2005 - Duran Duran



DURAN DURAN
Birmingham Football Club, 28th May 2005
Support: The Bravery, Daniel Bedingfield
₤ 45,-

Wow! That really was a superb experience. Only a 25min. walk from the hotel brought us to the stadium. We booked and paid the tickets months ago per credit card and Ticketmaster™ UK failed to send the tickets to us on time therefore we ended up in a long queue to finally get our tickets on the day of the event.

Fortunately the entrance 6: “Seating Blocks 25 – 35” was next to the ticket desk so we didn’t have to look any further and decided to take another stroll through the city instead of waiting for the stadium to open alongside all the others who only got standing tickets.

The stadium opened its gates around 3.30 p.m. and the show finally kicked off around 6.20p.m. when The Bravery from America came on stage.

The sound quality wasn’t great and so the songs did not really catch my attention. The sound got better towards the end of their rather short set and what I could hear was quite likeable.

Some 15 minutes later Daniel Bedingfield and band hit the stage. He was warmly received by the crowd and really kicked ass, musically. Full of energy and with good, strong vocals and good melodies it was fun to watch him.

30 000 people gathered at the Birmingham City Football Stadium St. Andrews to watch the “wild boys” returning to their hometown.

And their hometown gig left a lasting impression.

Supported by a massive light show and cool stage outfit the “fab 5” wasted no time and picked up speed right from the start. Duran Duran were in brilliant shape and even though Simon LeBon had problems hitting the right keys from time to time the music was perfect.

Double Duran played most of their hits including: “(Reach out for the) Sunrise”, “The Reflex”, “Wild Boys”, “Girls On Film” and “Save A Prayer”. “Rio” ended the show.

My personal highlight was “The Chauffeur” which I hadn’t heard in years and the charismatic Cockney Rebel – cover: “Make me smile”.

All in all a great night out. The boys seemed in tune with each other and they certainly enjoyed themselves as much as the fans.

Duran Duran - *** Great
Daniel Bedingfield - *** Great
The Bravery ** - Good

For more about The Bravery see Depeche Mode 2006

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