As MTV continues to distance itself from the music, one of the groups the channel helped launch (and vice versa) continues to roll on.
Duran Duran is wrapping up the US leg of their 2025-2026 tour in style, selling out arenas, earning rave reviews, and plastering smiles on the faces of their longtime fans.
All while doing it on their own terms and without the cringe that is sometimes associated with groups as they approach 50 years as a unit.
Formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England, Simon Le Bon (vocals), Nick Rhodes (synthesizers), John Taylor (bass), and Roger Taylor (drums) certainly do not look like gentlemen who have been entertaining for 48 years, nor do they sound like it.
The only notable absence from the original five member lineup is Andy Taylor, the band’s founding guitarist, who has been living with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer, which he announced in 2022, whose treatment has sidelined him from the road.
Having 4/5s of the original members have not stopped their legions of fans from fawning over the dashing musicians as they have been since the early '80s when their self-titled debut introduced the UK to what would be the leaders of the New Romantic scene thanks to the hit single "Planet Earth."
Decades later Duran Duran is now dominating our charts this week as fans are checking out their setlists like fiends, seeing what the lads played for fans along the west.
To the delight of many, the answer has been a bit of everything. While 35% of the 20-song set is culled from the first two albums, the rest of the setlist contains highlights from the band's long career.
This includes the still-fascinating Grandmaster Melle Mel cover of "White Lines" from their 1995 Thank You covers album as well as the ELO hit "Evil Woman," from their most recent LP Danse Macabre.
Another semi-mashup the group have been performing is "Lonely in Your Nightmare" from their breakout '82 smash Rio, into Rick James' "Super Freak."
Together the moment is dubbed "Super Lonely Freak."
Flexing an era where critics had counted them out, the middle of the set brings out a duo of Wedding Album hits: "Ordinary World," and "Come Undone."
The romantic 1993 album was a glorious rebound from 1990's forgettable Liberty, and became an unexpected hit in the middle of the Grunge insurgence, peaking at #7 in the US and #4 in the UK.
Those songs still hold up and provide not only a nice contrast to the arena anthems of "Wild Boys" and "The Reflex" but compliment the dainty "Save a Prayer" that began the encore portion of the show.
The shows the group performed in Vegas, Arizona, and San Diego stuck to the same set for good reason: the songs fit, satisfy, and boast a hugely successful career - besides the 100 million records sold.
Duran Duran have two more shows left on this leg. Tonight in Anaheim and tomorrow in Sacramento.
Grab your tickets on their website. Don't wait for the morning after.
