I smell like I sound

Yesterday morning while I was telling my wife my plans for the evening, she informed me that she'd be out all night as well. When I asked what she was doing, she replied, "Oh, you wouldn't be interested. My mom's neighbor got us free tickets to see Duran Duran."

Wouldn't be interested? Wouldn't be interested?!!! Woman, you press me too far!

I didn't say that, exactly, but I did convey that with my facial expression. Luckily for me, Kirsti was able to hook me up with a ticket as well. So, my friends and Rock Band (the video game, for those of you who don't know) would have to wait for another time.

I have to admit, I don't really follow the band or listen to a lot of their music. At least, not within the past twenty years or so. Now, when I was a little kid, that's another story all together. I remember the first song that I heard from them - "The Reflex." I was probably in third or fourth grade, and I became an instant fan.


From there, I wound up buying all their albums (some on tape, but I actually still own Rio on vinyl). The first one I bought was a tape of their first, eponymous release. I remember pretty much driving my family crazy because I'd listen to it over and over again. (Hey! What could I do? It was the only album I had!) Pretty ironic considering that nowadays I don't even like hearing the same song twice in one day.


While I lost interest over time, I never really stopped liking them. In fact, I found that much of their music held up pretty well - a lot better than some of the crap that certain family members were listening to at the time! Some of it might sound a little bit dated, but their songs were catchy and most of them genuinely have something interesting going on if you really pay close attention.

I'm sure it's no coincidence that my loss of interest coincided with their fall from the pop charts. Still, and surprising to many, they made a decent comeback in the 90s, and those hits were as good if not better than their older stuff (especially "Ordinary World"). Since then, they've managed to stay in the public eye more or less - not quite hitting the heights of their days of glory in the mid-80s, but not exactly playing the local rutabega festival either.



So, how was the concert? With the exception of a techno portion in the middle (which wasn't bad, just not my cup of tea) it was fantastic. Kirsti was especially impressed with how well lead singer Simon Le Bon's voice has been holding up. He was also quite the showman, and the whole band seemed to be genuinely having a great time. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't a big old nostalgia fest, as the set list consisted of quite a few new songs. I found myself liking them quite a bit, especially their current hit, "Falling Down."


So, my inner 11-year old was quite satisfied (I still seemed to know many of the lyrics by heart!) but so was my more discerning 34-year old self.

Holy shit! I'm 34?