"Now" Gets Better

Wow, how do I even begin this post?

Duran Duran is not only still around but has launched their latest US tour.

And that's not even the coolest part.

They even started their tour in my area so I got to see the freshness of their energy on stage.

Wait, it gets cooler...

Let's back up. It is autumn of the year 2011 and my saving grace of a band from the 80s is still going strong and released a new album, All You Need Is Now, last spring. However, just as they were going to tour to promote the album, lead singer Simon LeBon woke up one morning with no voice.

In all their years of making music and touring the world, this problem never arose before, causing a very sad, but necessary postponement of the tour that was to start in the UK. LeBon went through months of therapy and even surgery. Gradually, his voice came back. The progress of his healing buzzed through the Internet. We all waited, hopeful for a full recovery.

And full it was! This was the third time I've seen the Wild Boys live (my fourth time seeing John Taylor since I saw him in the Power Station when they came to Seattle) and it seems that the passing of a few decades seem nothing to them.

What made this more cool is that they came a few days shy of my anniversary and birthday, so what can be cooler than that?

This:

Remember I wrote about Durandy a couple of times? He has become a good friend of mine so I was happy to spot him outside after the concert. Naturally, he was extremely jazzed up, but I had yet to find out just how much.

His lovely girlfriend was with him and sporting a huge rock on her finger. She was now Durandy's lovely fiancée!

It gets better:

With the help of local radio station, 101.5 (the same station on which I listened to him many years ago), Durandy had things set up ahead of time that they would meet the band before the concert and HELP him to PROPOSE!

Surrounded by the band-mates, a fully-healed LeBon handed Durandy the ring for him to propose with.



Best wishes to you all!

All You Need Is Now!

Weird Beat

Yesterday, I was at the Puayllup Fair, a major annual fair in the state I live in. It holds a stadium that hosts concerts throughout the year, including during the fair. Tickets to get into the fair are separate from tickets to get into the concert, but fair goers can and do listen in on the concerts going on.

In previous years, I have listened to The Steve Miller Band, and have caught a glimpse at The Manhattan Transfer during my visits to the Fair.

This year I listened in on Weird Al Yankovic. What a treat! I had only learned that he was performing there a couple of days earlier and so I could not prepare myself to attend the concert itself, but it was a lot of fun to hear his music live and listen to the audience.

Yes, the audience was a mix of screams of appreciation and roars of laughter. Next time he comes around, I hope to be a part of such an audience!

I vaguely knew of him when he made parodies like "I Like Rocky Road" (from "I Like Rock and Roll" by Joan Jett), and "My Bologna" (from "My Sharona" by The Knack), but, like to many others, he became a famous sensation to me when he dared to parody the King of Pop during his peak.

Michael Jackson was riding high on the success of his Thriller album and nobody could say anything against him without facing a fight. What Yankovic did could have been considered as making fun of Jackson and angered the Pop fans, but, luckily, Jackson fans and non-fans alike saw it for what it is; humorous.

But not only did the song sound very much like the original, but he made his video look very much like Jackson's video, except...

Remembered

Ten years ago, The United States of America woke up and started its day.

Then its world was changed.

That was the day that came to be known simply as 9/11.

We were attacked, many people died, and the way we viewed the world and people around us was changed forever.

There are many theories on who's to blame, whether it was an inside job or from another country, but I would rather keep political stuff out of my blog. What I would like to point out, however, is that whoever is behind that devastating morning should feel immeasurable shame, but one would wonder if they are capable of shame at all.

I find Duran Duran's song, "Do You Believe In Shame?" (from 1989), to be appropriate to tribute to this day. It was written in grief for deceased friends of the band members, but I think it can now speak for the grief and uncertainty that we were plunged into, and also for the strength in the memories that help us to move forward.

Also, the video for "Do You Believe In Shame" was filmed in New York, where many landmarks were cameoed in the background, including the Twin Towers, which can be seen at 3:12.



"I believe a little part of you inside of me will never die."