Release Athens Festival 2024 - Duran Duran

A lot of people were listening to Duran Duran back in the 80's. Most of them however are reluctant to admit it now, mostly because of the bullying they received about it, mainly from "rock" fans. That's why, when they first came to Greece in 2005, I didn't expect that a lot of people would go to see them. However, a lot of them did, so many of them in fact, that a venue change was needed. Although, I had seen them live before (back in 1989, at the inauguration of the London Arena), I missed my chance. Taking into account though how successful their first Greek concert was, I predicted that they would come again. And they did. The following year at the Olympic Fencing Hall. And that was the first time that I saw then in Greece. They came again, but only to Salonica (I think it was 2012), and finally, this year, they returned to Athens. And not only did I go, not only was I in the company of the admin of their Greek unofficial Facebook page, but I was also in the company of other artists' fans and members of their respective Facebook pages: U2, Pet Shop Boys and Bruce Springsteen (that last one is, as you've probably guessed, me!).

There's wasn't much in terms of support for this particular date. The original support act, Sofi Tukker, pulled out at the last minute and JC Stewart was drafted in. There was no other support act before him, only a DJ set by Spyros Pagiatakis, which was very enjoyable, I must admit, as we got to hear many familiar and beloved 80's tunes.

Next up, as I have already mentioned was JC Stewart who was warmly and favourably received by the audience.

And then it was finally time for Duran Duran! I kept following their setlists on social media all these years, and because I had seen that there was a certain pattern to them, I had a suspicion that their set was going to be predictable and maybe a bit short (But definitely not boring!). Nothing could have been further from the truth, though. Although certain songs (eg "Hungry Like The Wolf") are always performed at specific points in the set, there was a lot of variety (including surprises) and for once, emphasis on their latest album was more than welcome. In this case, the album in question was their Halloween special "Danse Macabre" which features reworkings of certain songs of theirs, cover versions, and new songs as well. We even had a preview of the deluxe version of said album which hadn't yet been released at that time (namely the new version of "New Moon On Monday" entitled "New Moon (Dark Phase)"). Another noteworthy fact was the emphasis on their debut album from which they performed five songs. And yes, there was an encore, and yes, the last song was "Rio" as it usually is, but nobody was taking note of all these, because by then, the concert had turned into a big 80's and 90's party. And no, kids, they didn't play "U Can't Touch This". That was in fact "Super Freak", part of "Super Lonely Freak"!

In short: We can't wait for them to be back! 

SETLIST:
01. Night Boat
02. The Wild Boys
03. Hungry Like Τhe Wolf
04. A View Τo Α Kill
05. Invisible
06. Notorious
07. Black Moonlight
08. Super Lonely Freak
09. Friends Of Mine
10. Careless Memories
11. The Chauffeur
12. Is There Something I Should Know?
13. Ordinary World
14. Come Undone
15. New Moon (Dark Phase)
16. Planet Earth
17. (Reach Up For The) Sunrise
18. White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)
19. The Reflex
20. Girls On Film / Psycho Killer
Encore:
21. Save A Prayer
22. Rio