ATLANTIC CITY - NOVEMBER 8, 2003 - THE BORGOTA HOTEL

Hi everyone! I am so excited about posting this review because this is the first time I ever seen the boys live as the original line up. I gotta tell you, the show was awesome! I don't even know how to describe or where to begin, but here goes!

First of all, I just want to say that this is the second time Duran Duran has played in Atlantic City (the first time was back on August 8, 1999 - at The Resorts. Read my ATLANTIC CITY REVIEW to read about that show). Isn't it just coincidental that they played August 8th and now they play November 8th? I found that to be quite interesting (okay, nevermind, whatever....LOL)! The boys sold out the concert as usual.

My friend's mother found a newspaper called "On The Shore" with them on the front cover talking about the show, so we were given copies. That was so cool! Atlantic City loves Duran Duran that's for sure!

Well, we got there around 2:15 and were able to check into the hotel. We stayed at The Sands Hotel. Before we did anything, we both took a brief nap in our room (I had PMS, so I felt very tired and needed that half hour! LOL! My friend decided to sleep for awhile too.)

When we woke up, we were both ready to jet! We wanted to get something to eat first, so we decided to just take a cab to the Borgota and eat there (we were going to take the Jitney mini bus since it would have been cheaper, but it was freezing out, and the first bus that came by to go to the Borgota was full, and then the next two that came by either weren't the right one, or only had room for, like, one person - forget it!). We even took two eldery ladies with us in the taxi because we didn't want to leave them out in the cold, and they were very nice (and they were waiting for the bus with us).

So we get to the Borgota, we went to get something to eat at some Italian place. Damn, though, a mini pizza was $10.60! Thank God the bus voucher paid for that! Sheesh!

After we ate, we wanted to check our coats. There was no way we were going to carry our coats around tonight! We asked about two or three different people and we still couldn't find it (or maybe we passed it and didn't realize it), so we decided to go find where the venue was. Well, while we were looking for The Event Center (where they were going to be playing), we saw a huge crowd of people in a section of the casino and flashes of light going off (cameras, obviously, taking pics). My friend and I went over to see what was going on, we had a feeling that maybe the boys might be doing the blackjack thing like they did in Vegas. Well, we were right! When we got closer, sure enough, there were Andy and Roger playing blackjack! (At least I think it was blackjack!) That was very cool. Don't know where the rest of the boys were; but it was still awesome to see Andy and Roger! My friend asked me why I didn't get excited. I'm just one of those people who don't get that way towards famous people. They are just like the rest of us. Just because one doesn't get excited doesn't mean they aren't fans! :)

Since we were kind of in the back of the crowd, we didn't stay very long to watch them. Instead, we went to find the Event Center and to get our merchandise before the crowd came. When we finally found the place, the man who was setting up said that he'll be opening at 6:00. We looked at our watches - 15 minutes! So naturally, we stayed and are we glad we stuck around because when he finally opened, we were one of the first few people in line for stuff. All of a sudden, someone takes a picture. I didn't think of anything at first - be it that it's Atlantic City and it's a tourist attraction, but I just happen to turn around (because the flash was so bright), and then my friend turned around; and we did just in time to see JOHN, ANDY, and ROGER walk by towards to stage entrance I guess. Doesn't matter, we caught, yet, another Taylor sighting! Now twice in one night? Can't get any better than that. :) Oh, and yes, they looked HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT!!!! My friend couldn't believe it, she got all crazy after they left. As for me, thanks to PMS, I was having mood swings! LOL!

Anyway, they were selling a red shirt with the guys on the front and a small 78-03 logo on the back (really tiny), they also had a black T-shirt with them on it and a really cool design on the back (that's the one I got - I like the design), they had the "RIO" shirt (the t-shirt was red), they had a blue shirt with a flower on the front and the tour dates on the back, and a black baby tee with the cool design (but smaller). They also had a pack of small buttons which I brought. One says 78-03, another said "Duran Duran", one had a picture of them from 1981 and the other had their promo 2003 picture, and then they had one with the same design that the back of the black t-shirt had, but the button was red. Of course, the tour book is just like the Japan one and naturally, I brought that!

Okay, we got our items (my friend brought everything they had, literally, except for the shirt with the flower on it) and we went back downstairs to see if we can find coat check once again. This time, when we asked (a different person), he said we were was the place (like, all these "places" look the same to me). So, he asked us if we wanted bags for our merchandise and we said yes and thanked him. Whew! Finally! A load off! We got rid of our coats temporarily....LOL!

There was some radio station there promoting the band a little bit. They kept announing the fact that they were here at the Borgota and they played "Come Undone". Yay!

As I mentioned before, the concert was great! Despite a few techincal problems, SIMON forgetting the words in some songs, and NICK's keyboards suddenly changing pitch frequencies during "Save A Prayer", which made them sound a little off key (they were just a tad sharp - sorry, when you have perfect pitch and are a music major, can't help but to notice these things), and during "New Religion" they were off, the show was excellent! This was their first night, and they kicked off the November tour with a bang!

They opened the show with "Friends Of Mine" - what can I say about this song? It was so cool! The whole house started shaking when the famous rumbling noise came on. They all came onstage and just stood there for a few minutes (just like what they did in 1999) Wow, great job boys!

"Come Undone", I absolutely love this song! It is so awesome how they make use of the C relative minor scale (with a few accidentals here and there). Anything done in a minor key I really like a lot and the boys do a lot of their songs in minor keys which is fine by me. :)

The guys did a really great job on "Ordinary World" too. I love it how the verses are all in A-Flat minor and then it modulates to C-flat major in the chorus. That's great. SIMON's high D-flat to high E-flat was very well done. Not so easy for a baratone to sing that high and he's always done a great job from the shows I've been to.

The new song, "Beautiful Colors" is really good! I loved it as soon as I heard it. Wow, that can make for a great single.

"New Religion"....Oh My God, I was so happy they played this song. I never ever heard this one live before. Loved it!!!!

Okay, I'll be honest, I loved all the songs they did on this set, who am I kidding? LOL! The boys looked so good too onstage! They had a nice black and white theme going on. SIMON had on a white jacket (which he took off and wore a long black jacket for "Waiting for the Nightboat"), black shirt, and off black jeans. JOHN had on a black jacket and pants, and a white shirt (he took off the jacket after the encore, ladies). NICK had on a black suit with a white shirt, ROGER had on a white shirt with black pants, and ANDY was wearing all black. Woo hoo!!!! They had lots of energy and were constantly smiling. I love the fact that SIMON brought his guitar back for "Save A Prayer" and "Beautiful Colors".

Isn't it just amazing how they can play in the dark? I just thought I would say that. However, SIMON needs to chill out with the light in "Nightboat", he can blind someone....LOL (luckily, I was one of those people who knew not to look into the light)!

The room was packed, everyone was dancing (except for some of the people around us. Obviously, they were the ones who got the comp tickets....lol)!

A good thing we were allowed to bring drinks inside. I needed my bottled water big time after the show was over. Got my two hour work out! :)

After the show, we just sat in the upstairs lobby for awhile. My friend said she couldn't move, so we chilled out for a few minutes. When we finally got up, we walked around the Borgota looking for something to do, but I didn't really want to do anything. I was in a cranky mood at this point (welcome to PMS) and wasn't in the mood for anything but to go back to our hotel and go to sleep. I had a great time at the concert, though, and was in a wonderful mood there; but once it was over - I felt tired and was ready to split.

So we went back to our hotel. I started getting into a better mood once we got off the taxi (okay, so I've been having up and down mood swings all day). I wanted something to eat - a snack or something. By this time, it was a little after midnight; so we went to this little convient store to see if they had anything decent there. We just happen to look at the newspaper display they had in front of the store. The Atlantic City Weekly had them mentioned on their front cover! So, since it was free, we got it. So now we have two free newspapers with them in it! Yippee! (By the way, we found this 24 hour place and I got a croissant. My friend got ice cream.)

I am so glad I was able to see them this year. It was so convient how it all worked out. So thank you Duran Duran! I'm ready for next year now. :)

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