Duran Duran
Avalon Ballroom
Niagara Fallsview Casino and Resort
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
March 25, 2016 (First of two nights)
Review by Shane Christopher Neal (BSLIVEROCKS and Bobby and Shane Radio).
Photos by Sue Sadzak.
New Wave/Synth Pop band Duran Duran formed in Birmingham, England in 1978. They ruled MTV and MuchMusic for much of the 80’s and stole every girl’s heart. Duran Duran released its 14th studio album Paper Gods in September of 2015.
Last night at the Avalon Ballroom (located inside Fallsview Casino), the band played the very first night of its 2016 tour. The show featured a full lighting show, including lasers and a massive back screen. This was no ordinary production, bringing these pop stars into a larger than life almost arena type Uphoria. Original members Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and John and Roger Taylor were obvious fan favourites. Simon once again had the girls in his hands as they opened with the title track to Paper Gods. Things got intense as Simon asked “How Hungry the audience was” before playing the opening riff of Hungry Like the Wolf. Security could not stop a mass crowd from rushing to the front of the stage to witness one of the the band’s top five Billboard Hot 100 Hits.
Lead singer Le Bon didn’t say much throughout the night. He let a great back catalogue speak for itself! The band played A View To A Kill and Come Undone and didn’t seem to miss a step! Le Bon looks to be in good shape and except for a few pitchy parts early on, Seems to be back on his A-Game. Although I’m not nearly as familiar with tracks on Paper Gods as I am with the band’s hits from the 80’s, my favourite song of the night was a brand new track What are the Chances off the brand new album. Simon killed the vocals on this and with two back up singers harmonizing with him, this soft melodic song is sure to become a hit and bring Duran Duran back into the mainstream.
Halfway through the night things got loud and intense as Notorious was belted out to a very energetic crowd . Pressure Off is the band’s first release from Paper Gods and was co-written by the great Nile Rodgers. As the band performed the song, the large back screen showed the video for the new single. For the very first time the band played its hit Planet Earth and morphed into a tribute to David Bowie by playing Space Oddity. This was the first time the band had tried this and you could tell as Le Bon led the band into when the change was happening. It was a great tribute to the legend and with the connection to our planet seemed like a hit with the crowd.
As the end of the night drew near my only disappointment was the band didn’t fully play New Moon on Monday from Seven and the Ragged Tiger. The band played Sunrise and played only a small part of New Moon on Monday. Wild Boys ended the band’s night with high theatrics and multiple lasers and lights bringing out the essence of fire fitting to the video back in the day.
After a short break the encore included Save A Prayer in which Le Bon eluded to the band playing this song back in Paris with The Eagles of Death Metal post Paris shootings. Although I didn’t think Le Bon nailed this, the message was strong and crowd seemed to enjoy it.
Rio ended the night – or so we thought! It seemed like the show was over until the sell out crowd started chanting “REFLEX…REFLEX….REFLEX”….so after a moment to ponder (as the song seemed not rehearsed) Simon decided …”WHY NOT!” so the band giving the fans what they wanted played the song.
Duran Duran have a very unique place in the world of Synth/Pop. Canada was one of the first countries to embrace them outside of Europe. The crowd was into this show 100% and all ages seemed to enjoy it. I would have liked to see Simon talk a bit more to the audience but when you have this many hits, he let the crowd enjoy what they came for! I would recommend this tour for anyone who sat there in the 80’s and enjoyed the spotlight this band had. These hits brought back so many great memories!
SETLIST: March 25, 2016 – Avalon Ballroom, Niagara Fallsview Casino and Resort – Niagara Falls, Ontario
Paper Gods
Hungry like the Wold
A View To A Kill
Come Undone
Last Night in the City
What Are the Chances
Notorious
Pressure Off
Planet Earth/Space Oddity
Ordinary Wold
I Don’t Want Your Love
Sunrise/NewMoon On Monday
Wild Boys
ENCORE:
Save A Prayer
Rio
The Reflex
Connect with Duran Duran online: (Website) (Facebook) (Twitter) (YouTube)
All photos by Sue Sadzak
© 2016. Please DO NOT copy or use without permission.
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