DURAN DURAN, D'ARBY SHOW COMEBACKS RIGHT ON TRACK
Published on Saturday, August 14, 1993

Byline: By Dean Rhodes, THE PHOENIX GAZETTE


I half expected to see Lazarus walking out of Blockbuster Desert Sky Pavilion on Friday night after the Terence Trent D'Arby and Duran Duran concert.

Why not?

D'Arby and Duran Duran haven't had a hit in the United States since 1988, yet both acts have been resurrected with singles from new albums.

For D'Arby, it's been ''She Kissed Me'' from ''Symphony or Damn.'' For Duran Duran, it's been ''Ordinary World'' and ''Come Undone'' from the band's self-titled ninth album. And live, both acts delivered the goods. Let's start with the headliner, Duran Duran.

Lead singer Simon LeBon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, bassist John Taylor and guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, aided by a back-up singer, three string players and drummer, struck an amazingly deft balance between old and new songs, and old and new arrangements.

Duran Duran's last U.S. hit, ''I Don't Want Your Love,'' appeared in late 1988 The four-year drought was broken by ''Ordinary Love'' and ''Come Undone,'' both of which went Top 10 earlier this year.

Duran Duran didn't hold either song back as ammunition for new fans, performing the pathos-ridden ''Ordinary World'' as the second song of the band's 15-song set. They unveiled ''Come Undone'' shortly after, as the fifth song of the set.

But having spent their new ammunition, Duran Duran didn't run out of bullets. With slightly new arrangements by Cuccurullo, Duran Duran walked the fine line between performing its well-known hits verbatim and re-inventing them in a concert format.

The band's first hit, '83's ''Hungry Like the Wolf,'' started off in an entirely different tempo. The trio of strings that included a cello and two violins set the pace. But as Duran Duran and LeBon slugged through the new version, fans warmed up to it. By the close, when Duran Duran speeded things up to the song's original pace, it didn't seem to matter.

And that attitude recurred through ''A View to a Kill,'' ''Girls on Film,'' ''Notorious,'' ''The Reflex'' and ''Rio.'' Duran Duran's stage design also was one of the most inventive of the year; a kind of Dr. Who meets Flash Gordon. A globe orbited stage right, a black hole dominated center stage, a stop light (complete with three lights -- green, yellow and red) accented stage left and a red British phone box stood stage right.

Few bands in my tenure have been able to keep an audience standing through its entire set. Along with Van Halen, Duran Duran joins that elite group. For a group that hasn't scored in four years, Duran Duran's return in a live setting is nothing short of triumphant.

Opening was D'Arby, who showed great promise with his 1987 postmodern rhythm-and-blues album ''Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby'' but stumbled terribly in '89 with ''Neither Fish nor Flesh.''

But, like Duran Duran, D'Arby is back, with a vengeance. Live, backed by a five-piece band, D'Arby theatrically delivered one of the strongest openings sets I've ever seen.

He performed his No. 1 song ''Wishing Well,'' with its perky keyboard riff, second and segued into ''Do You Love Me Like You Say?'' from ''Symphony Or Damn.'' D'Arby's band performed funky, bass-driven arrangements while D'Arby sensually slithered across the stage. He closed his 11-song opening set with covers of the Rolling Stones' ''Jumpin' Jack Flash'' and K.C. & the Sunshine Band's ''Get Down Tonight.''

Like Duran Duran's set, few people placed their rears in seats. It makes this reviewer sorry D'Arby canceled his scheduled Library Cafe performance earlier this year to accept Duran Duran's invitation to open its tour. Eleven songs just whetted one's appetite for more.

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