Our seats totally sucked, which really pissed me off, because I bought them through the fan club presale the second they went on sale. We were in Terrace 23. http://www.sandiegoarena....tre_06.jpg
Plus, the stage was a little farther up than what this seating chart shows, because the stage was oddly shaped. It was round and had some ramps for the guys to walk on to. It kind of looked like Mickey Mouse with square ears. Anywho, I was upset that I wouldn’t get the full effect of the show because I heard the screens behind the stage had some really cool visuals. BUT, I was directly in line with Roger and Nick… and that turned out to be a good thing.

Being a Nick girl, Tiger Tiger was the high point of the show. I pretty much knew this would be played… but I wasn’t prepared for my reaction. I LOVE this song. The intro alone is fucking beautiful. That moment of silence… then that note that Nick plays… It is pure sex to me. To watch him perform this was magical. “Oh my God. Oh… myyy… GOD… ohmigod!” I couldn’t sit still. My friend turns to me and says “Is this orgasmic for you?” Uh, YEAH. This song penetrates me, and I love it. Watching him play it live was so beautiful. The electricity in my body was moving so fast… I screamed like Kim Basinger in Batman. I didn’t mean for it to happen, it was totally unexpected. As I began to bring my breathing back to normal, I was so overcome with emotion that my eyes welled up. That moment took a lot out of me, and the remainder of the song was so soothing. It has to be one of the most beautiful moments of live music I have ever experienced. Had I not been in those shitty seats, way up there, I wouldn’t have been able to watch him work, and actually see his hands move over the keyboards.

The show was GREAT. From the moment they came on, I totally forgot I had shitty seats. They had GREAT energy and the crowd was on it’s feet, dancing and singing along the whole time. At one point, I think during Save a Prayer, they almost stopped playing completely and the crowd sang the chorus. I think Roger was just tapping the tempo. The screams were sooooo loud, I mean, really fucking loud especially for a small crowd like that. It was just awesome to see the original 5. They truly do have magic and chemistry.

SUNRISE was great as usual. They started it just like in the dvd with Simon singing “The music’s between us.” Roger twirled his drumstick.

HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF. As much as I could do without hearing this track, (They ALWAYS play it…) it always it great to dance to and the crowd always bounces continuously throughout the song. You can’t help but get excited too.

HOLD BACK THE RAIN was awesome to hear live.

UNION OF THE SNAKE never disappoints. Andy Hamilton kicked booty on the sax. I felt like I was in 1984, even though I didn’t see them live back then. I wasn’t a Duranie until 1986, but I had the concert videos from that time.

ASTRONAUT. This song is sooooo great live. It really kicks ass.
COME UNDONE. The backup singer sang along to a backing track, I think. She couldn’t sound that close to the original.

I DON’T WANT YOUR LOVE. This was interesting. Actually I really didn’t like it. But I did like how they started it out… Simon says “I…..like NOISE!” and of course the crowd screamed like crazy. He kept doing it and the crowd got louder so that was fun.

CHAINS. I dunno… this is too mellow. I would have preferred Finest Hour, Want You More or Bedroom Toys… which they have all played live recently. If they wanted to do a ballad, why not play Still Breathing?

WHAT HAPPENS TOMORROW. Great track live.

PLANET EARTH. Aaawww yeah. Bop bop bop, bop bop bop bop-bop!

TIGER TIGER. Orgasm!

CHAUFFEUR. Sexy sexy. Simon put on a hat, like the one Prince wore in the Automatic video.

ORDINARY WORLD… Well done. Better than the Jingle Ball performance back in December.

SAVE A PRAYER. People went nuts of course. The audience sang along the whole time.

NICE. This song always gets the house rockin.

NOTORIOUS. Funky. They did We Are Family in the middle of this as usual. I think it’s funny that Simon thinks he has to tell us the lyrics before we sing them. Duh… we are all children of the 80s!!! Oh, and for those of you that don’t know, they have inserted Sexy MF into this song as well, just goes to show how funky it is.

IS THERE SOMETHING I SHOULD KNOW? This was a COMPLETE surprise. The moment it started “Please please tell me nowwwww!" I screamed like Kim Basinger again. I can’t scream like that on purpose. I mean, I try not to because it really fucking hurts. But again I was overcome. This was the first time it was played on this leg of the tour.

CARELESS MEMORIES. I was amazed at the amount of energy they put out with this one. I have a concert on vhs from 1982 and the amount of energy they had was almost identical. That’s over 20 years ago! This song has a fire that cannot be denied and they have aged very well.

WILD BOYS. This is always great.

WHITE LINES. This was better in November 2003, but I danced anyway.

GIRLS ON FILM. They inserted the chorus from Groove is in the Heart before the bridge while they introduced the band. It’s so cool when they do things like this. The transition is always seamless.

RIO. Another track that I wouldn’t miss if they didn’t play it for the umpteenth time… but again it’s a great track to dance to. The baseline is undeniable.

So even though I would have liked a better view of the visuals behind them, the music did not disappoint and it was really cool to be able to watch the crowd as well. Sometimes I would look at everyone dancing, hear them singing and having a great time and I would just smile… so happy for Duran Duran and all of us enjoying this awesome moment together. If you ever want to see me having the time of my life, come with me to see Duran Duran. They make me so happy. The next day my entire body was sore and my voice was a little hoarse. I told a friend of mine that I felt as though I had a night of wild, drunken sex.

The tour program is $45, but it’s worth it. It’s hard cover, with 2 “pop-up” pages. Really amazing design, it has some cards and a flipbook. Then you can pull out a soft cover book from the inside of the pop-up book and there is also a small comic book as well. The comic book is the Careless Memories animation, I think. It’s very well done and creative.

There are some cool pics over here: http://www.duranduran.com...w%2A%2A%2A


[Edited 2/28/05 10:08am]

sweeeeet!

Finally something to read. You waited on purpose. Ok, now I'm gonna read it.

funkyslsistah said:

Sorry. I figured no one was around on the weekend. Actually, all day Saturday I took it easy. I was sooooo tired. I have a sore throat today... I either caught somethng at work or at the concert. I stayed home from work today. I barely had the energy to write the review this morning.

I spent most of Saturday downloading Duran concerts and listening to them. Suddenly I would have some energy and I would dance and sing in my room like I was there again. Funny how that works.

Now I'm concerned about seating for my friends. I ordered their tix, but to this day can't tell them where they will be seated. I really hope it's not way in the back somewhere, cuz really they could have bought better seats through Ticketbastard. I don't even know which side I'll be on, but I know the area. We'll find out Wednesday.

I'm suprised no Reflex or Bedroom Toys???? The four songs I must hear are those two as well Tiger Tiger and The Chauffer, and then somebody can carry me out. I want a perfect show with all my songs. I need to see the setlist for Sacramento and then hope really hard that they won't leave any of the four out.

Great review Vina!!! I'm cracking up over the KB screams.

funkyslsistah said:

For you:



Yeah, I was mad because I checked ticketmaster that morning and I could have bought a seat in LL21. That was for 1 seat alone and it would have been "better".

Nice pics. I'm taking two cameras, digital and disposable, just in case.

Love the almost entire group shot. It's always tricky unless the drummer is in the middle.

I checked out andytaylor.com for the set lists, and I didn't realize that Bedroom Toys haven't been played for a couple of weeks, especially in CA. Unless it gets added back this week, I might have to face that I won't be able to do my little dance for that song.

Great review Vina!
/peace Manki

I feel mentally molested by your explicit review, Vina!

CinisterCee said:

Need a cigarette?

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

http://www.ticketmaster.c...orcatid=60

sounds like a killer show. I would have loved to see them.

VinaBlue said:

haha almost

Great Vina!!!
I WANNA GO TOOOOO

How much longer do I have to wait!

Is there any word on them touring europe, besides germany & the Uk?

Vina this review this is killin me, I've got to go now

map of your seats is a nice touch - edit
[Edited 2/28/05 16:18pm]

Sounds like it was an awesome show! I love these guys.

I've seen them about 4 times.

Slave2daGroove said:

Yeah, our seats SUCKED!!! And a STILL had a great time. From the moment they came out, there was this hysteria from the crowd... probably because it was the original 5 members. I saw the original 5 once before in a small club in Nov 03. I just downloaded a bootleg and burned it to cd. It's awesome. You hear the crowd singing along to almost every song. When Union of the Snake started, you hear someone in the crowd say "Ohhhh SHHIIIITTT!" My sentiments exactly.


[Edited 2/28/05 17:03pm]

Vina - I got "Reflex" and "Come Undone" at my show on Saturday in LA - they must vary the set list by a couple songs each time out - otherwise it seems nearly identical. I was fortunate to have excellent seats - 11th row in the first risers just left of the stage

Nice, spot-on review!
[Edited 2/28/05 17:19pm]

Martinelli said:

http://www.duranduran.com...cID=127015

I found this thread about the possible European tour dates.

DiminutiveRocker said:

Thanks! I will never buy tickets without knowing where they are first. Even if it is through the club... They said "rest assured you will be getting the best seats available". HAH! What baloney. I'm glad I didn't spend $10 for shipping... I just picked them up at will call. Anyway.... I wish they would have done The Reflex instead of Rio at our show. But I'm not complaining!

Great review Vina! I KNEW "Tiger Tiger" would tickle your fancy! I thought about you when they played it here in Houston.

I sooooo wish they had played "The Chauffer" in Houston! That's my favorite Duran tune! We got "Night Boat" instead (which is a fantastic tune, but I saw them do a virtually identical performance of it on the 2003 tour).

Seems like they skip "The Reflex" in your town alot! They played it here, but I would have preferred ITSISK? instead. Too bad we can't just trade songs on the setlists!