Legendary band Duran Duran bewitches fans with a concert

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Legendary English band Duran Duran rocked the crowd with a selection of pop rock hits from their over 30 year career in Istanbul’s Küçükçiftlik Park stage as part of their “All You Need is Now” world tour.

Duran Duran rocked the crowd with a selection of pop rock hits from their over 30 year career in Istanbul on Monday as part of their “All You Need is Now” world tour.

The band performed some new songs from their latest album along with old classics from the 1980s and 1990s, including “Wild Boys,” “Girls On Film,” “Rio,” “Planet Earth,” “Hungry Like The Wolf,” “The Reflex,” “Notorious,” “Come Undone” and “Ordinary World.”

The entrance to Maçka Küçükçiftlik Park, where the concert was held, had been crowded with fans since early in the morning the day of the concert. A few of Turkey’s famous faces attended the concert, including singer Hande Yener, model Ece Sükan, fashion designer Siren Ertab, artist Haluk Akakçe and businesswoman Leyla Alaton.

After wrapping up their tour Duran Duran will perform at the opening of 2012 London Olympics. Four of the band’s original members, lead singer Simon Le Bon, bass guitarist John Taylor, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and drummer Roger Taylor, still make up the group, with guitarist Dom Brown joining them.

Return of the legendary group
Following the release of their latest album “All You Need Is Now” in late 2010 Duran Duran received many awards this year. Their comeback has been a huge success in the music world. The group received lifetime achievement awards from MTV, Brit Award, Ivor Novellos, Spanish Ondas, Q Magazine and GQ Magazine.

Last year the band caught the public’s attention with their “Girl Panic” music video, which starred supermodels Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova, Cindy Crawford, Helena Christensen and Yasmin Le Bon – the wife of band’s lead singer.

In May 2011 many of the European dates for the ‘All You Need Is Now’ world tour were cancelled or rescheduled due to Le Bon contracting laryngitis.

Earlier this year in May it was announced that Duran Duran would be headlining the London Summer Olympics 2012 Opening Ceremony celebration in Hyde Park on July 27. The band will represent England along with Snow Patrol representing Northern Ireland, Stereophonics for Wales, and Paolo Nutini for Scotland.

Duran Duran dropped their 13th studio album “All You Need Is Now” worldwide on the indie label S-Curve Records in late 2010. Produced by Grammy Award-winning Mark Ronson and mixed by Spike Stent the album was released exclusively on iTunes on December 21, 2010 and hit the No. 1 spot on download charts in 15 countries (including the UK). The first single from the record, the title track “All You Need Is Now,” was free to download worldwide on December 8, 2010 exclusively on iTunes. Guitarist and songwriter Brown co-wrote all but two of the songs on the album. In March 2011 the band embarked on a concert tour in support of the album. After a warm-up show in London the tour officially kicked off March 16, 2011 in Austin, Texas.

The expanded physical album and various format special packages were released in March of 2011 on the 30th anniversary of the band’s first release “Planet Earth.” The CD features 14 tracks – with five additional tracks not on the original iTunes release: “Mediterranea,” “Other People’s Lives,” “Too Bad, You’re Too Beautiful,” “Diamond In The Mind,” and “Return To Now.” In a video posted on Feb. 14, 2011, on the band’s website, Rhodes mentioned the mixing of another four tracks: “Too Close To the Sun,” “Early Summer Nerves,” “This Lost Weekend,” and “Networker Nation.” The album entered the UK chart at 11 and the Billboard chart at 29. The Istanbul concert was organized by MAP İletişim Company.