Duran Duran’s rough start

last updated 8 January 2015

What happened

British pop group Duran Duran had some complications during the first show of their world tour in Auckland, New Zealand on Wednesday night. Lead singer Simon Le Bon forgot lyrics to some of the band’s songs, and at one point, bassist John Taylor stormed off stage. (Reuters)

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“Duran Duran left fans devastated on the opening night of their world tour,” said PR-inside.com. Not only did Simon Le Bon “repeatedly” forget “lyrics to the group’s greatest hits,” but the band’s “performance was tarnished” by a “series of mishaps.” And this is just the beginning of their tour “promoting their latest LP Red Carpet Massacre, which failed to impress fans or critics in the U.S. and U.K. when it was released in November 2007.”

“The first show of a world tour is a bit like popping into a restaurant on opening night,” said Nicholas Russell in Stuff.co.nz, “there are bound to be teething troubles.” But “a less experienced band might have lost their momentum,” yet “Le Bon casually laughed it off.” And the audience didn’t seem to mind the bumps—“from the minute Duran Duran walked on to the stage, the seats were for handbags and it stayed that way for the whole two hours.”

Well, that’s because the audience wasn’t very discerning, said the blog Live Journal. “The thing about New Zealand is that it’s often missed by touring acts, so concert-goers are less picky than they would be in, say, London, where there’s a better range of gigs to choose from.” Most people here will see a band just because it’s “well-known, as opposed to waiting only for those they know well.”