Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
The best thing about going to Duran Duran’s concert Sunday night at McGaw Hall was catching its opening act, James. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: It’s a bad, bad idea for headliners to hire opening acts that are more interesting than they are. Don’t get me wrong. I like Duran Duran. And for a couple of years in the ’80s, I truly loved them. Until they stopped growing.
The British rock group James understands that simplicity can be an elegantly powerful tool in concert. On its first tour of the United States, the seven-man band played an exquisitely stripped-down show in Chicago, proving that while the hype machine may be turned on full gear, the group is more than capable of living up to any hyperbole thrust upon it.
It is a rare band that can make the kind of musical impact the British band James did Friday night at the Cabaret Metro. Starting off a little shaky, the seven-man group eased its way into a spectacular 90-minute concert that made it clear why the buzz is so strong about this unpretentious band. The buzz has been a long time in the making, at least over here.