What a week! It appears that this week was a super busy and exciting one in Duranland! I wish that I could have been participating more but things are intensely busy and stressful for me right now. There are some big changes that I’m dealing with; some good, some not-so-good along with all of the emotionality that comes with significant transitions and stress. Anyway, I am more than behind. I’m doubly behind, triply behind, excessively behind. You get the drift. In my attempts to get caught up, I thought a good place to start would be to take a listen to the most recent Katy Kafe that came out yesterday. Then, I can summarize my thoughts here. As always, this is not a full transcript of every question and statement. It is just some of the highlights that stood out to me and what I think in response. If you want the whole thing (and I know you do!), head over to DuranDuranMusic.com.
Back in Birmingham
Katy started off the kafe asking Roger if it was weird to be back home in Birmingham. He said that it was “weirdly familiar.” Apparently, he had taken a walk and looked at some of his old haunts, including passing a place that used to hold a wine bar where he would go before shows “to get drunk” when he was 16 and 17. The imagery of this walk made me smile as I have fond memories of walking around Birmingham with Rhonda in 2011, trying to figure out where the Duran related locations were. Good times.
The First Show Back
A lot of the discussion centered around the previous night’s show. It had been the first show in front of an audience for Duran in almost two years. The last one, according to Roger, was some sort of charity gig. This show in Birmingham was dramatically different as charity audiences are polite and calm versus the wildness of a “hardcore” audience. Roger described how good it felt to feed off the energy of the crowd as it reminded him of why he wanted to do this job in the first place. I swear that as he was talking I was having flashbacks to the energy I have received being in the audience in Duran shows. I miss that feeling tremendously.
New Songs
I think most people in Duranland know that the band played some songs from the upcoming album, Future Past, at the recent shows that they played. Katy wanted to know how well they worked and whether or not more new tracks might be featured in the future. Roger felt like Invisible worked really well as an opener and all of the new songs that they played blend really well with their usual set list. Roger described the new songs as natural with real bass and drums. I took note of that. They are hoping to put more new songs in the setlist once the album drops. He is hoping for More Joy and the title track. Interesting to note, Katy said that the song, Future Past, moved her emotionally when she heard it. Good to know!
What’s Upcoming?
Katy and Roger chatted a bit about the upcoming schedule of shows including the Austin City Limits Festival here in the States. The big question was asked. Does Roger have high hope for a big tour in 2022? He thinks that there is a high chance of that. He is hopeful that things will be good by the summer with the vaccines. I am obviously hoping that he is right both in terms of the covid situation but also in terms of touring! That was the only time the pandemic was mentioned, which I thought was interesting. Obviously, it was there in the background when they talked about how much time had passed since the band played in front of a live audience but it was not mentioned at all when it came to discussion about Austin, which I get. I’m sure that they both want to be positive and don’t want to alienate anyone. Still, I thought it was interesting. Katy made a comment about how different Austin was from the rest of Texas. She was speaking of the political bent but did not go further into details.
Overall
Roger was in good spirits in this kafe. It wasn’t incredibly long and didn’t shed light on any new information. No spoilers were present. Still, it was good to hear the joy and hope in Roger’s voice and excitement for the band’s future and ours as fans.
-A
