Duran Duran has revealed their North American tour celebrating the band’s 40th anniversary and the release of their 15th album Future Past.
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Featuring special guest Nile Rodgers & Chic—the group that the guitarist, songwriter, and producer co-founded in 1972—for select shows, the 14-date tour kicks off Aug. 19 in Minnesota and will conclude Sept. 9-11 with three nights at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with additional stops at Madison Square Garden, the Wynn in Las Vegas, and other cities
The recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees recently topped the fan vote for the 2022 induction with more than 630,000 voters, with Dolly Parton, who recently rescinded her nomination, along with Pat Benatar, Eurythmics, and Eminem rounding out the top five. Through April 29, fans can vote for the top five artists, which will comprise the “fans’ ballot” that will help determine the 2022 Inductees.
Working with producer Erol Alkan on Future Past, the band pulled in longtime hero, Italian composer Giorgio Moroder, who worked on tracks “Tonight United” and “Beautiful Lies,” in addition to Blur’s Graham Coxon, who co-wrote and plays guitar on several tracks, former David Bowie pianist Mike Garson on “Falling,” and longtime collaborator Mark Ronson, who co-wrote ‘Wing.” Featured artists also include Swedish artist Tove Lo, Ivorian Doll, and Japanese rock band CHAI.
“I think that there was a transition period where we were moving toward a different style of songwriting, more of an emotional, human, experiential, kind of approach, and I think we got that with ‘Ordinary World’ and ‘Come Undone,’” said John Taylor in the September/October 2021 issue of American Songwriter. “It’s exhausting for the lyricist because he’s having to plumb the depths of his emotional world while fighting this idea that Duran Duran is a happy band that makes happy music.”
Working with Alkan, the band moved from overproduction and returned to the basics of an under-manufactured sound of 1981 debut Duran Duran and Rio concentrated on each instrument, and brought the rhythm section to the forefront.
“When you listen to those early Duran albums, you can hear John, you can hear me, you can hear everyone,” added Roger Taylor. “We’ve probably lost that a few times along the journey, because you’re always exploring different routes, and we’ve gone down the electronic corridor a few times, but Erol wanted to get that organic sounding record where you can actually identify the individual members.”
Duran Duran 2022 North American Tour
08/19 – Treasure Island Amphitheater – Welch, MN**
08/20 – United Center – Chicago, IL**
08/22 – Budweiser Stage – Toronto, ON**
08/23 – Merriweather Post Pavilion – Washington, DC**
08/25 – Madison Square Garden – New York, NY**
08/26 – WonderBus Music & Arts Festival – Columbus, OH
08/30 – Dickies Arena – Fort Worth, TX**
09/01 – Wynn Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV
09/03 – Wynn Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV
09/04 – Chase Center – San Francisco, CA**
09/07 – Footprint Center – Phoenix, AZ**
09/09 – Hollywood Bowl – Los Angeles, CA
09/10 – Hollywood Bowl – Los Angeles, CA
09/11 – Hollywood Bowl – Los Angeles, CA
**Joined by Special Guests, Nile Rodgers & CHIC
Photo: John Swannell
