The band that opened for Duran Duran last night had a #13 Platinum single from last year.
I only noticed because some members of the crowd perked up when they played it, proving that singles evidently to get noticed by some people.
Neon Trees is a four piece with a touring guitarist that is on stage with them, while being noticeably behind the four actual members.
I often think that being a touring guitarist must be one of the more shittier jobs in the world of rock music. Somewhere between roadie and video producer.
Their music was good enough for me to at least check them out on Wikipedia, and it’s there when I first noticed.
That underneath all of that new wave hair gel and faux Mohawk of lead singer Tyler Glenn is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I drew up this neat joke suggesting that they should team up with Edgar Winter before I realized that Edgar is into Scientology and not a Mormon.
You can check out their video to that aforementioned hit to see if you’re a fan, but musically I can only take too much sugar before my teeth hurt.
Plus the dude really went overboard with his Duran Duran worship.
The best moment was when Glenn was going on and on about how much the music of the 80’s meant to him, name-checking bands like The Cure, Duran Duran, The Smiths….until he was interrupted by a guy who screamed “Flock of Seagulls.”
“I heard that…” shot back Tyler, before prancing over to the other side of the stage.
There’s a full review of the Duran set still to come, but here are some observations:
• The women in attendance managed to drown down the band at some points, both in cheering and in singing. There were moments where they hurt my ears.
• Most couples consisted of women dragging their sorry-assed men to the show, a few reluctantly. The rest of the men actually knew a few Duran Duran songs and would dance a bit during the popular songs.
• There was one couple-the kind with the reluctant spouse who didn’t give a rat’s ass about the band-that sat in the aisle ahead of us. The gentlemen was an African-American in his mid-50’s, and it was painfully obvious that he was dragged kicking and screaming to the show. I kept making up bits of dialog in my head, pretending to be the voice of this man, usually involving a bit of dialogue like “Look at these dumbass English crackers with their lipstick and eyeliner.” The couple left before the set ended.
• The chick in her thirties next to my wife kept hitting m’lady with her butt. She didn’t like it while I certainly didn’t see the harm in it.
• The suggestion to hit the assailant back with a good old fashioned pillow fight back at our room in the Hyat didn’t go over too well.
• There was a dude in his fifties at the front of the stage who referred to himself as Beyonce when Simon put the microphone near his mug.
• Everyone stayed put for the most part during the new stuff, with a bit more noticeable smartphone activity until a more famous song showed up.
• A bunch of Duran fans turned into Republicans.
• Or maybe they were Reagan fans back in the day.
• My wife and I had a complete role reversal than the rest of the couples in the crowd. While most wives dragged their husbands to the festivities, I dragged my wife.
• After the show, my wife was overheard stating “I didn’t know they did “Ordinary World.’”
• They added Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “Relax” in the middle of “Wild Boys.”
• Fans in the crowd did the repeats at the end of “the figureheads have fell, fell, fell” just like the song.
• The Best Song they did was “Leopard” off the new one.
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