Friends of Mine, from their debut, is the great DD single that never was: deeply New Romantic and electronic but with a chorus as big as any of them.ДЄs the frontman observes, 1993вЂ™s sublime Ordinary World вЂњtakes on a new relevanceвЂќ with the pandemic (вЂњI wonвЂ™t cry for yesterday, thereвЂ™s an ordinary world, somehow I have to findвЂќ), and its crowd singalong makes for a real goosebump moment.Дў004вЂ™s (Reach Up for the) Sunrise raises everybodyвЂ™s arms accordingly. Otherwise, Planet Earth takes the roof off and View to a Kill brings a Bond theme to a small room in Birmingham, but the career-spanning setlist delves deeper than those copper-bottomed 80s hits. Le Bon challenges the audience to sing Tonight United even though it was only aired for the first time the night before, and they do. Anniversary marries a bassline similar to FrankieвЂ™s Two Tribes to a trademark Duran chorus. Photograph: Jason Sheldon/REX/Shutterstock Le Bon, Taylor and touring/studio guitarist Dominic Brown. вЂњIвЂ™m not going to say that in 1982 we became the biggest band in the world,вЂќ he teases, theatrically. Le Bon, who camps it up remorselessly all night, suddenly adopts the mock-aristocratic voice of an old-school English actor. He revels in digging out his catalogue of stage moves, from singing at members of the front row individually to perfectly executed 360-degree twirls. Le Bon might have put on a few pounds in lockdown but a few nights like this will soon shift them вЂ“ the stage-starved singer looks as if he is having the time of his life. Black-clad blond keyboardist Nick Rhodes still looks like Andy Warhol gone New Romantic. Grinning bassist John Taylor seems to have defied the ageing process. 1983вЂ™s The Reflex and 1986вЂ™s Chic-influenced Notorious triggers waves of crowd hysteria that are never far away all night.ДЄfter two years off the road because of Covid, Duran have returned hungry like wolves and in absurdly fine fettle for men in their early 60s. The brooding funk tune about a struggle to be heard in todayвЂ™s world is helpfully illustrated when the band are all but drowned out by 1,500 screaming, middle-aged Durannies. The occasion вЂ“ ahead of bigger shows вЂ“ is to preview next monthвЂ™s new album Future Past, from which tonightвЂ™s opener Invisible is taken. With fans crammed in like sardines, pandemic or no pandemic, and the band virtually in their faces, the much more intimate venue than DuranвЂ™s regular arenas gives a taste of what it must have been like to see them when they were the resident band at the Rum Runner club four decades ago. вЂN umber two in Birmingham!вЂќ yells Simon Le Bon, kicking off a second sold-out home town show in the 1,500-capacity Institute.

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