It was a beautiful spring day (despite being the first week of March), I had just resolved an error with an airline ticket that had been stressing me out for days, and I was on my way to be, up-close-and-personal with Duran Duran. I couldn’t have felt any better. I was feeling like everything would turn out for the best. Apparently, this is something that Duran Duran and I had in common.

Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes, and the 3 Taylors (Andy, John, and Roger) were in Vancouver to play GM Place in support of their latest album, Astronaut, the bands first album from all 5 original members, since 1983. When the members of Duran Duran decided to reunite, they had doubts that they would be able to work together again, “it’s like 5 solo artists in a band” declared LeBon, but after only 1 or 2 meetings, they realized the magic was still there. They took off to the south of France, set up their gear and just began to play.

The band began writing prior to 9/11, but after being effected by the events of that day, the album went in a completely different direction. Since 9/11, many artists have released songs or albums with respect to how the world changed after 9/11 often, for the worse, however, instead of taking the dreary, “the world is going to end/George Bush will destroy us” theme that other artists have done, Duran Duran chose to go the opposite direction.

The albums’ second single, “What Happens Tomorrow,” is about just that. The title was actually inspired by a child, when asked what he thought about what was going on in the world and if he was scared, he said “who knows what will happen tomorrow” implying that things could get better. LeBon was impressed at the child’s optimism, and this reaction of hope and possibility became the theme for the song, and much of the album. This positive outlook also came into play with the video for “What Happens Tomorrow.” Three out of the four treatments they had received from directors were filled with negative, war torn images, but the band thought, “how much more of that shit do you need to see,” and opted for the “band playing in the starry sky” video airing now.

It was obvious that these 5 guys were happy to be playing with each other again. They were in great spirits and having a lot of fun, making snide comments, teasing and flirting with the media throughout the conference. Things continued on this way until Nardwuar the Human Serviette began asking questions about ex-guitarist Warren Cuccurullo. The subject seemed a little touchy just to begin with, but when Nardwuar delved into the subject of Cuccurullo's side project ROCKCOCK (the fine makers of chocolate molds of his...uh....manhood). The band was not interested in continuing to answer Nardwuar’s questions. Of course, this didn’t stop Nardwuar who continued to press them on the subject until getting a threat from the band to kick him out. Once this happened, a security guard was immediately at Nardwuar’s side asking him to leave. Nardwuar began to gather his stuff and turned to Much Music Videographer, Chris Nelson, to ask to get a shot of him "being removed.” As Nelson prepared the camera, a second, bigger guard came over and started to pull on the camera, eventually pulling off what appeared to be a battery from the back of the camera, a slight scuffle ensued, and Nardwuar and Nelson were removed (not, however, before Nelson put his camera back together and got a shot of it!), all this going on while Duran Duran continued to answer questions, keeping one eye on the situation. As the bigger guard returned to his place at the side of the room, the band decided to take a quick shot at him, “who are you anyway? You've been wanting to break something all day haven't you?!" No one gets away with anything with these guys around!

So what’s in store for Duran Duran? Perhaps a feature film! The band had plans to make a film in India at the end of last year, however, plans were scrapped when they had to begin their promotional tour for Astronaut. The bad insists that it is still something they would very much like to do, it’s just “on the backburner” for now. Let’s hope it doesn’t get burned.

I learned some important things from my brief time spent with Duran Duran. They’re still all about the yachts, babes in bikinis and fashionable menswear of course, but more importantly, they are back to give us all some much-needed hope. Bringing back the fun of the 80’s music and cutting out the doom and gloom we are inundated with on a daily basis. Wake up to the sunshine indeed!

Elsewhere

By Melissa Pulsifer
Photos : Lizard King fansite
Published : April 2005.