Is it just me??

Out of sheer boredom last night, I was online (my husband is in Japan for the week and my kids were either doing homework or sleeping!) and looked over all of the announced concert dates for the band.  I don’t really know what I was looking for – but I guess that after the dates being either leaked or announced like a drippy faucet, I had the sense that I’d lost track of what they were really doing.

As I looked over the dates, it seemed to me that they have the intention of doing quite a few festivals this tour.  Interestingly enough, as I use the word ‘tour’, I really don’t consider festival dates part of the tour, per se.  When I think of tour dates, I think of dates where you’re going to hear a full-set and Duran Duran would likely be the only band playing (along with an opener, perhaps).  The festival dates are sort of like bonuses….I guess.  I thought back to other tours, and either I didn’t pay very much attention (very possible!), or I’ve grown hypersensitive to festivals being announced because I refuse to attend, but it just seems as though they are trying to do more of them this year.

Naturally, the reasons for doing so are obvious – you get your music heard by an audience that might not do so otherwise, the venues are unique and large, and I would imagine that the overall ‘bang for the buck’ potential for the band is huge.  I am fairly sure that they don’t have to pay much of a venue fee – certainly not anywhere near what they would have to pay in order to play at a venue by themselves – so that’s gotta help them somewhere along the line as well.  I can’t really fault management for pushing them in this direction, for all of the reasons listed above, likely many more that I haven’t even thought of yet.

Of course, I’m also looking at this from the prospective of their everyday fan.  We’ve been told the band is going to do more dates, both in the US and worldwide at a later point in the year.  There are numerous rumors (which in my opinion are no more reliable than educated guesses at this point) as to when they’ll do a full tour here and elsewhere, so we do have some comfort in knowing that at least for now, this is what they are planning.  For many of us, festivals aren’t our idea of the best circumstances under which to see the band.  If you’ve been reading the blog with any kind of regularity – you may have noticed my mentioning a lack of love for festivals.  Maybe.  😉   I’m thrilled the band is going to have the opportunity to get their music and more specifically their new music from this current album heard by thousands of people that probably would ignore it otherwise, don’t get me wrong.  However, the more selfish part of me is saying “Hey, wait a second here – if they’re breaking up their tour with all of these festival dates – is it just a way to cost cut for themselves so that they’re still getting lots of playing time in front of audiences and we real fans end up with less REAL dates in the end unless we’re willing to do festivals?”  Then I slap myself back into submission and all is well again.  🙂   I don’t think I’m alone in my thoughts on this one.

I’m sure many will say that we need to wait until all of the dates are listed before throwing complaints – and I would agree.  I’m merely putting the subject out there for discussion.  Then again, maybe they aren’t really doing as many festivals as it would seem.  Regardless, even if it is to MY detriment as a festival-hating human being, it appears as though the band is doing what they need to be doing to get their music heard.  Over the years, plenty of us have cried out and complained about their lack of promotion, whether that’s the fault of their management or the label that they were with at the time.  Interestingly enough, I never felt that their promotion was so horrible.  They did what they had thought was right – plenty of print media, lots of radio promo where they were able to get in, the talk-show circuit, and even a signing or two. (truthfully though, that was for the fans, and I’m eternally grateful for that!)  I might suggest that perhaps, just maybe, they’ve revamped and reconsidered what it really takes to get music heard these days.  Maybe all of that media is fine and good – but what they really have to do is go to places and play to audiences that wouldn’t have given them the time of day otherwise.  A captive audience so to speak.  Sure, people could look at the lineup and say “Duran Duran?  No way am I staying to hear them.”, just in the same way that I would say that about just about any rap artist out there – and I get that even if I think those people are bonkers.  However, I’ve never looked at a festival lineup and decided not to go to over one single artist playing.  In fact, I’ve gone to a few festivals where there’s only been one artist in the entire lineup that was excited to see – and I’ve come away from them (in most cases) learning of another band that I really like.  That, my friends, is REAL promotion whether it’s what I know and love or not.

So, while I might not be overjoyed by the idea of Duran Duran doing so many festivals and not enough real concert dates as of yet (which I am sure will change), I look forward to hearing that they’ve taken the world by storm once again.  What fan wouldn’t want to see that?  Sure, it’s a long shot at this point – but they’ve got nothing to lose by doing so.  Who wouldn’t want them to gain new fans, and quite frankly – if they were to somehow gain footing into the demographic in which my oldest daughter resides – I’d laugh in a way that only a mom can.  😀

-R