KEY POINTS:
Someone should buy Simon Le Bon a copy of Singstar Party. Perhaps then he might remember the words to Hungry Like the Wolf.
Not that the crowd cared. After various forays into the band's new material and an obscure electroset, fans were just thrilled to hear the hits they came for and see the fab four (guitarist Andy Taylor quit in 2006) in person.
They were also, no doubt, somewhat relieved the band had stopped quarreling long enough to play the whole song. The evening had already seen two minor meltdowns, which resulted in the music halting as bassist John Taylor abandoned his instrument and walked off stage.
After the concert, much discussion ensued over what caused the rift. Some blamed it on technical difficulties. Others thought Taylor objected to the lame electroset, which saw the band don matching satin suits and headsets, to play a six song medley on keyboards and an electric drum set.
As Taylor returned to the stage, he declared, "I could not dance to that. These people came here to dance."
Later, after a second meltdown, a red faced Le Bon tried to lighten the mood, telling the crowd they were witnessing a totally unique show.
"Duran Duran - f***ing up in style."
To be fair, it was the opening night of the band's world tour and self-professed "work in progress". Besides, when they were good, they were great.
After a somewhat slow start, the band had the arena up and dancing by their fourth song, Planet Earth, and kept things cruising along comfortably until they reached the Bond soundtrack A View To A Kill, which saw the night hit fever pitch.
As Le Bon pulled off an impressive scissor kick, the predominantly 30-something female crowd was transported back to their youth, screaming for their teen idol.
After the misguided electroset, the band was back on track with some classics, including Rio, Hungry Like the Wolf and the wickedly cool Grandmaster Flash cover White Lines.
By the time the night wrapped with an extended version Girls on Film - complete with a full band introduction - all mishaps were forgotten. They came to hear the hits, and they did. Every thing else was irrelevant.
