Talk about a blast from the past…I remember when my sister put a picture of Yasmin Parvaneh on our family dart board because she was marrying Simon Le Bon. She probably wasn't the only girl doing that around the world, and it's that point that reminded me just how massive Duran Duran were at one time.

Of course, given the huge crowd at the Dodge Theatre last night, you would have thought you'd stepped right back into 1984. Sure, there were more than a fair share of cougars wandering the facility looking to pounce on young meat, but there were also a ton of 20-somethings hanging around, many of whom paid homage to the band's home era with not only DD t-shirts, but plenty of authentic new wave/new romantic fashion choices.

I ended up missing openers Your Vegas, as I was held up in the press room waiting for the venue to decide if I was who I said I was, and why exactly a 'Rock Sellout' required a photo pass. But after a few shuffles 'round the venue, I finally gained access. The first thing I noticed was Kraftwerk's 'The Robots' playing over the soundsystem. Good start.

I'll have to apologize in advance for the pics - I'm no photographer, and my digital camera died about 2 songs in (thanks rechargable batteries!). Most of these are from my cell phone, which elicited a few condescending glances from one of the other 'professional' press photographers there.

When the band finally took stage, there was such a frenzy I couldn't really tell you what the first few songs were. I strongly suspect they were taken from the band's new album, Red Carpet Massacre. The first song I recognized was 'Hungry Like The Wolf', which of course made all the girlies scream.

Now, my memory of exactly what order the band played everything isn't perfect. But they played a fair share of the hits, with sprinklings of newer material. One of the new tracks that benefitted from a live arrangement (at least to me) was 'Falling Down'. Simon explained that they'd worked with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake on their new record, and after thinking it was in the can they went to see JT perform in Edinburgh. Simon then put on his best JT voice - as he explained, 'Justin is a good southern boy' - and said he thought the record wasn't quite finished. They then wrote 'Falling Down' as a result.

The band continued on the hits route, with 'The Reflex', 'Planet Earth' 'Come Undone' and 'Save A Prayer'. For 'Save A Prayer' John Taylor asked everyone to hold up their cell phones 'like they were lighters', and the whole audience lit up like a Christmas tree. Girls swayed while their boyfriends put their arms around their waist. It was a great moment, and Le Bon's voice is as powerful as it ever was. Nick Rhodes mostly stood behind his various synths, occassionally popping his head up to take pictures of the band & audience with his black digital camera.

After a crowd-pleasing and rockin' version of 'A View To A Kill', the band left the stage for a brief intermission. When they came back, 2 synths (with large, mirrored D's on either end) & an electronic drum kit had been brought front-and-center stage, with John & Nick taking positions behind the synths. The band then launched into a sort of electro-heavy mini-medley, beginning with 'All She Wants Is'. They then tackled a cover of The Normal's 'Warm Leatherette', and went back to their own material with 'Skin Trade' & 'I Don't Want Your Love'.

They dove headfirst into a lot of their older material at that point, including 'Ordinary World', 'Notorious' and a 15 minute-plus version of 'Girls On Film'. Like a lot of their 80-86 material, they essentially performed a live Nite Version of the song, with a major breakdown where Simon introduced the band members to the audience. He referred to Nick Rhodes as being 'from the future', allowed Roger an amazing drum solo, and demanded John 'play that f*%king bass' over and over again, until the audience had joined in on the chant.

The band's penultimate track was 'Wild Boys', after which they briefly left the stage (until the requisite applause had built up) and returned for a smash encore of 'Rio', featuring some out-of-this-world bass manipulations by John. Sometimes it's easy to forget based on the strength of Le Bon's voice, but the other big ingredient in Duran Duran is John Taylor's bass work. A lot of the songs might go nowhere were it not for his funky leading basslines.

Overall, the band were old-school professionals (Simon made sure he inserted 'Phoenix, Arizona' into every other sentence toward the end). The sound was perfectly balanced, with every instrument and Simon's voice always sounding distinct and seperate. The only time I had any complaint was during the medley portion with Roger's electro beats being a bit overwhelming. But for the most part, everything was just right. The band have still got 'it' in spades, and last night proved it.