Lost 80s Concert Part 1

They were more than 20 years too late but as the adage goes "better late than never." And it was a good thing we watched the farewell concert too. A Flock of Seagulls, Real Life and When In Rome were in Manila for a series of shows just over the weekend and we missed the concert in Araneta because we didn't have any nannies (or quasi-nannies like our parents) to take care of the kids. Good thing that the guys above still had another concert slated at the Hard Rock Cafe, which we watched.

We were quite happy for a number of reasons: the tickets were cheaper, there were plenty of food choices and we were way up at the front of everybody else.

It was quite a good concert because they were mainly invited to do 80s hits songs, and none of those obscure songs they probably tried to do when their careers flagged in the 90s. Keep the good memories alive in my opinion and boy did they keep them alive. We were overwhelmed by the 80s repertoire, a lot of which people were singing to:

Real Life did Send Me An Angel, Catch Me I'm Falling and Always!
When In Rome did The Promise and Heaven Knows!
A Flock of Seagulls did The More You Live, I Ran, Space Age Love Song, Telecommunication!

(You can see my selected videos to jog your 80s memories ...)

I also got a chance to meet the lead vocal for When In Rome and get an autographed copy of his CD. Too bad I just missed the lead vocal for A Flock of Seagulls when I got the chance to get a ballpen. And Real Life was nowhere to be found ...

But then again, it was great that we got to see them live, albeit two decades late. They probably wouldn't be coming to the Philippines again unless they produce another hit song (highly unlikely) so it was good to seize the opportunity. And for those who are so much into the 80s like we are, another great concert is coming up:

General Public (yay!)
Gene Loves Jezebel (woohoo!)
Wang Chung (...) and
Thompson Twins (cool!).

Which is why my caption is Part 1. We are definitely watching the next one!

Yes some of them look quite wors

A Concert to Remember: Duran Duran in Manila

I had a very "deprived" teenage life as far as social gimmicks are concerned. I never had the chance to attend any high school dances and never had the opportunity to attend concerts by international acts.

Lesley's birthday gift was VIP tickets to Duran Duran and boy were they GREAT!

We were watching a DVD of their 2004 Astronaut concert in London (?) and I was telling her how much they sounded the same two decades after their first hits. And surprise surprise through the help of Mae's boyfriend we got to learn early on that they were coming to Manila. The final date of the concert was the eve of my birthday! Whaddya think of that.

It was of course their Asian leg of their tour for their new album, Red Carpet Massacre and Manila fortunately was one of the stops. I was in Jakarta early this week and they were also gracing the town for a one night event.

The crowd was very enthusiastic (albeit very much a refined 30's to 40+ age group) with the older Duran Duran songs: Hungry Like the Wolf, Planet Earth, A View to a Kill (WOW!) and Girls on Film. They never deviated from the same sound that made them famous and their chemistry onstage was such a good thing to watch. Then Simon le Bon whipp[ed out an acoustic guitar for the start of "Save A Prayer" ... and the screaming started. Give to the Filipinos for an enthusiastic accompaniment during the chorus.

The new songs of course did not receive the same rabid acceptance as the older ones however some of them have that distinct "crossover to house music" feel. Commercial decision of course to allow Duran Duran to become more accessible to the below-30 crowd.

Nonetheless, a remarkable show. One that had me screaming and stomping and singing (others in the audience were WAY more enthusiastic). Watching them up close, however that I was probably two decades too late, will go down to be one of the best nights I have experienced.

Thank you darling. Best birthday gift ever.