Fab 4: A Bloody Good Time!!

Cocaine Princess here.

I can't believe how quickly this past week went by and although I've been getting between 3-4 hours of sleep a night, I had a real good week. Monday was Halloween and we had a good haul of trick or treaters come by. I was expecting to see zombies after zombies and there were a few but I was surprised at the number of vampires and Disney Princesses and of course there's always at least one Captain Jack Sparrow. We also had several groups of teenagers who came as themselves. Some even took the time to get into the spirit and wear a costume, for instance one boy wore a hoodie and dark sunglasses. 

Halloween 2011 had me on official candy dispensing duty. I had such a hard time deciding on a costume that I just decided to get dolled up:

"Would you like something sweet?

** As most of my lovelies are aware I have a strict No Shoe Wearing Policy inside my home. I'm only wearing my stilettos to complete the look for the picture. As soon as the pic was taken the heels came off and I was barefoot for the remainder of the night.**


Hmm....there was something I wanted to blog about-- an event I attended last week but if only I could remember what it was. Sheesh, lack of sleep has apparently given me amnesia. Oh wait, I remember! Last Thursday {Oct 27th} I saw Duran Duran in concert...AGAIN!! This was their 2nd appearance in the city in the last 6 months. If you recall sister and I previously saw them on Easter Monday at a club venue. This past summer The Fab Four From Britain announced the "All You Need Is Now"  full scale world tour and being a die hard fan I of course had to see them AGAIN!!

Unlike the last time, this concert took place in a large arena but the way the arena was set up was a seated venue style theater and made for marvelous acoustics. It was a 2 hour show and 21 songs were performed. As the Brits say, "I Had A Bloody Good Time!

I took this shot upon arriving at The Air Canada Centre:

We headed inside and picked up our tickets and VIP passes that were waiting for us at will~call. I went the VIP route because well, I'm a Princess and that's how I roll. The VIP package included premium seats. 

I was lucky to get Floor Seats: 3rd Row, Center. I was incredibly happy to not only be so close to the stage but getting seats in the dead center. Why? The answer is quite elementary my dear lovelies: Dead center means I'm in direct view of Simon "Luscious" Le Bon.....my favorite DD band member.

Duranie Fans were let in at 6:30pm. Once we were escorted to our seats, to avoid the rush after the concert I headed to the souvenir stand. Sister suggested that I wait til after the show but when have I ever listened to her? 

I bought a programme....

....and 2 shirts. I was a little disappointed with the tees that were being offered. I was hoping it would have the city and dates of the tour but those weren't being offered-- only plain ones with the DD logo and the title of their newest album.

The concert began at 7:30pm. Opening for DD was the band "Neon Trees" a band I had never heard of. 

A shot of the stage being set up:

They turned out to be quite good and the reception from the crowd was positive. Lead singer Tyler Glenn {the guy with the mohawk} let the crowd know their biggest musical influences were Depeche Mode and The Clash-- which explained why they looked and sounded very 80's. I recognized one of their songs, "Animal" only because it serves as background music for a car commercial.  

 

Animal

Oh oh I want some more
Oh oh what are you waiting for
Take a bite of my heart tonight

After their performance the lights went back on. At this point I left my seat to get something to drink for sister and I. To be precise I bought 2 bottles of Coke at $5.00 a piece. They also had beer in plastic cups selling for $12 bucks. On the way back the stage was being set up for the Brit band and I was curious to know how these 4 enormous masks were going to be incorporated into the show. Read on to find out.

I bet you're wondering what this next shot is about, right? 

This is a picture of a woman who was sitting to the left of me {sister was to my right} and in her hand is a $12.00 beer in a plastic cup. It was her 2nd one. She guzzled at least 4 before the show even began and I know this not because I was keeping track but because each time she got up to leave she stepped on my delicate toes nearly crushing them. If you look on the floor you'll see one of her empty cups. Anyways, I'm not sure if it was because she was tipsy or maybe it was just an accident but she spilled some of her boozy suds on my leg that trickled all the way down to my pedicured foot.

At last, the lights went down and the crowd roared:

The music began and I could see the band members emerge from the stage....one in particular:

Oh be still my latin heart! It was Monsieur Le Bon and he was still rocking his beard-- oh yeah!! Simon wore a metallic wine colored blazer, black dress shirt, black sparkly jeans with black and blue runners. 

The band opened up with a song from their new album that I absolutely love, “Before The Rain.” While the song was being performed black and white images from Europe during World War II appeared on the backdrop.

 Before The Rain

Oh, rise, you promises broken
Call my lovers by their names
Lost hearts and words
That are spoken to the wind
Which blows before the rain... 

Dominick Brown {who replaced Andy Taylor} was simply awesome on the guitar during the performance:

Planet Earth

Look now, look all around, there's no sign of life
Voices, another sound, can you hear me now?
This is planet earth you're looking at planet earth

Crowd singing along:

Looking at the image on the screen can you guess what song this is? Think 007:

 A View To A Kill

Until we dance into the fire, that fatal kiss is all we need
Dance into the fire, to fatal sounds of broken dreams
Dance into the fire, that fatal kiss is all we need...
 

All You Need Is Now

It's all up to you now
Find yourself in the moment
Go directly to the voodoo
Now the channel is open
 

John Taylor and to the left is Chasity:

The idea behind this song came from John after he read a report in the paper about a driver in Germany whose GPS system had sent him the wrong way up the Autobahn. On the backdrop were images of machines and robots- "the idea that we are so reliant on machines to run our lives and that they drive us crazy."

 

Blame The Machines

I’m driving up the autobahn
Losing my way as the night gets long
The headlights shining in my face
Scream out the danger of this place

Nick Rhodes on keyboard:

Simon dedicated this next song to all the ladies in the house. It wasn't performed during the April show so I was on cloud nine that it was included in this tour's set list because it happens to be my all time favorite song and hearing it live was absolutely divine. Simon's voice oozed with so much sensuality it gave me goosebumps.

Come Undone
Words, playing me deja vu
Like a radio tune I swear I've heard before
Chill is it something real
Or the magic I'm feeding off your fingers

 

Safe {In The Heat Of The Moment}

How ‘bout you and me get down?
Babe I know you’ve been around
Unmake your bed

Duet with back~up singer Anna Ross. This song has a neat disco-kind of beat to it.  A huge shiny disco ball was lowered onto the stage. You can sort of see it on the right hand side of the pic.

Reflex

The reflex is a lonely child just waiting by the park
The reflex is in charge of finding a treasure in the dark
And watching over lucky clover isn't that bizarre
Every little thing the reflex does leaves you answered

Can you partially see Simon-- he's the blond on the left telling a fan {black jacket} in the front row to sing the Reflex chorus with him.

 

As he {and the crowd} sang, the masks came alive. Throughout the show they projected different band faces and various images.

This next song is absolutely brilliant. The title is cool and the lyrics are sexy:

The Man Who Stole A Leopard

I make you mine
I thought that I could resist
But the leopard in you
Silently preyed on me

If you're familiar with this number then you know the song ends with a spoken part by British journalist Nina Hussein. She appeared on the backdrop doing a news report about A Man Who Stole A Leopard:

Simon dedicated this next song to "all the guys who have been dragged to the concert by their wives or girlfriends."

Girl Panic
In a girl panic, that’s driving naked through my mind
It’s a crush panic, she’s got me atomized
In a girl panic, the midnight traffic in her eyes
Like a hypnotic, and I am mesmerized

Is There Something I Should Know?
Please please tell me now is there something I should know
Is there something I should say that'll make you come my way
Do you feel the same cause you don't let it show

At every Duran Duran concert I've attended it's always the same thing-- I have a hard time getting pictures of drummer Roger Taylor. This was the only one clear shot I managed to get. See the cute Froggie?

Tiger Tiger

Musical portion..... 

Saxophonist Simon Willescroft:

 

Careless Memories

Fear hangs a plane of gunsmoke drifting in our room
So easy to disturb, with a thought with a whisper
With a careless memory with a careless memory

Nick, John and Dominick:

 

John Taylor admitted to his fans he was a twitter addict and encouraged fans to send out tweets with the hashtag #duranlive

I sent out a tweet and whether or not it was shown I'm not sure. The tweets were being posted and displayed on the screen at a fast pace.

Leave A Light On

Whatever you say
Even if I wait a lifetime
I know, I swear, if you leave a light on,
If you leave a light on for me

Simon explained after learning about the death of his good friend Michael Hutchence {lead singer of Inxs} he needed a way to “exorcise his grief.” This is how Ordinary World came about.

Ordinary World

Papers in the roadside tell of suffering and grief
Fear today forgot tomorrow beside the news of holy war and holy need
Our's is just a little sorrowed talk, just blown away

:

Notorious

No no notorious, notorious no no notorious
I can't read about it burns the skin from your eyes
I'll do fine without it here's one you don't compromise

Hungry Like The Wolf

Mouth is alive with juices like wine
And I'm hungry like the wolf
Burning the ground I break from the crowd
I'm on the hunt I'm after you

Reach Up For The Sunrise
Put your hands into the big sky
You can touch the sunrise
Feel the new day enter your life

Happy Birthday Simon!!

One of the best part of the night was being able to celebrate Simon’s birthday. After a brief musical interlude the band returned on stage without Simon.

John asking: “Where’s Simon?”

After a few minutes Simon appeared and said the people in the back wouldn’t let him come on stage. Seconds later his birthday cake was rolled out. Simon replied: “I knew something was up tonight.” Fans at the top of their lungs sang “Happy Birthday.”

I had a feeling he was going to do it but then thought, nah. 

Ooops I was wrong-- he did!!

 Toweling off the icing:

 

Simon stated: “I can't f#cking believe I did that to myself!”

 

Following the cake incident was an awesome mash-up of the song Wild Boys with Frankie Goes To Hollywood's song Relax {Don't Do It}

Wild Boys/Relax

Wild boys never lose it
Wild boys never chose this way
Wild boys never close your eyes
Wild boys always shine

Finale:

Rio

Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand
Just like that river twisting through a dusty land
And when she shines she really shows you all she can
Oh Rio, Rio dance across the Rio Grande

The band saying thank you to the T.dot crowd. They received a well deserved and hefty applause with a standing ovation after the concert was over but then again everyone was on their feet singing and dancing for the entire 2 hour show!

Of course Simon "Luscious" Le Bon returned for more applause!!

****

The "I Told You So" Moment:

Remember the T-shirts I bought? Scroll the page up if you've forgotten already. When the concert was over, outside was a guy holding a cardboard box and inside it was full of Duran Duran concert tees, with the city and dates on them!

 

The ones I bought earlier cost me $60.00. ($30 x 2) Guy selling them out of cardboard box-- $10.00. Sister looked at me and said, "I told you to wait, didn't I darling?" 

One More Thing:

A close up of Simon's pants and shoes:

On the drive home all I could think about was the following quote: "The best feelings are those that have no words to describe them."


That about sums up my experience at the concert.

I blogged an entry a few months back about my love of music and how important it is to me. I also posted a quote from Plato that I do believe is worth repeating: 

"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."

****

My loyal and dear readers, it's finally Friday.

Don't forget we turn our clocks back this weekend......ahh.......an extra hour of sleep.

Whatever your plans are have a superb first weekend of November.~x

XOXOXOXO,

Cocaine Princess