It was getting to the stage at this point where I realised I was starting to ‘collect’ Duran gigs in different cities. Birmingham, Dublin, London and now Leeds. There’ll be at least one more city added to the collection in the upcoming weeks of this gig blog catchup! Leeds was probably the easiest for travelling so far.
A couple of support acts on this tour, the first of which was Lia Lia. I mostly remember this as ‘experimental but quite pleasant to listen to’.
Next up was Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters fame. He mainly performed his band’s classics, which was fine by me – I vaguely remember seeing the Scissor Sisters at some T in the Park or other back in the day, but like the majority of my twenties, it’s a very blurry memory, so it was fab to be able to see these songs played live again.
As mentioned above, this was my fourth time seeing Duran in less than two years so I was quite familiar with the Future Past era setlist by this point. A couple of songs I was delighted to hear live for the first time were ‘Night Boat’ (in hindsight a hint towards the upcoming Danse Macabre album, at that point not yet officially announced) and ‘Is There Something I Should Know?’
I was also intrigued by the mashup of ‘Lonely in Your Nightmare’ and a cover of ‘Super Freak’ – another track that would later become very familiar in the Danse Macabre era! At the time I was a little concerned that this mashup had replaced my old favourite ‘Girls on Film’/’Acceptable in the ’80s’… but I needn’t have worried, as the latter made its appearance later in the evening 😊
I didn’t realise at the time that it would be a while before I saw the band again. 2024 ended up being Duranless because their only UK dates were a couple of festivals down south and the logistics didn’t work out for me. But there were quite a few other gigs, which I’ll be continuing to blog about over the next few weeks!
Day 55 brings us to Now! #55, which came out on 21st July 2003.
This is the way the world looked in July 2003. That balcony’s not changed much, but I don’t remember the last time we used those wine glasses (and those clothes are now definitely living in my keepsakes boxes rather than my wardrobe!). It’s also been a while since I was that blonde – it has been attempted a couple more times since then, but I’ve got fairly lazy with hair dyeing lately. I’m saving that particular energy up for when I eventually go grey and have to start doing something about it.
Time for another round of summer hits!
Track 1: R Kelly – Ignition [Remix]
I’ve not thought about this one for a while. It was a big summer hit and was played in all the clubs in Zante when I was there with my mates. I still quite like the tune.
Track 2: 50 Cent – In Da Club
A classic. Love this one – it still gets stuck in my head every time it’s my birthday.
Track 3: Justin Timberlake – Cry Me A River
Nice tune, great epic atmosphere. Awesome track.
Track 4: Wayne Wonder – No Letting Go
Oh, it’s this one. The tune’s pretty dull, but it’s got some good instrumentals going on.
Track 5: Javine – Real Things
Nice epic blaring intro, quite like it.
Track 6: Kym Marsh – Come On Over
Very bland tune – not my kind of thing.
Track 7: Girls Aloud – No Good Advice
The tune and lyrics on this are really poor quality and awkward. It sounds like it was written by a twelve-year-old. Just awful.
Track 8: t.A.T.u – Not Gonna Get Us
Dull, repetitive follow-up to All The Things She Said. Should have been a one-hit wonder.
Track 9: S Club 8 – Fool No More
So after S Club 7 changed their name to S Club (see yesterday’s review), S Club Juniors then went and changed their name to S Club 8, presumably ’cause they weren’t so junior anymore. Confused? I certainly am.
This track is a dance track, but the vocals still sound pretty kiddie to me.
Track 10: Fast Food Rockers – Fast Food Song
We used to sing this daft kids’ song in the church hall at Girl Guides meetings back in the mid-’90s. I have no idea why anyone thought it would make a good pop song. Really makes me hungry though.
Track 11: XTM, DJ Chucky and Annia – Fly On The Wings Of Love
Highly irritating vocals, cheesy tune, dodgy misplaced pan pipe instrumentals over a trance beat. Appalling track.
Track 12: Lisa Scott-Lee – Lately
Uninspired vocals, bland tune. Not keen on this.
Track 13: One True Voice – Shakespeare’s (Way With) Words
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Too saccharine for me, but I suppose the tune’s alright.
Track 14: Bhangra Knights and Husan – Husan
Good tune, good beat – quite like this one.
Track 15: Tomcraft – Loneliness
Good head-nodder, very danceable. I remember this being number one for quite a few weeks.
Track 16: Tiga and Jake Shears – Hot In Herre
Fairly pointless cover of the Nelly track, which was only a year old itself at this point (see Now! #52). Jake Shears’ voice doesn’t suit the track at all, and all the fun is missing from the original.
Track 17: Lisa Maffia – All Over
There’s some interesting lines, but the track’s a bit messy in general. I could do without the two rappers shouting over each other.
Track 18: Benny Benassi and The Biz – Satisfaction
The track’s tuneless and repetitive, but the video‘s a dubious classic (I was NOT a fan of the awful hiking-boots-with-stiletto-heels trend it encouraged, which has unfortunately made a few reappearances in the intervening time).
Track 19: Deepest Blue – Deepest Blue
Boring tune, uninspired dance beat.
Track 20: DJ Sammy – Sunlight
Good beat, but the tune’s very irritating.
Track 21: Plummet – Damaged
Interesting lines, but there’s not enough of a solid tune for me.
Track 22: Paul van Dyk and Hemstock & Jennings – Nothing But You
Generic dance track. The vocals are quite nice, but it’s nothing special.
Track 23: Scooter – The Night
The high-pitched vocals on the chorus give me a headache, but the rest of the track’s quite danceable if it’s post-2am.
Bland acoustic-y track with an annoying chorus, not to my liking.
Track 27: Amy Studt – Misfit
Nice vocals, but the tune’s not interesting enough for me.
Track 28: The Thrills – Big Sur
It’s nice that the mid-’00s festival stalwart bands are starting to make appearances. My mate Gemma absolutely loved this lot.
The track’s a nice retro-sounding soft rock tune. Love that Monkees reference.
Track 29: Coldplay – God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
Nice atmosphere – this one’s got an okay tune.
Track 30: Appleton – Everything Eventually
Slow to start (as befits the title). The vocal intro is nice, but after that it gets a bit generic.
Track 31: David Sneddon – Don’t Let Go
Boring slow tune – not keen.
Track 32: Ronan Keating – The Long Goodbye
Like the piano intro, but the rest of the track’s too saccharine for me.
Track 33: Darius – Incredible (What I Meant To Say)
Irritating tune that sounds like pretty much everything else. Utterly forgettable.
Track 34: Feeder – Just The Way I’m Feeling
LOVED this track at the time and bought the single – it’s still a great tune. I must have gone to see Feeder about three times that year, as they played the Glasgow Barrowlands a lot at the time.
