds of rolling thunder and flashes of strobe lights imitating the lightning of the great skies, Duran Duran took the stage with the title track of their latest LP Paper Gods and the crowd went wild. While the song might come off as an updated dance track, the lyrics are incredibly poignant for a band who has experienced their own fair share of idolatry. It was somewhat surprising that a band this revered and with a brand new top ten album would be playing the fairgrounds, but location aside, Duran Duran put on a show worthy of any arena.

Some might be ready to write Duran into the history books with an 80’s throwback appreciation, and performing tracks like “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Girls on Film” proved just how much they deserve that appreciation, but the new music also had the crowd singing right along, defying the urge to wrap up assumptions with a pretty little bow. Thirty-five years in and Duran certainly knows how to put on a good show, their musicianship and humility enviable, their energy unrelenting.

The set included “Come Undone” with it’s sultry romantic glaze, spectacular to hear live, “The Reflex” which has proved to be Duran’s most successful single, and which Simon Le Bon still carries off perfectly with that characteristic warble, and the emotionally heavy ballad of “Ordinary World” that had the crowd lighting up their phones in the air. They brought out hit maker guitarist Nile Rodgers – whose band Chic opened the show – for “Notorious,” a track among many that Rodgers had a hand in producing with the band. He stuck around to help them out with their latest single “Pressure Off” – co-produced and co-written by Rodgers and Mark Ronson and featuring vocals by alt-pop favorite Janelle Monáe – which saw the release of massive confetti cannons that marked only the middle of a massively successful lineup. The encore saw them covering Melle Mel’s funkified hip-hop track “White Lines,” but they saved the stunning “Rio” for the very end.

Oh, and consider yourself lucky if the bring along Chic. I don’t care how much you might try to rally against it, these funky disco musicians will have the coldest of hearts up and dancing with their undeniable bits. Fronted by Nile Rodgers, Chic has garnered ten nominations into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and provided us with “Everybody Dance”, “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)” and “Good Times.” And it is impossible to argue with them. Their live energy is ridiculous, I’m pretty sure there were a good ten or twelve musicians and singers stacked across the stage, everyone partying and belting it out with impressive power. Plus, Rodgers got them into a medley of hits he’s provided for other people, like Diana Ross’s “Upside Down” and Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.”

Don’t miss out on a chance to see Duran Duran pull off an epic time warp of awesome. Find one here.

Duran Duran Set List
Paper Gods
Hungry Like the Wolf
A View to a Kill
The Reflex
Come Undone
Last Night in the City
What Are the Chances?
Notorious (w/ Nile Rodgers)
Pressure Off (w/ Nile Rodgers)
Planet Earth
Ordinary World
(Reach Up for the) Sunrise
The Wild Boys
Danceophobia
Too Much Information
Girls on Film
Encore
White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It) – Melle Mel cover
Save A Prayer
Rio