When all we see is the view to a kill

Montreal: April 6, 2005. I walk into the Bell Centre and see the stage. A rush comes over me, I am finally here! There's the stage!!! It’s round, with two platforms jutting out on either side. Not as large a stage compared to say the Reflex video.

It's pretty hard to be disappointed by going to see one of your favorite bands in concert, unless they totally suck. Well my friends, this one definitely did NOT suck. The only really bad part about this show is that it is now the morning after and it’s over :( I did have a couple of surprises compared to my expectations but not in a bad way – more later.


The opening act, we couldn’t quite figure out if it was a band or a single artist. She introduced the rest of the band but then said her own name twice. And if you’re a single artist, do you normally let another chick take over singing on one of the songs? I am confused. I’m going to see if I can find a paper today to figure out who they/she was. Their stuff was pretty good actually, I found myself enjoying the set and would like to get their songs. Or her songs. Whichever.


The arena grows dark. The sound of a “boom-boom”..… “boom-boom” resonates through the building. 5 figures walk onto the stage in single file, then each takes a place on the edge of the round stage, a couple of feet apart. They are all here!!! This is soooo cool!!!! I am finally getting to see them!!! They each then take their places, pick up their instruments, and begin to play “Sunrise”. Awesome.

After that Simon asked “is anyone hungry?” and the crowd went crazy for Hungry Like The Wolf. More awesomeness.

The highlight of the show for me was that they did indeed play A View To A Kill. I had been sitting down for one song I didn’t recognize as my knee started to hurt a bit, but when I heard it start, I leapt out of my chair and am lucky I didn’t fall down the stadium, I was so excited. I love that song. IMO, one of the best Bond theme songs ever. I am a biased Durannie, but I am also a huge Sheryl Crow fan. Tomorrow Never Dies was not one of her best songs. By far. Probably the other topping that list would be Live and Let Die. 2 best Bond theme songs.

They also played Notorious, one of our favorite tunes. The Reflex was very cool to see live, Simon even did his little spin for that. Wild Boys finished the main set and that was really well done, my brother said that was the highlight for him.

The encore brought them back out to do White Lines, which I thought went a little long and would have been better as part of a medley. But still good. Then Girls On Film, during the middle of which they introduced the band, and Simon crawled up through the first few rows of the lower bowl to a long-haired blonde and asked her to introduce him. She wouldn’t do it!!! Pick me!!! She got her friend beside her to do it. What the hell are you doing at this concert lady??!!?? Pick me!!! They finished up with Girls On Film and then ended with Rio, I knew this would be the last song of the night and through it all I kept saying to myself, noooo, don’t let it end, play more!!!

So all in all a great show. The sound was a bit muffled, so sometimes you couldn’t make out Simon’s words, but if you’re me then you knew every word and were singing and dancing along anyway. My throat is a little scratchy this morning what from all the singing and the “woo”. The backup singer they had was really good, a black lady with a skirt so short if you had floor seats you would have had 2 shows in one. But she could sing, and she wasn’t banished to the back of the stage like a lot of backup singers. She would walk around out on the platforms and sometimes meet up with Simon and sing together, it was a nice arrangement.

Most people, I think, would regard Duran Duran as a synth-pop kind of band. Not live. Andy Taylor rips through that guitar, it was awesome. You can’t contain him, he likes to play big and loud. During some songs you can’t hear Nick play the keyboard like you would on the recording, but it made it all the better by hearing Andy rip through the songs. I like that anyway, ripping guitar is awesome. One of the reasons I like Heart so much, Brigade is a great album for ripping through the guitar. Now I understand why he wanted to go off and form Power Station with John, it gave him more of a chance to play loud.

It was so nice to see Roger Taylor back behind his drum kit, and enjoying it. He was the first to leave the band in the mid-80s. I didn’t realize he was that short!! Nick Rhodes, who has always worn makeup, didn’t look any different. Thankfully John Taylor got rid of the blonde highlights he had going a couple of months ago, but still has his hair too dark, and it makes him look pale. But he’s still cute. Andy Taylor just got back from his father’s funeral, and appeared to be enjoying himself on stage so that was good. Simon Le Bon seemed to be a tad slower than if you see him running around in his 80s videos, but since it is now 20 years later he can be forgiven for that. He seemed to be more excited about some songs than others, but maybe that was just to give himself a break. He definitely sang some songs better than others, for instance I thought he didn’t do a wonderful job on Sunrise, the opener, but seemed to get better as the night went on.

Great show, I am sad to know it’s over. I could so have brought in my camera and taken pictures, but I didn’t, and am slightly pissed about that, but at least I still have it and it wasn’t confiscated. I had an awesome time, I am so glad I went, and I wish I could go again. If they tour again I will definitely go again.

One bad thing that did happen to me last night was someone spilling coffee all over the back of my chair and floor… and not regular coffee, but some kind of French vanilla crap or something, it reeked. I hate coffee. And of course it got on my jacket and all over my shopping purse. Had to throw them in the wash as soon as I got home. I think they’re ok now, the purse is still drying out.

I will post later on the rest of my trip, let you guys catch up on this much first :D