THE CHAFFEUR
- ARTIST: Duran Duran
- DATE: June 19 2005
- VENUE: Piazza San Giovanni (Rome – Italy)
- OPENING ACTS: Elisa, Beck
I’m just about to see Duran Duran in concert for the third time. Third time and a half, if we count the show in 2008 for which I had first-row tickets and which was abruptly cancelled on the morning of the event. I’m still bitter about it, but anyway.
They’re one of the bands that kickstarted my lifelong interest in music. As a toddler, I would just catch their videos on TV and sing made-up lyrics, so any chance to see them again is always a good thing, even if I’m not exactly fond of their later output (let’s say anything after ‘Paper Gods’), which I find very hit or miss, with much more miss than hit.
The first time I had the opportunity to see them live was in 2005, fresh off their classic line-up reunion. It’s hard to explain how thrilled I was. The Italian tour was announced in November or December 2004, about six full months before the shows: I literally counted down the days and pestered anyone I could about it, including artists I was interviewing for my music magazine work. Any excuse was a good enough hook to derail the conversation towards Duran Duran.
You’d think that after six months I’d be fully prepared, but when the day of the show came, I caught my train to Rome (just over an hour’s ride) and forgot my camera at home. All I have left is the one picture above, which I probably found online back then and saved, and my memories. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
It was a huge free show sponsored by Cornetto, our most popular ice cream product. Newspapers reported an attendance of 150,000, and I can confirm I haven’t seen Rome in such a state since. On the same day, the city was also hosting the wedding of football star Francesco Totti and TV host Ilary Blasi, an event that was something like a royal wedding for Rome, with full live TV coverage.
The opening acts were strange bedfellows, including Italian singer Elisa and Beck. Regarding the former, I was impressed by her voice but let down by the setlist choices, which excluded most of her upbeat tunes that would have worked much better for such an event. My main memory of Beck is that he brought glasses, plates, and cutlery on stage, which he and his band played as instruments. Despite knowing his catalogue fairly well, for some reason I don’t remember any songs he played that night. I can’t even remember if he played his signature tune, ‘Loser’.
Duran Duran had just released their ‘Astronaut’ album, to this day one of my favourites by them. The first single from it, ‘(Reach Up For The) Sunrise’, was a huge hit in Italy, and the crowd went absolutely wild when they kicked off the show with it. The band was in great shape, delivering one hit after another. Everyone was dancing, jumping, and singing. Well, everyone… but one.
There was this pony-tailed guy standing in front of us, whom we eventually nicknamed The Chauffeur, and he didn’t seem to be exactly excited.
While everyone was enjoying the show and having a great time, this guy just stood there, arms crossed, song after song, showing basically no sign of life. I thought perhaps he was taking one for the team, accompanying a partner or a friend to a concert he wasn’t interested in, or just chaperoning someone.
Then Duran Duran performed ‘The Chauffeur’, the closing track of their breakthrough album ‘Rio’, one of their most brooding tunes, and everything changed. For a few minutes, at least. The pony-tailed guy spread his arms wide open and started singing (blue silver) his lungs out, almost overpowering Simon Le Bon in my ears. The hint of a smile might even have flashed across his face. As soon as the song was over, he was back to standing there with his arms crossed, and that was it. Living proof that sometimes even just one song, an amazing song, can make a show memorable.
Dear Chauffeur, wherever you are, this post is for you.
