Duran Duran – Tulsa Concert Pics and Review
Posted by DjPaulT on August 16th, 2012
Tour Buses at Hard Rock Tulsa
DjPaulT Hard Rock tulsa
I had so much fun last night. After more than 30 years touring the world, Duran Duran played Tulsa for the first time Wednesday night. It brought its “All You Need is Now” tour to a capacity crowd at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The set built like a thunderhead, starting new with the down-tempo “Before the Rain” then flashed bright as it electrified fans with their earliest single, 1981’s “Planet Earth.” Fans erupted, hands clapping over their heads, screaming and singing along. “Are you feeling lucky tonight?” frontman Simon Le Bon asked. “We feel very honored to be here tonight. In Tulsa! … We have such great fans. I actually see familiar faces in the audience right now.”
Old blended with new, nearly seamless in its texture and sound, timely and timeless. The audience danced through it all. Le Bon, dressed in military-style jacket and white pants, would occasionally shove the mic into his back pocket as he crossed the stage, chest out, egging on the mass of fans wedged at the front of the stage. At one point, Le Bon hopped off the stage and sidled up to a fan in the front row to launch “The Reflex,” coaxing the nervous man into the “Ta-na-na-na” repeat as his girlfriend coaxed him on. Soon, the entire theatre joined him as the band stepped into the tune.
It blasted through a handful of new songs early in the set, including “Girl Panic!,” fresh and tight, as segments from their supermodel-laden music video projected onto multiple screens behind them. They slid into the techno-ballad “Save a Prayer,” the audience waving their cellphone flashlights and lighters in a constellation. “That’s so beautiful,” Le Bon said, and asked that in-house cameras be directed at the audience so fans could share the stage-eye view. This is one of those bands that still creates new music – with its longtime lineup intact. Wednesday night Le Bon, John Taylor (bass), Nick Rhodes (keys) and Roger Taylor (drums) showed why they are still the New Romantic kingpins of dance rock. The relative newbie (and my new favorite), Dom Brown, has been on guitar since 2006.
The crowd rored so loudly that I am sure all of “Planet Earth” could hear as Duran Duran rocked The Joint’s intimate 2,700-seater. A moment I will never forget.
Setlist:
Before the Rain
Planet Earth
A View to a Kill
All You Need Is Now
The Reflex
Come Undone
Safe
Union of the Snake
Girl Panic!
Save A Prayer
Notorious
White Lines (Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel cover)
Ordinary World
Hungry Like The Wolf
(Reach Up for the) Sunrise
Wild Boys / Relax (Frankie Goes to Hollywood cover)
Encore:
Girls on Film
August 16th, 2012 at 10:38 am
Excellent Paul. I’m glad you had a special night with one of the best bands of all time. Beautiful photos, thanks for sharing.
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DjPaulT Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 10:48 am
You’re welcome Guss
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Tinitho Reply:
August 25th, 2012 at 10:55 pm
Não estou conseguindo abrir o arquivo. Está pedindo a senha. Acabei de baixar o cd do Tears for fears – Every wants to rule the world.
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August 16th, 2012 at 12:38 pm
I was there too, Paul. Great show (and great venue – first time for me). Nice to finally have them in this part of the country (w/o the BOK and The Joint, we’ve been lacking for decades). My only complaint about the show was… NO RIO! How could they not come back out for a second encore and play Rio?!? Nonetheless, great pics and synopsis of the evening. Keep up the fantastic BTG work. It’s much appreciated!
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DjPaulT Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Hi Rnet glad too see that one of my readers was actually there. How cool. i heard the reason for not doing “Rio” is because they were at a casino and the casino only allows an hour and a half show because they want people to gample. But on the other hand we did get “Girls On Film” which has been omitted from other venues.
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August 16th, 2012 at 1:06 pm
Congrats, Paul!! great pictures! Duran played in Buenos Aires last May; I couldn’t get tickets (they played twice with sold out arena!), but I listened from outside the venue
Cheers!!
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August 16th, 2012 at 2:10 pm
LOVE NOTORIOUS ! (love the remixes even more) ..too bad they didnt sing New Religion tho that is my ALL TIME fave DD song !!
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August 16th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
i just can say ty!! you made me remember the duran duran concert i went in mexico city! so happy u had a wonderful night with le bon and company! great set list and even greater encore,mexico citys encore was “rio” that was awesome but here they didnt sing “a vie to a kill” and they were promoting “astronaut” cd
cheers!!!
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djalex Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 2:43 pm
and yet again…wild boys along with relax!!! omg what else could you ask!!???
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Chris Reply:
August 18th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Wild Boys along with Relax!!! Both my favourites… uh, i could sell my soul to hear this mixture
)) Anyone?
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djalex Reply:
August 18th, 2012 at 2:28 pm
id like to hear that mix too!!
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DjPaulT Reply:
August 18th, 2012 at 4:36 pm
Here is the video: http://youtu.be/bwbzBASkoaw
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djalex Reply:
August 18th, 2012 at 10:25 pm
thank you for the video!! great mix!!!
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Chris Reply:
August 19th, 2012 at 10:12 am
Truly interesting! Sad part is that all videos i found aren’t made professionally (one hq pic only), so the idea to get a good sound file is still a blue dream
Fingers crossed, folks!
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August 16th, 2012 at 8:11 pm
I’m glad you and fellow BTGers had all enjoyed your respective concerts. And so nice for some of you to be at the same venue!
And Paul, your DD T-shirt looks so crisp and new! I’d be VERY impressed if you’ve bought it back in the 80s!
Thanks for your roving report and fun pics!
TGIF!
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DjPaulT Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 10:40 pm
I had such a good time I wish I could have had all of you there with me
I wish I could say my shirt was vintage but it’s not I bought it from the fan club a while back but this was the first time wearing it. i don’t really like being photographed but I thought what the heck.
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August 16th, 2012 at 8:59 pm
I told you… Unforgettable, eh?
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DjPaulT Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 10:33 pm
You were right
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August 16th, 2012 at 10:24 pm
Sounds like a great time. I haven’t seen them since Strange Behavior, a mere 3000 people in Indianapolis. They were great, if a little miffed, and I’m pretty sure I spoke with Nick on the phone at his hotel. Fun night. And yes, your shirt looks pristine!
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DjPaulT Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 10:42 pm
Idavid I also saw them on the Strange Behavior tour in Kansas City and Erasure opened for them. it was a great show.
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August 16th, 2012 at 11:03 pm
That’s right, Erasure opened for them! I remember Andy Bell’s dancing was… kind of like a sideways fish, I think I thought at the time. Very energetic. I was also surprised at how many people were offended at he clips from The Chauffeur video played during the song. You had to figure these were 1) Duran fans, and 2) they might have seen what was one of the first ever record-breaking VHS tapes. It was a good show, but a bit bittersweet because I sort of knew it was the end for a while.
Glad I was wrong!
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August 16th, 2012 at 11:18 pm
Dj PaulT you are making jealous but at the same time I really felt the excitement you experienced at the concert. I must say Simon Le Bon looks really good in that photo and I want to tell you Ta-na-na-na sure love your T-shirt.
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August 17th, 2012 at 2:34 am
I was surprised in their Australian concert when they performed ‘Careless Memories’. I had read the set list the day before and it wasn’t on it. It’s one of my favourite songs by them.
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August 17th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Great Pics !! and great review – sounds like it was a good night. Always loved a bit of DD, one my first records was their first album.x
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August 17th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Glad you had such a great time. I haven’t seen Duran Duran since the “Big Thing” tour,and I think that needs to change.
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August 17th, 2012 at 2:55 pm
Hey Paul, great review and fab pics. Glad you enjoyed the show.
I saw OMD here in Cape Town 2 weeks ago, also in a small venue, and they were fantastic too, so energetic. Just goes to show that you can’t keep all these old 80s boys down.
Hope DD make their way here too again sometime.
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August 17th, 2012 at 6:44 pm
Lucky guy! Great pics.
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August 17th, 2012 at 6:56 pm
WELL DONE PAUL!!! Great pictures, too! A very unique band to say the least! I can almost see the energy flowing through the arena!
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August 18th, 2012 at 4:34 pm
Duran Duran – Wild Boys/Relax
http://youtu.be/bwbzBASkoaw
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August 19th, 2012 at 8:13 am
Glad you had a great time! They are my favorite band. AND THEY PLAYED UNION OF THE SNAKE!?!?!?! I wish they would do this more – dig a little deeper into their catalog. Besides injecting new songs from whatever album they’ve released, they typically play the same songs.
But wow – Union? Very cool
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August 19th, 2012 at 1:08 pm
I was the guy that got to kick off ‘The Reflex’ with Simon. I’ve seen the Guys many times over the last 31 years of being a fan, but I must say this was the best show ever! BTW, Tulsa World said that it was my “girlfriend” that encouraged me to sing alone, it really was my sister!! LOL
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DjPaulT Reply:
August 19th, 2012 at 8:32 pm
How cool is that Julian! You are a really lucky guy I am really happy to see more people reading my blog that were actually there. It really is a small world isn’t it?
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Julian Reply:
August 19th, 2012 at 8:42 pm
Us Duranies always stick together & sniff each other out!
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August 19th, 2012 at 8:00 pm
AWESOME SHOW! I was also in the front row on stage right was primed and ready to start ‘The Reflex’ if they would have come to my side as the only guy in the area! Still on the DURAN high! Cheers!
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DjPaulT Reply:
August 19th, 2012 at 8:33 pm
Very cool Brian I sure wish I would have known that I had readers of my blog at the show. I would have loved to have met you all
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