We Tip our Fedoras to the Lizard King!

A few days ago, an announcement was made on the longtime Duran Duran fan-managed website, Lizard King.  The site is closing in November, after a commendable 13 and a half years.  I have to admit that at first, I was shocked and saddened to read that the site was closing.  Lizard King was the very first site I ever stumbled upon when I discovered there was an entire online community of Duran Duran fans to connect with.  I learned more from that single website than I could have ever thought possible!  I remember doing a web search for Duran Duran websites after I’d come home from a concert at the House of Blues in Anaheim – I want to say it was March of 2001.  (don’t bother sending me hate mail if I got the date wrong – I’m a mom, and quite frankly I’m lucky I remember all of my children’s names and birth dates these days, much less the exact date of a Duran Duran concert.  No joke!)  The search brought up the official Duran Duran website along with several other fan-managed sites, and I clicked on Lizard King because it sounded the most interesting.  (yes, I really DO get sold on things because of the name!)  I always thought I had a pretty wide breadth of knowledge regarding the band, but once I got there – I found out pretty quickly that I was a complete failure in Duran Duran intelligence.  I was mortified, embarrassed, and a VERY quick study!  For example, (and I’m a little surprised I’m admitting this in a public blog – but so be it.  I’ve seen the worst of the Duranie behavior, and I think I’ll live.)  I had not one clue of a song called  “Fallen Angel”, much less “Falling Angel”; I knew next to nothing about Warren Cuccurullo other than he took Andy’s place….and I didn’t even OWN Pop Trash at the time.  There was a lot more I learned just from studying Lizard King’s site and reading the message board, and I credit the site with saving me from certain public flogging on other message boards.

As I said, at first I really was shocked to hear of the closing, but then I really gave it some thought.  The very website that I ended up making my online “home”, so to speak – shut the actual website down a few years ago now.  The message board is still up, but I’ve often wondered when the day will arrive that the owner will shut that down as well because it just is not getting the traffic it once did.  There are just so many other resources available now that were not even 5 years ago, videos can be found via youtube and probably many other sources online, pictures are in thousands of different places and websites online now – there’s no need to set up a site with a picture galley.  Information-wise, google is our friend now.  Anything we want to know about the band can be found by a few keystrokes – and I have to say that back in the year 2001, or even back in the year 1997 when I was a brand new stay at home mom with nothing but AOL to rely on, we were not nearly that lucky until Lizard King came along.  I suppose I’m somewhat short changing the band’s official site by making such a broad statement, but Lizard King’s information was so complete even back in 2001 that I felt even the band’s website was behind a bit.  So now we’ve come to a point in time where a lot of websites, and not just Duran Duran related ones, are shutting down because they are redundant to what is already available.

It’s not even just websites now – I hear of forums shutting down every day, and it’s due to places like Facebook or Myspace (to a lesser degree).  I can’t share with you the number of times I’ve read posts on message boards from people who say that they spend the majority of their time over on Facebook – and they just can’t make it to the boards any longer.  I applaud the accessibility of Facebook, really I do, but I also wonder if we’re not hurting ourselves in the long run by allowing our boards and websites to be shut down.  I’m a “friend” of Duran Duran on Facebook – and yet I very RARELY see posts from people I actually know from the Duran Duran message boards I’m on.  With that in mind, I’m wary of posting too much right on facebook – there are SO many “friends” of Duran Duran – I don’t know them, and I would venture to guess that I haven’t met most of them either.  There’s a lack of privacy, a lack of intimacy, and a lack of a true connection when you’re just commenting on something the band has posted on their facebook page.  It’s far different when you’re a member of a message board – even if it’s a completely public board, there’s a group of posters that end up being the most “active”, and you tend to form bonds and connections with those people.  I just feel that on facebook, it’s far more difficult – yet I’m a very active fan in general.  Imagine how hard it must be for someone who has just discovered the band to try and “meet” people on Facebook.  Nearly impossible, really.

At the end of the day, it is the fans – you and I – who are going to keep these message boards running.  It is going to be you and I who promote the band, who continue to be the so-called “goodwill ambassadors” for the fans who are new to the community, and those who decide to come back into the fold.  I just hope that we continue to have places of our own online, because I know that at least for me (and surely I am not the only one), the websites and message boards have been invaluable for me to catch up the band, connect and bond with other fans, and immediately get a real sense that even at the age of 30, 35 or even 40 – it’s OK to still be a Duranie.  That, my friends, has been worth it’s weight in gold.

 The bottom line is that although I am sad a part of my own history with the band is ending, I suppose I need to be honest with myself and say that I guess I’m not surprised.  All good things must end, and better things are always right around the corner.  Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication, Lizard King!