ysobelle | I am still in love with John Taylor.

I have just finished a McDonald's Coke so large it frightens me. And even if I hadn't, I'm so fucking wired I don't know HOW I'll sleep.

I'm listening to "Come Undone." I have all my D2 mp3s running continuously. My throat is raw, my neck is sore, and I'm flying. Twenty years later, and they still have it. Twenty years after I first saw them live, and there is NOTHING like Duran Duran live.

Originally, [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] was going to find us tickets through a friend, but, alas, that didn't happen. So yesterday, at [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] and [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]'s wedding, Flipper walks up to me and says, by way of hello, "So, you excited? Tomorrow's the big day!" I cringed, and said, "Well, see, it's like this...." He was horrified on my account. I didn't even have my Duran collection with me when we all lived together-- it's safely at Mom and Dad's, cos their homeowner's insurance is FAR better than mine-- but perhaps the 5' by 3' Duran posters tipped him off. That and my CDs. And my books. And encyclopaedic trivia knowledge: Nick likes strawberries and used to have a black cat named Sebastian. Andy's from Newcastle; his mother left when he was a young lad. Simon's birthday is October 27th, 1958, and he used to and still sometimes does wear a tiger baby charm around his neck. Roger's first band was the Scent Organs, and he married a lovely Italian girl who was the coatcheck girl at The Rumrunner-- when she had a shaved head. John...ah.... Sorry. Excuse me. John's real first name is Nigel, and his final project at art school was a set of original posters for Duran Duran-- red, black, and white, "very Russian Reconstructivist." And these are, really, superficial Durannie facts. We all know them. Hell, I used to know the original release date and chart position for everything up to 1991. I used to carry a fragment of Nick's front gate in my wallet just cos I'd told his roadie in London I would. I used to carry a card from their original fan club. Anyway, I'm a Durannie, through and through, and Tim knows it.

So he looks at me, and says, well...we might have an extra ticket. You want it?

Blink. Pope Polish?

I made it to his parents' house to meet him and

jenny_fur in half an hour, though it was supposed to take 45 minutes. I left late, but I was actually ready over an hour early. If I hadn't disintegrated an eyeshadow applicator IN MY EYES, I might have left on time. Another reason I rarely wear makeup, though this makes, now, four times in less than two weeks. Someone check the temperature in hell, or see if the Eagles are touring again.

I walked behind everyone on the hike from the car to the Tower. Part of my brain couldn't grasp the concept: I'm seeing DURAN fucking DURAN tonight. Simon, Roger, Nick, Andy, and John. Oh, G-d, John Taylor. My original skinny white boy. I know my beloved Blond will read this, so my love, I must tell you: John Taylor is your prototype. You ever take up the bass, and I will eat you alive. I mean it.

The show was just amazing. They did stuff I didn't think I would EVER hear live, or hear again. Especially not as originally played. Though it's very odd to think that really, Nick and Simon are the only ones to know the whole catalog. Bizarre to think of Andy having to learn a Duran song. Anyway. They did Nightboat, Careless Memories, New Religion-- magnificent stuff. The people behind me kept shouting, "It's MONDAY!" and for the life of me, I couldn't at first figure out their point. Did they not want an encore cos they had to get to work next day? How annoying! Finally, as I thought to myself, "Oh, damn, they're not going to do New Moon on-- oh!" Yeah. My light's a little dim when I've been screaming for an hour-plus. Or maybe, again, it's the proximity to John Taylor.

I called [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] once during the show-- I hope to G-d she doesn't think I was gloating. I left her a message. I called Bru-Say three times-- once before the show started just to, well, yeah, gloat, cos I know he'll be seeing them himself. Turns out he's in Austin, TX, getting psyched to see them in Cleveland in a few days, on Thursday. I called him twice during the show just to let him hear...Nightboat and Girls on Film, I think. I called [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] during...um...well, I'm sure she'll tell me when she checks her voicemail.

They really turned it up a few levels when they hit "Wild Boys," and kept it going from there. I remembered, "Yes, they closed the Hammersmith show with Careless Memories in '82" when they were doing that one, and thought the same of the '84 tour when they did Girls on Film. They really had everyone going, though I still say Philadelphia concertgoers are comatose by other towns' standards. John did mention this city's been very good to them, and thanked us for that. Simon noted that the last time they'd played there together as the original line-up had been Live-Aid. I'd forgotten that. And that was the also the last time they played together live, I think he said, adding that it was fitting they were starting again in Philly. Though I know they had at least one date before this one-- I declined to blow $30 on a program so I'll have to get the list of dates elsewhere.

I'm fried. I'm glorying in the experience, but I need to sleep. Perhaps I'll add more later.

Oh, I wish they'd done "I Don't Want Your Love." But they did "Save a Prayer," with the longer ending, so.... Oh, and "Come Undone." Oh, John....

Ah, one last lovely bit of epiphany: that first moment I saw Nick, in 1983 (or G-d, was it '84?), I thought, "I could do this." Much like he thought when he saw the Sex Pistols. That's why I got my Yamaha DX27, which I never use. I've always felt somewhat disappointed in myself that I never became the next Nick. But tonight I realised that in a way, that moment nearly twenty years ago did strike home: I realised at that moment I didn't have to be an office drone, a corporate slave like everyone else. And I'm not-- even when I work in an office. I'm a Rennie, I make corsets and costumes. And even if I didn't, I'm a singer, I'm a sometimes-painter, I'm unconventional, and I'm happy about that. So...er...thanks, Nick. My parents won't thank you, but I will.