As The Lights Go Down

I'd had some difficulty locating the concert venue, so when I checked in at the hotel, I asked the concierge about Earthlink Live and/or CenterStage, and he said, "I've had people asking me that all week. There's a Duran Duran concert there. I still don't know where it is." Finally, he said, "I'll call Alvin, he da man, he knows where everything is." Alvin did know, fortunately.

The hotel was not quite as close as I figured but still close enough to walk. Earthlink Live turned out to be a dumpy looking brick building squeezed between the Georgia State Nurses Association and a 1920s apartment building. There was a banner on the front with coming attractions, in small letters that you could read from the sidewalk, but nobody driving past would ever have noticed. No marquee, no big advertising. There was one of those ridiculous stretch limos in front, plus a couple of police cars, an ambulance, and a fire truck. It looked like just beyond the limo one car had rear ended another. Maybe excited over seeing Warren and lost control?

I joined the line for the will call box. It was cold and windy, but not raining. Eventually we got inside, and it was a really small venue, smaller than my High School auditorium. There were only about 17 rows of seats, plus the clear area in front of the stage. I had a ticket that allowed me to sit or stand (they gave me a purple wristband, which someone checked as I went inside). There were plenty of seats, but after sitting in the nosebleed seats until now, I plunged onto the floor and went over to Nick's side. There were only few people there and it was easy to get in about the third row, so I would be right underneath him.

The setlist is on duranduran.com, so there is no reason to repeat it here. Nick came out looking pissed, Simon came out looking pissed (Warren probably did but I couldn't see him as well) For a minute I was thinking this was the Pissed Off Tour... It didn't last that long, just till Silva Halo and Union of the Snake were over.

Simon promised us something very special, said the usual things about how Atlanta had been great. blah blah blah... I guess the something special was Lonely In Your Nightmare, which he said they hadn't played for 18 years before this tour ("some of you weren't even born the last time we played this" -- some, perhaps, but NOT BLOODY MANY!). It was great to hear Is there Anyone Out There, too. Simon did a big buildup for the intro to Last Day On Earth - "This is 5/4 time, I love 5/4 time," he rattled on and on... and all we got to hear was Last day On Earth. :)

By and large my view was great, only short people in front of me. Some girl shoved her way in front of me before Come Undone, but since I didn't move and the one in front of me didn't move, this left her sandwiched between us with no room for her "moves", so she finally pushed off.

I could see everyone but Wes, whose head and waist were blocked by Nick's twin synths, so he was like a torso with a guitar attached to it. Nick was mostly ignoring the crowd as usual but at one point he looked up, caught me eye, and gave one of his lazy smiles. It was great. Of course, it could have been someone ahead or behind me, but I think I was the only one looking at him right then (as usual, attention focuses on Si.) That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.