Since I have been off here I have seen...Duran Duran and Pendulum!

[Ferryman_1957]

Haven't been on the site for a while due to work pressures and lots of family related activities. But while I have been off I have been to two gigs. I was at a big corporate conference and Duran Duran were the corporate entertainment one evening, while last Friday I took my son to see Pendulum at Wembley Arena. Talk about two extremes........

Duran Duran - well, a bunch of 50 plus year olds reliving the past playing tunes from the 1980s. That describes me perfectly! I was never a huge Duran Duran fan at the time (too commercial,  too poncy) but they did a great job in getting a bunch of corporate stiffs having a good time. Mind you, pretty easy work if you can get it, not a very demanding audience! It's surprising to see how musically limited they are - none of them is particularly strong musically, so it is all down to the strength of the songs, some of which I have to admit are pretty good.

Pendulum - opposite end of the spectrum. I am a huge Pendulum fan, I love their combination of drum and bass with rocky guitars and simple synth lines. So I may be a bit biased but they were absolutely awesome live. I haven't been to such an exciting gig since the heyday of punk, they really have attitude and the live show (lights and graphics) is very impressive. It was chaos in the mosh pit, glad that we were up in the seats! Musically for me, it was an inspiring gig. Expect some Pendulum-inspired stuff from me if I ever get the time to make music in the near future......

Cheers,

Nigel

[Greeny]

It's surprising to see how musically limited they are - none of them is particularly string musically, so it is all down to the strength of the songs, some of which I have to admit are pretty good

Eh?! I always thought John Taylor's bass playing was amazing! At the age of 15, I was a fairly enthusiastic Duran Duran fan. But that only really lasted for the first album which I thought was great. By the time they released 'Save a Prayer' (just awful!) I was rapidly going off them. And as for 'The Reflex'... what a dog's dinner of a song.

I do think that Simon Le Bon is one of the WORST lyric writers in the history of popular music. I mean truly AWFUL. Only Spandau Ballet give them a run for their money in this respect. The chorus of Reflex was a particular low point...

So why don't you use it?
Try not to bruise it
Buy time don't lose it
The reflex is an only child he's waiting in the park
The reflex is in charge of finding treasure in the dark
And watching over lucky clover isn't that bizarre
Every little thing the reflex does
Leaves you answered with a question mark

I envy you seeing them live!

Pendulum? I'm embarrassed to say I've never heard of them  

[Ferryman_1957]

Eh?! I always thought John Taylor's bass playing was amazing! At the age of 15, I was a fairly enthusiastic Duran Duran fan.

LOL, seeing John Taylor playing bass made me smile a lot. He really is me, all octave jumping patterns with the occasional pop. All pretty basic stuff and very repetitive but I realized that 80's style is what influenced me most - the bass on the first song I posted here (Unicordia) could have been a John Taylor line. He's probably the best musically but really stuck in that 80s rut. Nick Rhodes was a disappointment - I always thought he was a good keyboard player but he just made a few noises on the night and wasn't very impressive.

BTW, the ladies in our party all agreed that John Taylor is the "fittest" of all of them, he looks pretty good for his age. Simon has not aged quite so well.....

I do think that Simon Le Bon is one of the WORST lyric writers in the history of popular music. I mean truly AWFUL. Only Spandau Ballet give them a run for their money in this respect. The chorus of Reflex was a particular low point...

I envy you seeing them live!

Pendulum? I'm embarrassed to say I've never heard of them  

Are you saying that "Wild Boys" is not up there lyrically with Dylan? Have to agree with you. I think the thing that came across is that many of the songs are actually pretty well written and it's the strength of them that makes the whole thing worth listening to. They put on a good show as well.

Pendulum? Check these out:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqh9N-Mw5E
(could've been me at the gig.....)

This gives a sense of them live. Very clever liive set up, they trigger all the synths from the instruments:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piXjdfwQZak

Their stuff is real heavy four to the floor music that gets the primeval urges going.....

Cheers,

Nigel

[Greeny]

Looks like one hell of a live show! Very clever and engaging stuff!

[64Guitars]

This gives a sense of them live. Very clever live set up, they trigger all the synths from the instruments:

Cool! The singer is using a Ztar. I've never seen one used in a band before.

The Ztar is a guitar-like MIDI controller. The neck has no strings. Instead, it uses small switches (6 per fret) to control pitch. In this respect, it is more like a keyboard than a guitar. But it also has six strings on the body of the instrument which can be used to trigger the sound so that it can be played somewhat like a conventional guitar.

[Ferryman_1957]

Cool! The singer is using a Ztar. I've never seen one used in a band before.

Wow, thanks 64G, I never knew what it was he was using. I like the look of those, but a bit pricey for me!

Cheers,

Nigel

[chapperz66]

I had heard of Pendulum, but never previously heard anything by them.  Having watched this Youtube clip I'm quite interested and will check out more.

Never really big on Durran Durran, but quite liked Power Station which I believe involved a couple of them.  Probably because I preferred R Palmer's voice to LeBon.

Paul

[Ferryman_1957]

Power Station? Had forgetten about them but I liked them - right at the time when Robert Palmer was dead cool (probably for the second or third time). You are right about Le Bon - not the strongest one in the pack.

Check out the latest Pendulum album, Immersion. It's more "crossover" with a mix of heavy metal, drum and bass and electronica. Some nice songwriting as well.

Cheers,

Nigel

[SteveB]

Didn't John Taylor start an acting career? I recall seeing him in a TV play where he played a pre-Internet computer geek. Wasn't his wife(?) an actress or something?