I was brainstorming ideas for this week’s Memorabilia Medley, when a t-shirt design caught my eye online. It was the five petal design from the Astronaut tour, seen below:
I don’t know what it is about this design that makes me smile, but it does. Part of it might be the five “petals”, coming together in what look like a flower (at least to me, anyway). I also love the pink lettering, looking as though it had suffered from overspray – like it was spray painted rather than screened. I guess in some way, it was like the band itself. Back together, yes…but not quite perfect. (although at the time, I felt as though they were pretty near perfect!)
I bought the Astronaut t-shirt when I went to see the band in Chicago, back in 2005. I wore that shirt until it was so ragged it had holes in it, and even then – I’ve kept it. Someday, I’ll turn it, along with the rest of the t-shirts I’ve retired along the way, into a quilt.
As I write, I can’t really decide if it is the shirt design that makes me happy, or it is the memory I have of going to see Duran Duran at what was called the All-State Arena in Chicago. I distinctly remember going through security the night of the show, finding out that a friend was lucky enough to get a meet-and-greet (remember when buying a VIP ticket meant you were in a lottery to win a meet and greet???), and then going into the VIP cocktail party. We were given those navy blue travel bags – I still have mine, and I remember running down to our seats in the third row just as Clear Static took the stage – they were the opening band at the time.
That night, I didn’t think about starting a blog, I never considered what would happen even the next day, much less decades later. I definitely didn’t think about a global pandemic hitting, nor did I even consider that in just fifteen short years, I’d be dreaming of the day we’d see shows again. I miss those wonderful, blissfully unaware, unconcerned times where music really was the only answer that mattered.
Crazy.
-R
