It has been quite the weekend for music! After a packed day yesterday at the Bottlerock Festival, the Mrs. and I had a night out Sunday with Duran Duran in our sort-of Hometown, San Jose. The concert was at the SAP Center, home of the San Jose Sharks hockey team. We’ve been to a number of shows there over the years – Rush, the Who, Imagine Dragons, to name a few – so there was nothing new and/or notable about the venue itself. I will say though, despite not being a fan of giant venues, if there is a choice between SAP or the Oakland Arena, I’d pick San Jose, hands down. The fact that it’s less than 15 minutes from our front door doesn’t hurt either!
The opening act of the night was Bastille, however since we were recovering from the day before and moving slow, we didn’t make it in time for their set. I’m not familiar with them other than having heard the name, so I don’t know what I missed…
Next on the bill was Nile Rogers & Chic. All I can say is WOW! The energy was off the charts and the band was on FIRE! It’s not every day you get to see a living legend on stage, and let me tell you even at 70 years old, Nile Rogers was AMAZING. They played (of course) the classic 70’s Chic tunes, but also a bunch of songs Niles had a hand in over the years, made famous by other artists like David Bowie and Daft Punk amongst others. It was one of the best live performances I’ve seen in a long time, truly spectacular.
Duran Duran came on stage with much fanfare and launched into a moody number (which I didn’t recognize), and honestly I thought it was a very curious choice to open the show.
From there on out though, it was essentially a “greatest hits” set, spanning 4 decades of their work, with a couple new songs and a (seriously ill-fated Rick James) cover thrown in for good measure.
I’d never seen Duran Duran before, so I have nothing to compare this performance to. And I have a mixed history with the band. I first heard their song “Planet Earth” as a middle-schooler back in ’81 on KFJC – one of the greatest college radio stations ever! – and was really taken in by their unique sound. They were New Wave pioneers and when their Rio album came out the following year they took MTV by storm and their popularity grew by leaps and bounds on the strength of that record. I considered myself a fan.
Then it all went to Pop music hell, trying to compete with Madonna and Michael Jackson and I COMPLETELY lost my taste for them.
Fast forward 10 years, and they came back with guitarist Warren Cuccarillo (of Frank Zappa and Missing Persons fame) and knocked it out if the park with the eponymous DURAN DURAN album in ’93 and I was back in the fold.
That is taking the long way around to say I absolutely LOVE some of their songs, and others leave me flat, and their set was a pretty good mix of the two.
Musically, they were pretty solid. Simon LeBon’s voice was very strong and true – clearly he’s taken care of his instrument over the years. Bassist John Taylor (who is criminally under-rated as a bassist IMHO) was rock solid, grooving and fun to watch. Drums and keys – Roger and Nick, respectively – performed admirably, but nothing extraordinary. However, I’ve got to give props to their guitarist- whose name I couldn’t decipher over the PA. He was OUTSTANDING, whoever he is. Andy Taylor, the original guitarist, is a phenomenal player and very unique. Their second guitarist Warren Cuccarillo is a freakin’ wizard. So this guy had HUGE shoes to fill, and he NAILED IT, from start to finish. Really exceptional playing, I wish I knew who it was…
So to be perfectly honest, it wasn’t the best show I’ve even seen. Don’t think it would even make the Top 10 (though to be fair, considering I’ve seen about 1,000 shows in my life, Top 10 is pretty tough to break into!). That being said, I did enjoy the show and I’m glad I got to see them once. I also understand it was only the 2nd show of the new Tour, so they still have some kinks to work out before they really hit their stride I think. If they can fine-tune their set list, and the sound and lighting guys make some (seriously needed) tweaks, it can become a stellar show.
When all is said and done, I’d say I really enjoyed my time with Nile Rogers, Chic and Duran Duran. It was a fun night, good vibes and brought up a touch of nostalgia at the same time. A night well spent!
Thanks for stopping by!
The Boring Old Man 