Duran Duran closes 2019 Tahoe series amid Harvest Moon

Shaun Astor
Duran Duran works Harveys Lake Tahoe Arena into a frenzy on Friday the 13th.
Shaun Astor / Tahoe Onstage photos

As the sunset colors faded, giving way to the full moon on a Friday the 13th, Duran Duran took the stage for the final night of the 2019 concert season at Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena. And as the next 90 minutes unfolded, it turned out to be a party worthy of sending summer on its way.

Opening with “Hungry Like The Wolf,” singer Simon Le Bon emerged wearing a bright jacket that was perhaps an ode to the gaudy neon of the 1980s era that made the band famous. Or maybe it was fashioned from the same green material used to make tennis balls.

Simon Le Bon

From those beginning moments through the end of the show, the crowd was on its feet. In fact, in years of attending shows at the Harveys venue, I’ve never heard a crowd so loud.

It was quickly apparent that the energy would be high on this night – and anyone unlucky enough to need to head toward the bathrooms mid-performance had to contend with walkways jam-packed with people dancing.

“A View To A Kill,” “The Reflex,” “Notorious” — the group kept an arsenal of hits and worked its way through a set list that tread almost evenly upon all of their albums, incorporating “Pressure Off,” “Ordinary World” and “(Reach Up For The) Sunrise.”

Le Bon’s vocals, complemented by the soulful backups of Anna Ross and Erin Stevenson, hung playfully in the mountain air, while a pulsing light show and tailored video accompanied each song. Nick Rhodes held the warm tone with his synths, segueing from one song immediately to the next toward the end of the set, with the audience movement reaching a fever pitch during the band’s cover of Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel’s “White Lines.”

Following the band’s encore and final song of “Rio,” the cheers reverberated off of the stage backdrops, as Duran Duran lingered onstage just a little bit longer thanking those in attendance. When the production lights dimmed and the stage lights came on, the full moon cast its glow over Heavenly Valley, and the Harveys outdoor summer concert season came to a climactic, if reluctant, end.

— Shaun Astor

  • Duran Duran
    Harvey’s Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena
    Friday Sept 13, 2019
  • Hungry Like the Wolf
    I Don’t Want Your Love
    A View to a Kill
    Come Undone
    The Reflex
    Last Night in the City
    The Chauffeur
    Ordinary World
    Notorious
    Pressure Off
    Planet Earth
    (Reach Up for the) Sunrise/ New Moon on Monday
    Girls on Film
  • Encore
    The Universe Alone / Save a Prayer
    The Wild Boys
    White Lines (Don’t Do It) Grandmaster Flash Melle Mel cover
    Rio

ABOUT Shaun Astor

Shaun Astor
Shaun Astor cites pop music singers and social deviants as being among his strongest influences. His vices include vegan baking, riding a bicycle unreasonable distances and fixating on places and ideas that make up the subject of the sentence, "But that’s impossible…" He splits his time between Reno and a hammock perched from ghost town building foundations. Check out his work at www.raisethestakeseditions.com

LEAVE A REPLY

4 Responses

  1. 26th time I have had the pleasure to see Duran Duran. 1st show was 1983 in SF. Brilliant performance & the most entertaining show I have ever seen in Tahoe.

  2. It was the most amazing concert . It also was a dream come true. My husband and I had so much fun. They are they real deal. Thank you so much for sharing the love of music with your fans. Music is part of life and a beautiful place to see to the concert Lake Tahoe. Thanks again Duran Duran. You are the best.

  3. It was even better than I was hoping for. I’ve seen them in ’84 and ’15 and this was the best one yet! Everything was so perfect, the band, the sound, lights and set list. I’m still on cloud 9. Thank you Duran Duran!! Love you guys!!!

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