(published on ABBAMAIL October 2004)



My friend Philip said, "who are you kidding, you know you're going."

*sigh*

Yes, my Duran Duran addiction knows little boundaries.

I arrived at 3pm. Spent several hours sharing Duran tidbits and tales with other fans in line. Thought I was going to explode several times. Thought about leaving a couple times.

Didn't.

The band arrived at 6pm to a wave of screams, went directly into 'hair and make-up' and started signing at 7pm. It seemed to take forever, but the excitement level was very high all around. I got to them at 8:30 pm. They did look spectacular. We were allowed to take only one picture, and from the beginning of the table; once we were in their presence, we could do nothing but be in their presence. At that point my knees were too wobbly to do much more. I was exhausted, my hair was a mess and I was cold and had to pee. I really didn't want to get into a conversation with any of them at that point anyway.

Nick was first in line. The line was stalled in front of him so we chatted a bit. I mentioned that I had talked to David Sylvian a while ago, and asked him how he felt about Nick 'stealing his image.' He laughed and said, "I don't know. You'd have to ask him." So I did. Nick also laughed. Someone next to me asked who David Sylvian was, and Nick said he was the singer in Japan, and that he liked some of their music.

But then the line moved and I was very quickly shuffled past John (looking amazing, as always), and then Simon (looking very tan and 'healthy'.) The line had me stalled again in front of Simon, and he was just sitting there fidgeting. I said, "I'll bet you will be tired after all this." (Although, what I meant was, I am going to be tired after all this.) He looked around and swirled in his seat a bit. "Oh, I don't know," he said with a big smile.

He's so Simon Le Bon.

Then I was shuffled up to Andy, with his sunglasses on, and I said "thank you," as he signed my items. Andy looked up and said, "thanks." Roger was last on the table, and at that point, again, all I could say was, "thanks." He said, "thanks for coming, man." and seemed sincere. He looked so good. Older, of course, but good.


Then it was over and I was again out on the sidewalk, amongst the shell shocked others who had just shared a similar experience, all of us holding our precious signed items and looking at them and each other incredulously.

It had been an amazing eight hours standing in line on the sidewalk, counting the 2.5 hours to get a wristband, and another 5.5 hours today. I looked at my signed Astronaut LP and cd/dvd combo pack (they signed them both, which was great). And I was happy.

Pics here:


http://www.geocities.com/theartdeptla/duran.html


In a similar, less traumatic, but also less spellbinding adventure last weekend, Richard Marx performed at Tower in Sherman Oaks. I went and enjoyed the brief acoustic set (5 or 6 songs), then he signed autographs. He was very entertaining, looked amazing (better than he did "back then" if you ask me) and was very gracious and friendly.

Pics here:

http://www.geocities.com/theartdeptla/marx.html


Rod Reynolds
Los Angeles CA USA

Rod Reynolds ©2004 The Art Dept Los Angeles