Review: Duran Duran honors its heroes, but doesn't rely on nostalgia

In the shadow of House Bill 2, which has seen touring acts opposed to North Carolina’s recent legislation opting to cancel NC shows or play them as benefits or forms of protest, Duran Duran played its scheduled show at PNC Music Pavilion Saturday. Frontman Simon LeBon announced early on that it would be a mostly politics free night. It wasn’t until the encore that he encouraged concert goers to sign the Equality NC petition to demand the repeal of HB2. The petition will be presented to the general assembly on April 25.

Before that moment Duran Duran simultaneously honored its dance and rock heroes and played up its current album “Paper Gods.” The latter meant, as bassist John Taylor indicated in his interview with The Observer a few weeks ago, that some hits would be sacrificed (that left “Union of the Snake,” “The Reflex,” “Skin Trade” and the minor late `90’s hit “Electric Barbarella” out of the set).

The theme of coming full circle kicked off when Nile Rodgers and Chic jump-started the party as the support act. The uber-producer and guitarist (who pops up doing both on “Paper Gods”) not only led his group through its own disco-era hits, but touched on some of the biggest songs he produced for other artists. Rodgers instructed NC to sing louder than crowds in other states during Diana Ross’ "I’m Coming Out." The crowd erupted. "I'm Coming Out" kicked off a medley that included “Upside Down” and Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family.” The group later launched into David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” to honor another artist Rodgers worked with.

It ended its set with Chic’s biggest hits “Le Freak” and “Good Times.” For the latter around 30 fans, who were pulled from the audience based on their enthusiasm and dance skills, lined up with the band to help put an exclamation point on the set.

Chic may have been a support act, but its finale was met with a wave of screams  that could rival those at a Taylor Swift or boy band concert (imagine a giant flock of birds from “The Birds” coming toward you).

In its youth Duran Duran were a “Tiger Beat” pin-up favorite, but its audience is largely forty and over now (although its crowd Saturday started at about age 6).

Original members LeBon, Taylor, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, and drummer Roger Taylor (now having been back in the band longer than he was the first time around) took the stage to the title track of its latest album “Paper Gods” backed by a handful of additional musicians and two very active leather-clad backup singers who added soulful power to “Come Undone” and “Danceophobia.”  

It front-loaded the set with crowd-pleasers “Wild Boys,” “Hungry Like the Wolf,” and “View to a Kill” (complete with a bloody, risqué video reminiscent of the banned “Girls on Film”) before zipping back into new material with “Last Night in the City.” There wasn’t really a lull when the group jumped into recent material, which is normally reserved for beer runs and bathroom breaks. The 40-something women in front of us knew all the words to the new songs too.

Rodgers, having changed from white to a baby pink jacket and beret, joined Duran for “Notorious” and 2015’s “Pressure Off.” It was here that the group’s joy – especially evident in the expressions and body language of Taylor and LeBon – swelled. It took that momentum into “I Don’t Want Your Love” and its cover of Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel’s “White Lines,” which together may have weirdly been the performance’s highlight due to the band’s energy.

Like Chic, Duran Duran paid tribute to Bowie seguing into “Space Oddity” via “Planet Earth” with a photo of `70s Bowie projected behind it.

LeBon, who struggled slightly during “View,” had stretched his vocal chords enough throughout the set to tackle the high notes on “Ordinary World” with ease. 

He and Taylor sported actual Duran Duran graphic tour t-shirts with black light catching trousers, while Rhodes and Roger Taylor chose more subdued black suit pieces with sparkles.

It ended the set “Girls on Film,” which wasn’t an exact replica of the old single, but a slightly redesigned version.

LeBon began the encore with his anti-HB2 speech, encouraging Carolinians to sign the online petition. Given that Duran Duran’s music – like a lot of the acts that emerged from early MTV (Prince, Michael Jackson, Madonna) – has never been confined by color, gender, or any other lines, his plea was fitting as was the choice of “Save a Prayer.”

But the seriousness was short-lived as it ended the set with “Rio” beneath the image of that first album cover. With references to its biggest `80s hits, influences like Chic and Bowie, its withstanding non-discrimination message, and a heavy portion of the set devoted to newer material, it was a well-rounded show that truly encompassed who Duran Duran was and is. Now if only it could have fit in a few more oldies.  

Milestone Club launches GoFundMe campaign to repair west side venue

Milestone Campaign from Matt K. Clum on Vimeo.

Watch the video to learn more about the Milestone’s history and its renovation plans (warning: adult language).

To Donate - https://www.gofundme.com/SaveTheMilestone

Earlier this week The Milestone Club - the 46 year old west side venue that’s hosted legendary acts such as Nirvana, R.E.M., and Bad Brains – launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to update and renovate the club. The campaign has raised almost $22,000 in three days from over 400 donors.

The repairs to the club are vital for the venue to continued operations.

Carlos Espin, who owns Area 15 in NoDa, plans to buy the venue and its surrounding property and partner with current owner Jonathan Hughes, who will stay on to manage the club. Espin wants to turn the currently uninhabitable upstairs of the Milestone into a small business incubator on the west side.

“He was interested in helping facilitate development on the west side,” says Hughes. “We wanted to make sure the west side develops into something that is good for us. Instead of it being apartments and dog bars. He came to me with the idea. What would it take?”

What it would take is two new roofs, new plumbing and electrical, and restoring the upstairs which has been shut off since the `70s.

Why now? Bill Flowers who opened the Milestone in 1969 and still owns the property is willing to sell it to Espin, but an investor is only interested if the building is useable.

“A bank won’t loan on the property we’re in as is,” says Hughes. “A bank would want us to tear the building down.”

While the Milestone has undergone a renaissance since 2004 when Neal Harper and Philip Shive took over managing it, the actual building has never really been updated. The building, which was once a store owned by Jamie Hoover’s (of the band the Spongetones) family and the family’s neighboring house, was built in 1902. It still has the original roof.

“The building is in severe disrepair. It’s not going to fall in on our heads any time soon,” Hughes assures. “There’s been a second floor that’s been boarded up since the 70s and it’s got a lot of water damage. We went up there to check it out and it was a lot worse than we thought it was.”

The building leaks where the bar area and separate stage area (the former store and house) were joined in the `70s.

Espin and Hughes met with numerous contractors. One said he wouldn’t even touch the place, but others offered estimates. Based on those, Espin and Hughes came up with the GoFundMe goal of $150,000.

Given the recent loss of other live music venues the Chop Shop and Tremont Music Hall and the impending sale of the Double Door Inn site to Central Piedmont Community College, donors are interested in preserving what is actually the city’s oldest club (the Double Door was founded in 1973).

“At the end of everything, the big picture if we do all this construction, make the repairs, and own the place next door - the Last Picture Show (which Flowers also owns), there will be two businesses plus the business incubator. We’ll own the field back behind the club where we could at some point do something out there,” explains Hughes.

“The idea is instead of us going with the flow with what’s happening in our neighborhood and the community, we are facilitating the change. The city will follow us instead of us being steamrolled,” says Hughes, adding that their plans are one reason Flowers, who had not previously entertained the idea of selling the property, is behind the project.

“He likes us being here because he cares about the Milestone. The last thing he wants to see is condos and apartments. This is his baby. Forty-six years ago he opened a place where weirdos could hang out and he was one of them,” Hughes adds. “The idea of a big stack of apartments would be heartbreaking to him.”

Movie mom and scream queen Dee Wallace talks Mad Monster and more

Actress Dee Wallace is one of the many celebrity guests at this weekend’s Mad Monster Party. The horror-themed convention kicks off its fifth year at the Sheraton downtown tonight at 6:30 p.m. and runs through Easter Sunday. It features panels and Q&As with screen stars Malcolm McDowell, "Star Trek’s" Nichelle Nichols, Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett from "Star Wars"), "Night of the Living Dead" writer John Russo and director George Romero, as well as the cast members of "What We Do in the Shadows," "Friday the 13^th" and "Halloween."

Wallace – star of "E.T.," "Cujo," "The Frighteners," "The Howling" and "Lords of Salem" and an author who has written five books on the subject of healing and self creation – will have her own panel on Sunday, but she answered a few questions prior to the show. 

Q: When did you start doing convention appearances?

A: Oh my god. I’ve got to have been doing these for twenty years. I don’t do a lot of them. I just do the special ones.

Q: Do some actors find it a chore?

A: Some people do it for the money and like anything in life, you can choose to really like what you’re doing or choose to complain about it and make it harder. I figure life’s too long. I might as well just create a lot of joy and happiness as much as I can for myself.

Q: Have you made connections or formed friendships with some of the other regulars on the circuit?

A: A lot of friendships. I just signed to do a film called "Death House." It's filled with horror icons. The contracts aren’t done yet, so I can’t say who but it’s a lot of people on the circuit that I see and work with quite a bit. It’s a freaking amazing script.

Q" "Critters" was one I watched over and over. These little fuzzballs with teeth rolling around in retrospect seems like a kind of crazy idea. When you’re filming something like that does it seem absurd?

A: Oh yes. There were one or two critters that were well made but the other…we’re in this serious, hairy scene and the guys would roll them on to the set. We couldn’t stop laughing. 

Q: You made a lot of scary movies. Are you a fan of those kinds of movies yourself?

A: It was a really iconic period for the horror genre - the `80s films. We have slasher films, which aren’t horror films. I haven’t seen this "Cloverfield Lane." I’m hoping it’s a really good, well done horror film. We just don’t have many of them. They redo them `90s style and it’s see how many people we can kill and the audience doesn’t care about the characters because there’s no character development. I would say yes if it’s a true horror film, no for the slasher films.
 
Q: You’ve played so many heroines, do you get a kick out of playing the villain? 

A: Heck yes. I love killing people. I loved that part in "The Frighteners" and "Lords of Salem." I got to play a character where you think they’re sweet and the victim and they turn out to be the murderer. That was a great arc in "The Frighteners." (Director) Peter Jackson and I came up with this idea that she actually got younger when she went back to that world because she got excited so much. I’m an actor. I like to do a lot of emotional stuff, different challenges, and have fun. In "Halloween" I finished filming and they called me a week later and said, “Rob wants you back." I said, "I’ve already died." They said "Yes, he wants to kill you better." So it didn’t end with the bookcase. I went back and he throws me through the table and all that stuff. (Rob Zombie’s) a hoot to work with. His stuff is always bizarre you have to really review a Rob Zombie movie (on its own). It’s so unique to Rob. He always makes a statement of some kind about society, religion and mankind amidst all the gore.

Q: We were surprised when you popped up on "General Hospital" (playing soap icon Luke Spender’s dying long lost sister) last year. How did that come about?

A: I had never done a soap. Before he died m husband Christopher did a soap at the end of his career. He said, "If I’d known it was this much fun I would’ve done one earlier in my career." When they called I thought, “It’s five days and it’s a new experience." Then I got the script and called my agent: "Holy hell there are so many lines here." It was a lot of lines. I rose to the occasion. I have such a respect for soap actors after that. Such a huge respect for what they do and the gun they’re under and the professionalism. It was a great experience. You don’t get much time to rehearse.

Q: Is there one film that you find the most disturbing of all your films?

A: "The Hills Have Eyes" is probably the roughest I’ve done so far. "Death House" is going to be right up there. It’s a disturbingly horrifying film. All these icons that are doing it, we're just going to have a great time.

Q: But it doesn’t make you uncomfortable to watch any of them?

A: No, by the time you’ve shot it you’re detached really. You knew how it was all done. Now I do start to remember, oh that’s the night I was freezing to death.
 
Q: We lost a lot of folks in horror last year. Mentioning "Hills Have Eyes," what was it like working with Wes Craven that early on?

A: He was just starting out. We were all just starting out. It was a bunch of newbies. Everybody stayed in one trailer and had to drive hours to the location. It was a rough shoot. What I remember about Wes is that he was a quiet gentleman.

Review: Recent Grammy winner Jason Isbell at Ovens

Watching songwriter and band leader Jason Isbell sing his incredibly intimate "Cover Me Up" - a song he wrote about his wife and band member, Amanda Shires - with her standing a few feet away, was more honest and moving than any scene I've ever witnessed on a "reality" show. In fact Friday's concert at Ovens Auditorium featured two couples, both new parents, who sometimes sang as much to each other as they did to the audience.

When Isbell and Shires harmonized "I'm tired of traveling alone" on the song "Traveling Alone," she smiled each time she sang the chorus' last line, "Won't you ride with me?" as if she couldn't help but smile. Later during "Flagship" it was just the two of them singing love not souring, of not growing apart like so many couples do.

Earlier in the night, Charleston's Shovels & Rope - married duo Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent - harmonized with such passion and energy as one drummed and the other played guitar, that it didn't matter that their instruments kept them anchored to center stage. Who needs to work the crowd from one end of the stage to the other when you've got that kind of spirit?

At times each of them - because they traded off on drums and guitar - commanded a mind-boggling four tasks at once, thumping the kick drum, hitting the snare with a stick with their left hand while plunking a small piano with the right, and singing almost constant harmony.

They made a name for themselves in the wide world of folk, but I kept thinking during their set that they're really a rock n' roll band. There was often a early rock n' roll swagger and `50s pop-rock bounce to the songs. Shovels & Rope also shook up their own material with altered arrangements and benefited from the kind of light show that is usually reserved for the headliner.


Isbell's band, which has remained the same group of Alabama and SC players through its history, seemed somehow bigger on Ovens' wide stage (he previously played Visulite and Neighborhood Theatre, as well as the Whitewater Center in recent years). Having recently won two Grammys for Best Americana Album and Best American Roots Song and selling out increasingly larger venues, it was fitting to build a grander show in look and sound. The band rose to the occasion with Shires' and keyboardist Derry DeBorja at times helping to give the songs a symphonic, polished pop underbelly.

The set began with "Palmetto Rose," a tribute to nearby Charleston, which is peppered with references to "the iodine state." He followed it with that recent Grammy winning song, "24 Frames." Songs by his old band, Drive-By Truckers, which he left in 2007, still garner a big response. "Decoration Day" was met with whoops and shouts at the start. The crowd rose to its feet when they thought the song was nearing an end. Turned out that ending was a fake out and the song escalated with guitar solo and extended ending, which put the exclamation point on the performance.

"Life You Chose" seemed written for this broader, bigger setting as well. Isbell's band, the 400 Unit, no longer plays gritty bar band although its rendition of Drive-By Truckers' "Never Gonna Change" came the closest - a hard charging slice of Southern rock. It highlighted Isbell's guitar playing. He stood center stage, fingers climbing the fret board, much more rock god than the country boy from Alabama we know him as.

While the set was full of highlights the aforementioned "Cover Me Up" was the pinnacle. The song, which opened his Americana Award winning 2013 album "Southeastern," addresses his hard-fought sobriety and Shires' love and patience. The song covers so much ground, encompassing romance, need, danger, trust and sex within its lines. He attacked the microphone with such fire that he sounded like he might sing himself hoarse. His performance and her presence raised goosebumps and drew tears from some onlookers.

The set wound to a close with "Relatively Easy," "Speed Trap Town,"  "Super 8," and "Children of Children." The latter built to a climax with Isbell illuminated at center stage for another ripping guitar solo. If the lights beaming down at his feet had not been visible it would've looked like the rays were rising from him, giving him a sort of halo-ish glow like paintings of Jesus (or Olivia Newton John in "Xanadu").

The encore began with his similarly no-frills take on cancer, "Elefant" that re-triggered waterworks in the crowd. But the show ended on an up-note with the 400 Unit's "Codeine," a rollicking nod to their honky-tonk roots.

For those of us who have followed Isbell since his Trucker days and watched him mature into one of America's great songwriters, knowing his background, and witnessing his sobriety, marriage, and newfound fatherhood from afar, the show was a testament to how things can turn around for someone who works hard at their craft and on themselves. As Truckers' fans know, Isbell exhibited startling promise from the get-go, so it's kind of beautiful seeing his work come to fruition with recognition on global scale.

Photo Credit: Courtney Devores