I was a Teenage Power Station Fan
OK, so we all love Arcadia blah blah blah, yawn yawn yawn. But if you want to ROCK and rediscover your inner teenage hellraiser, you can stuff yer Rose Arcanas and Lady Ices. So please salute Barbie-Rella and her tale of sheer teenage bliss.
My first encounter with the wonderful John Taylor was at the Power Station concert (my first ever!) in July of 1985. I was all of 15 years old so my dear friend Sondra and I persuaded her parents to drop us off at the mobbed Jones Beach Amphitheater alone at night with only our disposable cameras in hand.
We were seated in the nose-bleed section amongst a mixed crowd made of mostly older teens, 20's and some 30 year olds.
This was obviously not good enough for us so we headed down to the floor of the stadium. Sweat poured down our backs as we weaved our way closer and closer to the stage through the already jam packed crowd. 'Just look like you know where you're going and you're supposed to be there Sondra!' I shouted as we made our moves forward. I work my way up usually pulling my friend(s) behind me. You just act like you belong there and keep going. (Also a bit of flirting doesn't hurt!) Finally we ended up in front of John. WHAT A HIGH!
There was John in his long red-silk smoking jacket with black trim with the long topped hair – long hair all curly in the back and short on the sides... You know the pictures. Unfortunately, not from me! By the time we were right in front of John - low and behold I had run out of film! Most of it seemed to have ended up wasted on Michael Des Barres!
Some Like It Hot was the best on the night (though I would have prefered to seen Robert Palmer sing.. not complaining… much). I have no idea what they played for the encore - I'm 47 now. It was 3 decades ago!
We somehow found Sondra's parents afterwards them in the parking lot. I was bummed since they weren't into seeking out John and the band... That would have to wait for another day.
Hold Back The Rain is back on the set list! it's a party song about partying and our boys knew how to party. Here they are in Norway on New Years Eve 1983 (PARTY!) clearly very happy and not at all slurry or in need of propping up (thanks to Jon Woodhouse for the link). 'godt nytt år' as they say locally on that day each year.
A different story of a concert and the experience of going with friends - and slightly closer to today - Oakland, CA 7 July 2017 by Austin T
Music has a way of connecting us. This is especially true with a band like Duran Duran with a huge and loyal fan base that spans almost 40 years. July 7 in San Francisco was an epic celebration of fans connecting, friendship and fun!
I met Baranduin on Twitter (@bbamok). She was the perfect online friend: funny, smart, very positive... not a mean tweet from her fingers & she posts some GREAT personal travel and concert photos! We then engaged with MissNovemberTuesday (Ana) who’s a 14 year old second generation DD superfan. Our online friendships evolved from Twitter to Instagram and Facebook, where photos and information became more personal.
I recently won an eBay auction held by one of Duran's management team to help raise funds for a friend who is now in hospice care, leaving behind a young son who will need care when she's gone. (Here's her funding page: www.gofundme.com/lyson). The band donated concert tickets to the Oakland show plus a personal meet and greet with the winner. I made the winning bid with a happy heart. I rounded my donation up by giving back or giving away most of the items and privileges (including the show tickets and meet and greets) in order for more money to be raised for this amazing cause.
I flew in from Dallas and met Baranduin for a couple days of eating and walking around San Francisco (I ran smack into Roger walking the streets of San Francisco the first day, and then again the next day him and JT. He is as sweet, kind, elegant and funny as you'd imagine him to be!)
I was a little nervous going into this weekend, but I was not disappointed when I met Baranduin and Ana in person. They both acted exactly as they portrayed themselves online. Ana's parents drove her 11 hours to get there! The band was amazing per their usual and there were moments when each of us cried during or after the show. I mean, if you saw Simon cry and bravely dedicate Ordinary World to his mom that very recently passed... your heart would break too.
The highlight, of course, was Hold Back the Rain! You could feel the rumble of excitement when they hit enough chords for the crowd to realize that such a rarity was being played live for the first time in so long!
The experience we had as fans that become real friends is not uncommon, I have heard of tons of similar, happy stories. I am just another Duran fan who has opened her heart to making real connections with people of all ages and walks of life, with the intentions of spreading love and kindness one Duran Duran song at a time. We couldn't have asked for a better weekend, Duran Duran's music connected so many people and their hearts... for that I am thankful!
Shiny happy people from pre-show meet-up
7 July 2017
L-R Duran and Instagram friends
doctors_of_the_revolution, Barnaduin, radioscillator
And here are DuranieRebecca and Baranduin
All these years and tours and here we are across the world meeting up before a show
CL's Fanzine Week has included all-new contributions, but here is a blast from 20 years ago (25 September 1997) and the first CL meet up in London. It was at the old Man In The Moon pub on Kings Road. It was a great day where we had a charity auction of autographed photos, records and a unique specially-written drawing by Nick - all collected by the indefatigable Mandy Jones. The only non-seller was Warren's jacket from the Out Of My Mind video - too steep at the asking price of £150. We also listened to a Japanese import edition of the then-unavailable Medazzaland.
The CL crew were joined by the creators of the UK Plastic Girl fanzine, with whom we shared various events over the next few years. Anybody know Lesley Rhodes (editor) or did you read that fanzine?
Here's what I won in the auction:
This is the ONLY picture of the day, right at the end when there were 5 of us left and about to go home. We manage to look like the Mafia in 1947 rather than a wonderful day out in 1997, but that's the past for you. No i-phones and all in black and white.
for the record: L-R Slavo, Jon Woodhouse, Warren, AW, Mandy Jones
So many contributions as the week's gone on, so here's one more to finish Day 3.
It was a Cherry Lipstick staple to complain about Duran touring the USA too much. Flash forward to 2017 and nothing's changed. Waging a one-woman war to get Duran to tour Hungary - or anywhere in Europe - is Suzy Taylor. She's on Twitter TODAY with a video and tweets imploring the band to yield from the dollar and earn themselves some Forints.
To show CL's support for the cause, here are some of Suzy's images from the last time they played in Budapest:
Mr Two Hands with Suzy
Follow Suzy on Twitter: @SuzyArcana