Duran Duran at Park Tavern Atlanta (the unofficial scoop)

So, I got the scoop on DuranDuran’s private return to Atlanta for Jezebel Magazine…at least this is how it was relayed to me. I wish like anything I had just believed the advertisement when I saw it rather than doing what I did below. Read on…(but 1st, wasn’t Naomi Campbell just freakin’ brilliant in the “GirlPanic!” video? sizzlin’!)

About 5 days ago (still in a continued appreciation mode for Curt Smith’s (TFF) e-intro to JT) I saw a note on Facebook that read “Win VIP tickets to DuranDuran.” Having not heard anything from the band themselves about a local event I thought the promoters of this event ParkTavern Atlanta, were perhaps willing to send someone to a show in New York or something like that. Given that I’m still in a happy euphoric daze from the Tears for Fears tour and the 15 October Duran Duran Atlanta Chastain show I couldn’t keep asking the media team for time away to “run off with the band.” But being the determined superfan, I looked into it anyway…just to see…

I couldn’t find any information. And my heart was running on skeptical. I simply did not believe Duran Duran was coming back to Atlanta. So, by that Thursday it was “a joke” to me. Tweets, FB updates and other cool things from the band poured in…but nothing mentioned Atlanta. I spoke to Denise in Toronto who was still dancing on the Valentine. I chatted with Sir David Esquire…none of these Duranies had heard about this show or they would have told me. So now I was confirming in my own mind no such thing was going to occur.

Monday afternoon, It’s Halloween 2011: I’m plugging away at media assignments and come across something that needs a second opinion. I walk down the hall to my cwky and after I get my questions answered she says to me, “So you going to Duran Duran tonight?” *enter the thunderstorms and cackling witches on brooms*

All of the sudden the room began to spiral out of control. Like a hellish Halloween nightmare the light fixture seemed to blink and the earth went dark with a moon falling toward me…I had to roll out of the way!

“ohhh my Gaaaahhhd! It wasn’t a joke. It wasN’T A JOKE! IT WASN’T A JOKE!!!” (YES, by now I escalated to a “freak out” in her office. I mean, up stomping around with my hands in the air…then of course I had to sit down cause I felt like I might faint.) My heart was racing. I felt tears swell up in my eyes.  She looks at me with shock and says, “Tell me YOU knew about the show right? You need a ticket?” I sat there at her mercy. “Yes, I need a ticket. I thought it was a joke. I saw the advertising but I thought it was out of state…I thought…” I went on for a few minutes hands flailing and explaining as if she needed to know every detail. She sympathized with me and made some phone calls. Then she turned to me and said, “I’ll know by 6pm.” And with that, I left her office with my head hanging down and slumped back to my desk to recoup and re-concentrate on the tasks at hand. I was so focused that I finished my assignments one hour earlier than usual and then headed out to hopefully hear back from her later.

I did not.

I went home later that night feeling terrible. I fell in the floor after a few tweets and went to sleep. Devastated and determined, I vowed to myself to not ever let such a thing happen again. How could I ever assume that a Duran Duran show may not happen just because the band said nothing about it. Sure, it’s logical, but still, I’m a raqs and rock band superfan I shouldn’ve known better.

The Morning After

I finished up my media assignments and then around the same time tottled back over to the cwky. “Hi! Tell me you went to the show! Please say one of us made it?!” And this is what she said in a nutshell:

It was different than what I expected. We got there on time which was about 8’oclock. No one was there. Just a few people…and they were in costumes. It was like a Halloween party. Then about 10 or 10:30 Duran Duran comes out, gets up and does a cool acoustic set of 4 songs. Simon was there in a big top hat with a tie around it. He was the only one standing. The rest were seated for the most part. One of the pretty girls that’s touring with them now was also there…the one with the long black hair. A slender guy and I think JT was there. They sang 4 songs…asked if they were in Atlanta, which in hindsight was weird…and well, that was about it. We expected more but hey…you know.

We talked more about the details of the music. She’s not a hard core Duranie in comparison to Carri D and Sir David Esquire who could probably feel the vibrations of a Duran Duran song from an iPod 8 people away (just as I can for a Tears for Fears song and have on many occasions but i digress…)  So, she couldn’t really remember the names of the songs. From what I gather the set list was as follows:

All You Need is Now

Hungry Like the Wolf (Acoustic)

Leave the Light on

Reflex

Video of Hungry Like the Wolf, recorded by Cwky& “The Marketing Guy” Posted permission granted by Ryan at Park Tavern 4:35pm 2 November 2011

And now let’s enjoy Girl Panic from the 15 October show (by Duranie atlrio) which was my favourite song performed that night due to the gorgeous young lady on percussion who blew us away with her talent:

Overall, I should’ve been there at Park Tavern. The odd unfairness of that moment makes me queasy and I was sick all night and all morning.  I got sick on the commute into downtown atlanta this morning too. I just should’ve been there. I’d have sat peacefully and well-behaved. If I can sit and listen at a Curt Smith Solo show I can sure as heck behave at DuranDuran… So, here I go throwing myself into the pile of Duranies to legally stalk Atlanta news feeds and hunt down any information that says they’re coming this way again…an intimate venue with Duran Duran is just what I need. I’m perched. I’m ready! Let’s go!

Girl Panic Official Behind the Scenes Info: It is brilliant when bands can take their image and find a company that can push it forward. After these few encounters with Duran Duran and the Duranies I’m blown away with their style and finesse. They look amazing. Looks aren’t everything but first impressions are. I think these guys and their fans have won over a ton of us in the TFF crowd. While we’ll always be groovin’ to Curt & Roland, we are also right there with their pals Duran Duran enjoying fun fashion and things that take you to another place in life. It’s all about fun! And the final product (Girl Panic!) was amazing & brilliant. A clever marketing manager was onboard here and I would kiss their feet with respect. In fact, clever is a petty word:

told ya!