Pneumatised!

MM music fans,

Long before there was N’Sync or Backstreet Boys, there was Roger, Andy, John, Nick, and Simon – the band known as Duran Duran. Famous for being one of the first bands to successfully market themselves through their music videos, the original five members of Duran Duran are back together.

Pegged as the Fab Five just as the Beatles were the Fab Four, Duran Duran was part of the second British Invasion. Their music, along with other notables like New Order, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, and Human League, was known as New Wave. Duran Duran made their mark on North America back in the early 1980s with their then innovative song “Hungry Like the Wolf” which featured a raw, sexy video set in a jungle village. (A note of interest: since there was no sampling back then, the girl’s voice in the song had to be recorded live and she had to sound the same each time.) It was definitely one way to get the attention of the next generation of music fans who discovered music via MTV and MuchMusic – and let’s not get into the glam rock sex appeal of the band members.

The song “Hungry Like the Wolf” was soon followed with hits such as “Rio” and “Save a Prayer” from the Rio album; “Is There Something I Should Know?”, “Girls on Film” (which caused the biggest controversy at the time over its use of female nudity in the video), and “Planet Earth” from their first album release (which was a re-released self-titled album). Duran Duran’s third album was to provide their biggest hits yet with the dance hit “The Reflex”, the seductive “New Moon on Monday” (this song makes me melt), and “Union of the Snake.” After their “Seven and the Ragged Tiger” tour, Roger, Andy, John, Nick, and Simon produced one more hit song together, “Wild Boys”, and performed at the Live-Aid concert before splitting up into separate music ventures – much to the dismay of their fans. (That’s not to say that Power Station and Arcadia were any disappointment. If anything it proved that the band members could work with different styles of music and allowed them to work with different music artists such as Robert Palmer and Sting. I like all of the tracks on the Arcadia album, So Red the Rose.) Duran Duran, composed of Roger, Andy, John, Nick, and Simon, wouldn’t perform together again until now – 18 years later.

Such was the background and set-up to the atmosphere of last night’s concert at Air Canada Centre, Toronto. Anticipation, as fans, who never thought the original five members would get back together, waited just a little longer (hey, what’s a few more minutes after waiting 18 years?) for the band to come on stage. Soon enough, when the stands were finally filled up, out came Roger, Andy, John, Nick, and Simon with of course Simon leading the way. While the fans showed their appreciation with enormous applause and cheers for just the fact the band members were back together, the band stood on stage seeming to absorb the energy of the audience. Then they started in on their first song that night – the first song off their new album, “(Reach Up for the) Sunrise”. It was a good way to start the show, a relatively lively, upbeat, and happy tune to get the energy going. Then the audience was brought back to the band’s early days with “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Planet Earth”. “Is anyone HUNGRY?!” screams Simon. Of course. Crazy question. It’s been 18 years in waiting to see this band live and they did not disappoint.

The set list (see below) consisted of 6 songs off the new album and many of the hits from before. My all time favourites are “Come Undone” (I always feel like I’m stripping out of my skin when listening to this song), “Ordinary World” (this song along with Edwin’s “Alive” keeps me going when times are tough), and “Save a Prayer”. Of the new songs, I particularly like “Astronaut”, “Bedroom Toys” (which was introduced following the question, “What kind of toys do girls like?”, and “What Happens Tomorrow”. “Nice” is just well… nice. I also like “Tiger Tiger” and “The Chauffeur”, contrary to what some of the reviews have been regarding those songs. “Tiger Tiger” is a brilliant composition I would attribute to Nick. “The Chauffeur” has been pegged as “bizarro” (see review), but I think it’s intriguing and brilliantly written. It was originally a poem Simon wrote years ago, the meaning of which I still have to unravel. The pan pipes add a sound that I personally love and I have to say someone who can play the pan pipes is a true musician, heart and soul. The band did great by placing “Notorious” between “Bedroom Toys” and “Nice”, those songs go great together and if “Bedroom Toys” failed to get one dancing then “Notorious” would do it. Although there was hardly any room to dance properly to those songs, a true dancer at heart can’t resist the beat of those songs. Finally, we get to the real energizers, “The Reflex”, “Careless Memories”, and “Wild Boys”. I have to admit the band performed “The Reflex” quite well live. It’s a difficult song to play live, having to synthesize Simon’s voice at various points. “Careless Memories” is just a lively song, plain and simple. What made it even more memorable was the anime video being played on the screen behind the stage. Inspired by Kill Bill perhaps? The video depicts the band members defending themselves with their musical instruments. Quite humourous. “Wild Boys” is just wild. I have always loved deep drumming sounds and “Wild Boys” has it. The druming is raw, sensuous power.

The encore songs were “White Lines”, “Girls on Film”, and “Rio”. “Girls on Film” and “Rio” are just classic and fun. During “Rio”, of course the band members were introduced starting with the back up singer and saxophone player, Andy Hamilton (who, by the way, originally played with Duran Duran when they started, if I’m not mistaken it’s Andy Hamilton on the saxophone in the “Rio” video). Notably, Simon went prowling the audience for a woman to introduce him as the “incredibly sexy Simon LeBon”. You got to love that man’s ego because hey… no one was going to argue with that statement. The man is still sexy even at age 46, as was evident from the screams that immediately followed the introduction. How can any girl forget Simon in his black leather pants? (Simon, by the way, for all the astrologers out there, is a Scorpio.)

It has been said that if Duran Duran had reunited sooner, perhaps “legions of dedicated, sophisticated popsters might have been spared the indignity that was the boy-band craze”. (Amazon.com reviewer, Tammy La Gorce)

It’s great to see these guys back together. There’s no other five like them.

Later and BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress and Duranie
http://www.brigidsflame.com/

Set list (courtesy of Duran Duran’s website):
SUNRISE
HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF
PLANET EARTH
HOLD BACK THE RAIN
ASTRONAUT
I DON’T WANT YOUR LOVE
COME UNDONE
WHAT HAPPENS TOMORROW
CHAINS
TIGER TIGER
CHAUFFEUR
A VIEW TO A KILL
ORDINARY WORLD
SAVE A PRAYER
BEDROOM TOYS
NOTORIOUS
NICE
REFLEX
CARELESS MEMORIES
WILD BOYS

WHITE LINES
GIRLS ON FILM
RIO

News on Duran Duran:
http://www.metronews.ca/entertainment_news_detail.asp?id=7361

MM,

Lucky me! I got tickets for Duran Duran’s concert tonight. This should be interesting considering I’ve never been to a paid concert before. (Seen enough of those street concerts for free…) Duran Duran was a band I grew up with and during the height of their popularity, I wished I somehow had the money to go see their concert (I was only a young lass then). Since then, I never really got the urge to go see any concert. (I was more into the dance scene anyway and could get into clubs for free and then there’s the rave scene…) So, this is somehow fitting. The first concert I see is the first band I ever really liked. I never thought they would last this long though, honestly. They split up so soon after reaching stardom. It was a surprise hearing the original five members were back together. That somehow makes seeing them now ever more intriguing. Not many people get to have their childhood fantasy of seeing their then favourite band back together.

So tonight is the concert and I get to go. 😀 Taking Nate with me, even though he’s not that into this sort of music. He really has no choice, he’s my date and bodyguard!

Back later with a review (possibly)

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress and former Duranie
http://www.brigidsflame.com/

“If only we could show them, we do not wish them harm
Instead we’d like to live life inside each other’s open arms”

In the Circle – Hungry Lucy, lyrics by Christa Belle

Okay, it’s been a really long time since I listened to anything new. I was getting tired of listening to the same ol’ stuff on local radio stations. So, I stopped listening altogether and just browsed New Age music on occasion at a local New Age bookstore. That proved relatively successful for over that time I came across Robert Gass and On Wings of Song and an interesting group called Dagda, named after the Celtic father deity. I probably did that for about 5 years, partly because I could not get online and download music fast enough and I certainly could not tune into online radio stations. Not until this past year.

While surfing the net one day, my boyfriend came across a pagan radio station called Circle of Souls Pagan Radio. It was playing pretty decent music, so one day I decided I should have a listen while I went about my usual business. Then I heard it, a really cool pagan song with amazing lyrics and drums to match. It was Hungry Lucy’s song, In the Circle (see link above). The lyrics are amazing and really tune (excuse the pun) into the heart of a pagan/witch. While I only took a small quote out of the song for the intro to this blog entry, one really can’t quite convey the deep meaning in that song by pulling out just a piece of it. So, here’s some blatant promotion. In the Circle needs to be heard to be understood. And for those not interested in the original slow paced version, there are a few dance versions around.

In the Circle aside, other notable songs by Hungry Lucy include Blue Dress (originally a Depeche Mode song, Hungry Lucy used it as a tribute to Depeche Mode and the song opened up the music industry for Hungry Lucy), Bound in Blood, and Grave.

Their latest CD is To Kill A King featuring the song by the same name. To Kill A King like all of Hungry Lucy’s songs has excellent lyrics. The songs on the CD all form a complete story. (Sorry, you’ll have to buy the CD to read the short story.) However, the one thing that intrigues me about To Kill A King is the pagan theme hidden in the song. The true power behind the King is the Queen, the living representative of the goddess. As in some mythologies, the King is allowed to reign due to his tie to the sovereign goddess. Without it, he cannot be as powerful. In the end, when the Queen leaves is when the King’s power is diminished and drained. As Christa Belle sings, “I’m so glad I knew how to kill the King, I tore down the boundaries and took off the ring; to reap what you sow is how it should be, there’s no one left on the throne…” The King is metaphorically killed as his power leaves with the Queen.

Hungry Lucy is labelled “intoxicating trip-pop music with enchanting female vocals” and indeed it is, with a bit of the sweetness in Christa Belle’s voice. The music also has meaning. For me, that was a big plus. In today’s society where it seems things, especially music, are losing meaning, Hungry Lucy is a pleasant discovery. Give it a listen.

Hungry Lucy is currently on tour in the U.S. and are popular in Europe, particularly France and Germany. I believe they are signed on with the German label Alfa Matrix. Hopefully their popularity grows so that the Canadian radio stations pick them up too.

Okay, end of blatant promotion of a band I think is truly amazing.

Just a few last words courtesy of Christa Belle:

“Be with me in the circle, you’re always welcome here
It’s safer in the circle, but do not bring your fear
I’ll meet you in the circle within your own good time
I’ll be here in the circle forever with you intertwined”

In the Circle – Hungry Lucy, lyrics by Christa Belle

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress