Duran Duran Road Trip 2000

Events leading to and including the 7/21 Orlando HOB show

This year's tour was different from last year's in that I was a full-time graduate student being graded on attendance (and have 2 part-time jobs) instead of being a full-time worker with sick days and vacation time. In order to make it to Orlando in time to attend the 'hands in cement' ceremony, I had to ask my teacher, J.P. Zinn, (ASP class) if I could please take my final exam one day early since I had to be in Orlando early, early, early, early on Friday. He said to ask him again the next week. So I did on 7/18 and he didn't think it would be a problem, so I reminded him on Thursday, 7/20--but first he had to ask his boss (whom I've had problems with in the past). To my surprise his boss agreed and THANK GOD our team project came together that morning. Unfortunately for me, I flubbed the final (no time to study and little sleep between the Orlando wristband trip, working both jobs on 7/17, the Tender Idols show on 7/18, and the B52s/Psychedelic Furs/GoGos show on 7/19. Still, I did pass the class with a B, so I don't feel too bad--and it was all worth it!

I did still have to get to school on Friday morning for a presentation of our team project and web page. I didn't want to get there too early because people at school were bugging me to reveal all about the final (I had promised not to say a word), so I ended up being 10 minutes late :(--after I had bugged J.P. to let us go first. Argh! We were done and I was outta there by 8:45 am. I sped to the Atlanta airport praying I would be able to fly standby on the 10:40 am flight. I was in extra good luck as an even earlier flight had been slightly delayed and had ten seats open. I grabbed one, but had to run about 10 exits up to get one. I did try to call Laurel before I left, but there was no answer on her cell phone. Once I landed I immediately contacted Laurel and said I would take a shuttle to the hotel. A big hold up ensued as I had to wait a very LONG time for the damn shuttle. Either the roads were bad or the shuttle's shocks were shot, so it was a bumpy, uncomfortabale ride. We even had 1 stop before I got dropped off at the Disney Hilton. I'm nervously watching time tick away. At long last I made it there and saw my friend, Little Al, in the lobby. They were just heading out to pick up Aimster--I rushed upstairs, threw my bag down, and rushed back to the lobby. We picked up Aimster at the Virgin Atlantic and sped to MGM nervously watching the clock. Somehow ,despite the ticket lady needing a fresh roll of tickets and me digging for change to pay, we made it to the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster where Duran Duran drove up in a car--Warren pointed to me as they drove past and Simon smiled at me. Next, they signed their signatures and band name, then put their hands in the cement. Naturally, because of the rush, I had left my camera at the hotel :(.

Next was a Q & A session at the Beauty & the Beast theater. I was so excited about being so close it was kind of a blur. I spotted two guys I knew (Anthony and Sean--and I didn't even know they knew each other) a few rows up and pointed them out to Laurel, who also knew Anthony. My friend Lisa got up and shared her very sad story with the guys and told them how they helped save her life. It was very touching (and I can relate). She also said she didn't have a ticket for the show that night because her friend that had them had disappeared. Then she asked if she could have a hug. Warren cracked a joke and Nick initially looked skeptical, however, Simon said yes. He held her a very long time and was whispering in her ear. Lisa and Simon. She got hugs from Nick and Warren, too. In addition, they reserved a ticket for her for that night (as it was a sold out show). As she walked off we yelled 'Alright Lisa!' and the guys looked at us. There was also supposed to be a photo shoot, but that didn't happen. We did, however, get to talk to Anthony and Sean briefly.

We raced to the hotel to change and then over to the HOB as we heard the sound check was at 3:30 pm. We didn't quite get there on time, however, we didn't do too bad considering two DD fans stopped us and asked how MGM was. It started sprinkling, though thankfully didn't turn into a big storm. Amy's boyfriend had waited all day in line to hold our place. I didn't want to make my way through the crowd to stand next to her, so I waited at what I mistakenly thought was the end of the line. Also, got ahold of RatGurrl, Jennifer via her cell phone. It turned out she was sitting right in front of us. We all had a good laugh about that. Met a lady that came with her 15 year old daughter, Allyson, and hat a nice conversation about cats. Also, I told Jennifer about being called catMonster (by my friend Lori) to her Ratgurrl, which I though was quite funny. Laurel and Al went to check out the exits for HOB. SuSaN and I waited in line and 2 guys came out on the balcony and threw down some Pop Trash flats. We both got one and an extra for Laurel. Right after that was when I found out we were at the front of the line. I didn't really care when I got let in to the venue because I had reserved seats, however, SuSaN, Laurel, and Al wanted to be up front and I didn't feel Amy should have to wait alone. SuSaN soon joined the other two in back, and then Amy, so I was alone--thirsty, hungry, and getting dirty looks (and feeling much hostility). It was quite unnerving and very uncomfortable to me. A nice thing that happened, though, was having a conversation with one of the HOB staff members who gave me information about getting Joe's gifts to him (I didn't end up taking that advice, though, because I wanted to try and give it to Joe in person).

A long time went by, and I was tired, hot, and a bit crabby. SuSaN finally showed up, then ran to the HOB store to get her t-shirts and such. Quite awhile later she showed back up and I sent her to get her Loge Access passes from the box office as they weren't available until 6:30 pm. Laurel and Al finally got back and had stories about spotting the guys. Al was apparently really close to Nick-- almost face to face with him and Laurel told Joe I was there and had a gift for him. She said his face lit up :). Also, Laurel got a picture with a muscular Warren, who had his arm around her. He tried to get Al's attention by saying 'over here, over here...' and it took awhile, which is funny because he is Al's favorite. Some other things that happened were that Wes and Warren were in the HOB building per Anthony--Simon came up and someone handed him an odd looking [possibly Rio] lp and he was very interested in it. He asked how much they paid for it, and it was around $20-25, then he signed it. He had never seen it before. Where was a camera when Laurel needs one? As Simon walked through the gate, Laurel stopped him and shook his hand, then told him she saw him Atlanta last year and he said hello to her. He nodded and she was sure he had no idea what she was talking about. At least he took an interest in her [Simon's her favorite]. She was so happy that he was in a good mood, just wished she had thought of something better to say. Only then did she realize that Nick was there. She briefly saw his hair. Al noticed and was snapping his picture, which is why Laurel didn't get any pictures of her and Simon. Laurel later found out that when Warren had his arm around her was when Nick came in for a close up right on Al's face. Al about died and she's not sure she even got the picture taken.

People in line complained to HOB security that I cut in line, even though I tried to explain about being with Amy. I was frustrated and uncomfortable with being subject to such hostility. At long last 7 pm came and we were let in. I immediately went upstairs and bought two ice cold waters and got their only vegetarian item on the menu--french fries. I felt much better once I was sitting down, eating, drinking, and away from hostile people. I managed to forget to bring my binoculars that night :(. If it isn't one thing, it's another. There was quite a wait before the show actually started as there wasn't going to be an opening act. It was quite freezing just sitting there, too. At long last they played an Elvis song 'teddy bear' something and then the concert began.

Warren was wearing a pink silk shirt, jeans, backwards ball cap, a big, huge, extremely thick silver chain around his neck, and sunglasses. Simon was wearing a sleeveless white shirt that had a pink and black pattern, white tennies (pumas with orange details), light blue or grey pants, a darker blue belt, and a thick, red leatherish wristband. Nick was wearing a cream colored short-sleeved pullover shirt with a drawstring and a zipper, black pants, and silver shoes. Wes was wearing a black sleeveless shirt, black leather pants, and sunglasses (took off toward the end of the show). Joe had on a black, short sleeved shirt, grey pants, and had red tips in his hair.

The Set List

Fragment

Kiss Goodbye

Last Day on Earth

A View to a Kill (whoo hoo! my all time favorite!; the oval background showed flames at one point)

New Moon on Monday (which they hadn't played since 1984--and I saw them in MI that tour)

Playing with Uranium (oval background displayed a mushroom cloud at one point)

Come Undone (Si introduced it saying it has snow, and no its not White Lines)

Big Bang Generation

Ordinary World

Save a Prayer (Si sat on the stage and let everyone touch his shoes)

Hallucinating Elvis (showed Elvis doll, videos and pix in the oval background; Si had on Gadzooks shirt and pink Elvis glasses, which we later found out Meredith had given those to Nick)

Skin Trade (Si dedicated this to Nile Rogers because Nile had taught Simon how to put some soul into the song and because he was the glue that held them together during Notorious

White Lines

Mars Meets Venus

Pop Trash Movie

Too Much Information

Rio (Si played harmonica--that mic didn't work so he used his voice mic)

Encores

Notorious (different twist--Si said there are certain words in the English language that require a certain response. For example, No...to which he expected to hear the response Notorious. After a bit of this they started the song for real).

Late Bar (OMG, I just love the B-sides! What a tremendous treat)

Girls on Film

Additional Encores

Wild Boys (Joe started this out by clapping and just the bass drum (?)

Random comments from the show: There was a song during which Nick didn't have a lot to do, though I can't remember which one it was. Apparently, it was pre-programmed. Simon blew the words to NMOM around the lyrics, so Warren poured water over his head. Simon reciprocated by pouting rest on the audience, swigged some water from another bottle and spit it out over the audience [Laurel will swap spit with you anytime, Simon LOL]. Simon also blew it big time on Wild Boys (around the lyrics 'where are all you angels, now the figureheads have fell...'), so Warren said 'No it goes...' and he sang the lines twice for good measure.

After the show, we waited around the back entrace for awhile. When the guys started coming out, Simon snuck past until toward the gates, and Nick walked way out from the fans--he looked like a man who didn't want to be bothered (security had made us back up to the bricks). I spotted Joe walking by and called his name. He didn't hear me so Laurel and Al told him I was there, so he stopped and said "Are you Cathy" and I smiled and said "yes, this is for you" while holding out his gift wrapped box from Sephora containing a silver nail polish to match his new drum set and a sparkly blue nail polish. He said "Oh, thanks" and appeared kind of surprised. He started to walk away, then turned back and shook my hand. Wow! It happened so fast, and I didn't even think about taking a picture. Sigh. Warren casually walked past.

We had no ideas where they were staying, were tired and hungry, so we went out to eat at Perkins and then went straight back to the hotel. While at Perkins, we spotted Anthony and Sean leaving. It is amazing how often we kept running into the same people!