Out of Desperation

It has taken me awhile to get back on track with all of the online happenings in Duranland after my little vacation and being sick.  Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but notice a certain youtube video being shared and discussed at the end of the week.  The title of this video?  Duran Duran Demo 2013.  It didn’t take long, though, for the truth of this clip to become known.  The music matched the music heard in this clip with Roger Taylor for Roland’s Electronic Drums, which can be seen here.  Thus, the music wasn’t a new Duran demo at all.  Then, at the end of the week, we were rewarded with a new photo, which can be seen here.  Likewise, this was shared far and wide within the community.  What do these incidents tell me?  First, it reminds me about our purpose here and what we do and don’t do.  Second, it shows that the fan community is starting to get itchy.

How come we didn’t immediately come on here or our facebook or our twitter when the video about the “demo” showed up?  This is simple, really.  When I saw it, like everyone else, I wanted to believe that it was actually new Duran music.  Who wouldn’t?!  Yet, it wasn’t verified to be that at all.  That is not what we do.  We don’t post rumors or something that just could be, might be news.  We aren’t trying to be the news source for Duran happenings.  Nope.  That isn’t us.  We do post or discuss the news and/or rumors but not to be the source of Duran news.  When we do post information, we do it to discuss what happens in the fan community or to talk about how WE feel about it.  This blog is about what it is like to be a Duran fan.  Information is shared in order to discuss the fandom, the fan community.  Yet, when information is shared even within this context, it must be verified for us to be comfortable.  We certainly don’t want to be the sources of misinformation.  How would that help anyone?  As a fan, I know how frustrating it is to read something or hear something and think it is something new and exciting only to find out that it isn’t or that it isn’t even true.  Talk about popping a balloon of excitement.  Once I saw that this video wasn’t really a demo, I put it out of my mind and didn’t think much of it.  Then, the new official picture popped up and was shared with the same level of enthusiasm as the “not demo” video.  I got it then.  The point isn’t that someone would post a video with music that isn’t a Duran demo.  It is about how the fanbase is starting to get desperate.

Let’s face it.  It has been really pretty dang quiet in the Duran-universe.  Yes, we get tweets from Simon.  Yes, we have heard some great Katy Kafes.  Yes, we have heard or seen member(s) going to events or planning to go to events.  Yet, this isn’t the same as hearing new snippets of music or a new song.  It isn’t the same as talking about going to shows or what shows were like.  This is that Duran downtime that we are all very familiar with.  We are pretty used it.  Most of us even get it, logically.  We know that it takes time to create.  Heck, we also know and understand that NO ONE should have to work all day, everyday.  Breaks and vacations are needed and necessary.  We get it and do not fault or criticize the band for this.  Yet, we also get the pattern that the fan community falls into.  We start to get itchy.  We start to get twitchy.  We start to get a little desperate for any tiny piece of information, any small piece of news.  This feeling is such that we react, emotionally.  There is no stopping to think:  Is this real?  Is this true?  At least, not initially…  (This is a general pattern, people.  I do realize that not every fan would react this way but the fan community as a whole reacts this way, I think.)  This is why we were SO excited to hear something labeled as a new demo!  We just reacted.  It was a reflex (ha!).  Unfortunately, our excitement was short lived.  Now, thankfully, we had an official photo that followed quickly.

This photo was shared just as much, if not more so than the “not demo”.  People, I think, felt good about having something official.  They knew that this was real and their excitement, their reaction could just be felt and shared with others.  There wasn’t much of a need to think, to ponder, to wonder.  This shows me that we don’t need much to keep us going, to minimize those anxious feelings–just a picture, a few tweets, etc.  While we get that we shouldn’t expect something every day, a little something every once in awhile is definitely appreciated.  It is even more appreciated when we know that it is from official sources.

-A