Duran Duran

From the moment it was announced that this gig was going ahead I knew that I was about to witness something special. The night was amazing, fans on the tram, dressed up in costume and buzzing with anticipation. No support, rightly so, as this should be 100% Duran Duran. Instead, spooky, old Halloween songs accompanied and old silent film followed by the making of Danse Macabre documentary. The lights went down and the band appeared to the scary instrumental track Masque of the Pink Death. Night Boat, Friends of Mine and a brand new (this week) version of Shadows on Your Side, deep cut album tracks. The covers sound like Duran Duran songs and Secret Oktober 31st gave me goose pimples as soon as I heard the music box opening to it. Crowd pleasing hits, the darker themed ones had accompanying AI generated videos (the spooky, reworking of the Rio video well worth searching out on YouTube). No Ordinary World, as it wouldn’t have fitted in with this set) but the first time I haven’t heard it at a Manchester gig since ‘89 when it hadn’t been written yet. The dancers enhanced the atmosphere as did the bass player from Maneskin. An excellent, fun night.