DURAN DURAN MIXES FLASH WITH COLOR, LOTS OF VERVE
Monday, August 9, 1993

By Steve Pick

The sight was simply absurd. There danced a man, with streams of thin plastic hanging from the rafters and wrapped around his body. Behind him, a young woman dressed in a sexy nurse's outfit mixed chemicals in large jars, achieving an effect that looked like the bubbling concoctions in horror movies. To the left, another man occupied a wheelchair, with a searchlight on his head and a keyboard on his lap. Various and sundry musicians were scattered around.

This was just one scenario among many presented Saturday night at Riverport Amphitheatre. Duran Duran was in town.

Much has been written concerning the triumph of image over substance during the decade in which MTV has done so much to shape pop music success. Duran Duran was probably the quintessential MTV band, a group whose stylish videos in the early 1980s attracted attention even before its music. Really, Duran Duran never meant to be substantive; all it was doing was crafting catchy, unforgettable hooks. The videos seemed obviously the product of some overactive imaginations out for a few larks.

Ten years into its career, Duran Duran has proven to have staying power way beyond that of most of its similarly crafty peers. This year's hits, "Come Undone" and "Ordinary World," have insinuated their way into pop fans' collective memories, right next to "Notorious," "Save a Prayer," "Hungry Like the Wolf," "The Reflex," "Girls on Film" and "Rio." As one would expect, the band performed all those songs Saturday. While some attempts were made to tinker with arrangements of the older songs - a trio of string players was added on stage for most of the show, and "Hungry Like the Wolf," in particular, was treated to constantly shifting rhythmic approaches - the group spent most of its creative energy working on its stage show.

Thus, as the evening progressed, the world's largest tube of lipstick opened up its outer shell, TV monitors presented seductive imagery, a man in an overcoat chased after a woman in a slinky dress, and singer Simon Le Bon writhed around swirling fog, jumped from 10 feet over other players' heads and led his bandmates on a pied piper tour of the strangely constructed set.

As much as I liked Duran Duran, I have to give the band extra credit for daring to even come out after the terrific performance of opening act Terence Trent D'Arby. He fleshed out his songs with some pretty fancy dance steps, but his real emphasis was on his music. Imagine Sam Cooke fronting the Temptations circa "Psychedelic Shack," with Eddie Van Halen on guitar, and you might get a sense of what D'Arby was up to. In addition to his own hits, D'Arby performed a raucous version of the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash," a funky take on KC and the Sunshine Band's classic "Get Down Tonight" and an impromptu, humorous version of Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks," in honor of the venue's proximity to the swollen Missouri River.

Click here to go back to the articles page.

Click here to back to the front page.