WORDS AND IMAGES BY BILLY SEAGRAVE
‘They Demonstrate Just Why They Have Been Voted Into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame This Year’
Tonight’s opening act are Scotland’s, Walt Disco: Flamboyant goth-glam that doesn’t care what the boomers think. This disregard for following the norm comes from the confidence that what Walt Disco are doing is working. With influences spanning from Scottish 80s post-punk legends The Associates, Simple Minds and Orange Juice to more recent female pop icons, notably Charli XCX, Grimes, and St. Vincent, they’re not scared to wear these influences on their decorative, frilly white sleeves.
With tracks as powerful and mesmerising as “Cut Your Hair, drowning in your bed and Hold yourself as high as her”, things are only now just starting to kick off again for the six-piece — it surely won’t be too long until the self-loving, glam world of Walt Disco starts serving up memorable moment after moment. The gammons won’t know what’s hit them.
Alison Goldfrapp takes to the Lytham Stage wearing a candy Pink Jacket with matching full-length gloves, Greeting the crowd, and opening with “Anymore, Train”, and “You Never Know”, the band already have the crowd singing in unison, Alison has this knack of seducing the crowd, “Number 1” and Slide In”, perfectly bring back the synth pop and distinctive Goldfrapp Vocals. It’s not until “Ride A White Horse”, ups the tempo, immediately followed by the crowd pleasing, “Strict Machine”, allows the crowd to finally cut loose, closing out the set to “Ooh La La”, ends a fabulous set, leaving the stage to warm applause, the crowd are truly ready for tonight’s host.
SET LIST
1/ Anymore
2/ Train
3/ You never know
4/ Dreaming
5/ Systemagic
6/ Number 1
7/ Slide in
8/ Ride a white horse
9/ Strict machine
10/ Ooh La La
Not even the infamous northwest weather could dampen the spirits at Lytham as Duran Duran came to entertain the crowds that had gathered for tonight’s show. Yes, the rain was coming down, the wind was blowing across the see on ponchos amassed to roll back the years. It is 40 years since Duran Duran arrived in the top ten with “Girls On Film”. A band remembered for cavorting on a yacht have the wind in their sails again. A new album is coming on October 22, immediately launching into “Wild Boys”, the band waste no time in whipping up the crowd, who seem to have forgotten that its raining, “Invisible”, “All Of You”, and “A View To A Kill”, blast across Lytham, as the lucky few that have roof terraces join in with the mass singalong, its not only the band that is rolling back the years.
As Simon addressed the crowd declaring “its our first time in Blackpool”, was greeted by huge jeers as he corrected him self “Lytham”, greeted with huge cheers. Dedicating “Ordinary World”, to the Ukrainians was a nice touch. How apt it was that as the weather looked like it was about to do its worst, “Hold Back The Rain”, fitted in very nicely. With their massive success in the Eighties, purists were all too quick to dismiss Duran Duran as a pop band or just the latest teen sensations.
With time – and especially when you see them live – they demonstrate just why they have been voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year.
The back catalogue is impressive – “Hungry Like The Wolf”, “Notorious”, “Planet Earth” all being sung back to a clearly delighted Simon le Bon by a drenched crowd with gusto. We got a reworking of Grandmaster Flash’s “White Lines” and even an outing for their most Eighties’ sounding song “Union Of The Snake”. Finishing the set with, “Girls on film / Acceptable” in the 80’s. quickly returning for an encore of “Save A Prayer”, and finally to send the drenched crowd home with that all warm feeling was “Rio”, oh how we could of done with some of that weather.
SET LIST
1/ The wild boys
2/ Invisible
3/ All of you
4/ A view to a kill
5/ Notorious
6/ Union of the snake
7/ Come undone
8/ Give it all up
9/ Hungry like a wolf
10/ Friends of mine
11/ Ordinary world
12/ Tonight United
13/ Planet earth
14/ Hold back the rain
15/ The Reflex
16/ White lines (don’t don’t do it)
17/ Girls on film /acceptable in the 80’s
Encore
18/ Save a prayer
19/ Rio
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