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August 28, 2022

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WonderBus Music Festival opened its doors on Friday evening to throngs of people to check out four acts. However, the majority of the people were there to see 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Duran Duran.

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Led by the ever youthful Simon LeBon, along with original members John Taylor, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor, Duran Duran came to party.

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Opening with "Wild Boys" and following that with "Hungry Like The Wolf," Simon and the boys let the mostly middle aged, female audience know that they were not playing around.

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Besides the original four members, long time touring guitarist Dom Brown, a saxophonist and two female background singers completed the lineup on stage.

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Duran Duran proved that they are still relevant by playing two songs, "Invisible" and "Give It All Up" from their 2021 release Future Past. 

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Early in the show, LeBon asked the audience how many people saw them in 1981?  After the crowd roared, he screamed "Liars!" with a laugh.  Afterwards he did thank all of the fans for supporting them over the past forty years.

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Many fans were taken back to high school when the band went into launched into "A View to a Kill" and "The Reflex."  While others remembered being in college or starting their first real jobs when "Come Undone" and "Ordinary World" were played.

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It just goes to show that Duran Duran are more than just an MTV band with cool videos.  They have written some fantastic songs over the decades and are overdue for their induction into the Rock Hall.

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The surprise of the night came when the band tore into Grandmaster Melle Mel's "White Lines (Don't Don't  Do It)."  It was a great cover that had every dancing on stage and in the audience.

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The main set came to a close with their first hit, "Girls On Film" which featured "Acceptable In The '80s" in the middle, just to remind fans that songs like "Girls On Film" were indeed acceptable in the '80s.

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After a short break, LeBon took center stage with an acoustic guitar.  He said, "We're going to sing this one together.  If you don't know the words, the person next to you does!"  He then asked the crowd to get out their cell phones to light up the place.  Nearly everyone in the 10,000 capacity crowd obliged and almost recreated the live video for "Save A Prayer."

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Closing the show was a rousing version of "Rio" which left the fans smiling and singing along.

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What a great way to close the first day of a wonderful three day festival.

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Review and photos by Greg Drugan

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