Once in Houston, we felt it would be wise to locate the venue, and the distance from the hotel where the band was staying. That feat accomplished, we thought we would drive over to the hotel to see if we could find the boys. If they were there, they would have to leave for sound check, and if they were at sound check, they would have to come back to the hotel eventually. While there, I convinced the manager to put us on a waiting list for the next room cancellation that came up. Luckily, we got the room, (quite a pricey one, at that) but had very little time to get ready for the concert. Rushing about half-crazy, we managed to get ready at breakneck speed, and called the concierge for the courtesy car to the theatre. Steph had on a brown pinstripe suit, and I had on my new black suit from Victoria's Secret. Looking very nice as we waited for the Town car to pull up, what to our wandering eyes should appear? No sleigh and eight tiny reindeer, but Christmas all the same! In walks Simon, Nick and Warren with their tour manager. All I could do was limply raise my wrist to wave hello to Nick as he and Warren quickly scooted right by us. Simon actually stopped and allowed pictures to be taken and papers to be signed. At that time our car pulled up and we piled in…squealing and giggling! Now that we just saw them we were really ready for the show.

We arrived at the concert venue as Al's Not Well was ending their set and found our seats. While the roadies began to set up for Duran, and I realized my wish had come true! I had a seat right in front of my idol, Nick Rhodes, and only five rows away at that! I was 15 again!

The excitement in the air was palpable. Anticipation was beating wildly through the crowd, and when the lights dimmed a deafening roar broke free. The beginning strains of "Medazzaland" could be heard and lights shot through a black curtain with multiple holes. The beams shone through those holes briefly like searchlights, and the curtain fell to reveal Nick at his keyboards while smoke lifted from the stage. The audience went absolutely crazy, jumping madly and screaming with frenzy. I found my own self becoming light headed from my screaming! A few times during the song I caught Nick looking down on us, right in my direction. I can't be sure that he was looking at me, but I have my fantasies! The music itself sounded identical to the CD, but at times it was hard to hear Nick. He was as calm as I've ever seen him on stage, wielding that aloof sexuality that is his claim to hormonal fame, and I swooned often! Once the song faded and the beginning of "Big Bang Generation" erupted, the lights flooded the theatre and we could see that everyone was now on stage and in their places, except Simon. Right before the lyrics kicked in, he came strutting out to center stage. Again, the crowd went wild, men and women alike! With illumination, we could see how the band was dressed. Warren wore a black velvet suit with a purple shirt. His tie was gold with an almost leopard print. Simon wore a metallic blue lamé like shirt, un-tucked, over a pair of metallic greyish-black trousers. Where I sat, I was close enough to see the "outline" in Simon's pants. Very eclectic indeed! And our precious Nick was heart stopping in his red velvet suit, black silk shirt and hot pink tie ensemble. I was not able to see over the stage to see what Wes and Steve were wearing. But the visual performance between Simon, Nick and Warren was right in tune with the stage setup. Once the black curtain fell and the lights went up, we could see a shimmering silver metallic curtain behind the stage. On the left hand side of that curtain hung a disco ball, that was often raised and lowered throughout the concert. Nick was also set up on this side of the stage, with Wes behind him on bass. Steve was situated in the middle of the stage behind Simon, and he was framed from behind by an almost reverse scalloped, white clamshell display. Warren was on the right hand side of the stage.

The third song of the evening was "Hungry Like the Wolf". Simon was at his eighties best, as once again this song was true to its original recording. At this point you could tell who the fans were that had only been Duranies in the eighties from the die hard into the nineties fans, because the decibel level doubled with this song. Simon was entertaining, but had not worked himself into his usual frenzy yet.

Thankfully, Duran gave the audience a rest from our silly bopping, and launched into "Who Do You Think You Are". The lights dimmed and the metallic curtain behind them parted to reveal a screen with an almost lava lamp visual melting across it in lights and colors. As Simon sang, the screen changed colors and designs, all melting and flowing, bubbling into each other. It was very psychedelic. After the song ended, the curtain closed, and the lights were brought back up for "Electric Barbarella". Simon was flirting with the crowd, and Nick smirked often. He did the hand motions over his keyboards, changing the sounds with the motion sensitive computer. Warren was well into the music by this time, and he was superb!

"A View to a Kill" was next, followed by "Out of My Mind". Once again, the curtains part to reveal that funky psychedelic screen, with more patterns melting. Simon sang with such haunting intensity that I felt glued to my spot as I stood. Continuing the mood, Simon introduced the next song by dedicating it to his good friend Michel Hutchence. "Save a Prayer" has always been my favorite song, and hearing it live always gets to me. At the same point in the song, the girl beside me and I both turned to face each other and in unison we both said "ch-ch-ch", reminiscent of "Sing Blue Silver". The desperate lyrics and Simon's voice transfixed me, so I was thankful to be brought back to my bopping once "Be My Icon" began. With a put-on crazed look, Simon sang. Toward the end of the song, he turned his back to us and wrapped his arms about his shoulders, stroking his arms seductively as if making out with himself. At this point, Simon began to really move about the stage, hamming it up. Warren still wonderful, jamming on his own. I've never seen a tribble look so good!

Duranies from the early days, such as myself were thrilled to hear the next song, "Anyone Out There". Again, the differences in the crowd were obvious...the old school Duran fans from the newbies. We all went crazy when Simon swayed his hips, though! "Buried in the Sand" was played next, and you could see the emotion in Nick's face, even if he didn't intend to express it. Simon was also more subdued. For the first time in the evening I thought of John, and truly missed his presence. The curtain was again opened and a real crowd pleaser began. "Come Undone" was as seductive live as it was on the CD, and when not singing, Simon sucked his fingers…tres risqué! The girls lost it, myself included. The man certainly knows how to work an audience.

The next song out of the bag of Duran tricks was not planned. When I spoke with Nick later in the evening, he said that it had sounded so good during sound check that they decided to add it to the set list. What could it be? The metallic curtain closed, and the lights came up again for "Girls On Film"! During the song, Simon took a spotlight and played it across the audience. As many times before, the crowd went wild. Then they went right into "Friends of Mine" with an introduction from Simon. He talked about those first years before making it big, playing in stale bars, with the stale smell of beer hanging in the air. At one point during the song the microphone went dead, and Simon dropped it, walked over to Nick and sang into his microphone until the roadies could fix Simon's. Old schoolers went nuts, and "Friend of Mine" was immediately followed by the closing song of the old days..."Careless Memories". Sheer perfection! The energy in the building should have taken down the walls. How it didn't is a testimony to some mighty architecture! After the song, the theater went dark and the band left the stage. But we wanted more, more, more! People began to stomp their feet and clap, all the while shouting, screaming and yelling for their favorite member.

We didn't have to wait long for the encore, and it was started off with a re-tooled version of "Secret Oktober". Its beginning was so different from the original, that if I did not know it was going to be played beforehand, I might not have recognized it. Many people still didn't know what it was when Simon began to sing. The metallic curtain parted to reveal the lava lamp screen again. Before the next encore song, Simon said the next song was a song about therapy and healing, "Ordinary World". At the end of the song, he didn't sing the high notes, opting instead to keep it at the same tone. After all the entertaining he gave us, I don't blame him! The show was all I expected and more...but it wasn't quite yet over! One song remained..."RIO"! The band and audience alike went absolutely wild! When the song was over Nick, Warren and Simon came to the edge of the stage and shook hands with some of the people in the front rows. The crowd did not disperse quickly, as if they hoped their presence would warrant an additional encore. But, as soon as the show had begun, it was over. There were no more encores, no more hand shakes.

Once we had returned to our hotel, Steph and I went upstairs to touch up make up and hair. This only took a matter of moments! I began to search for my camera before leaving the room, and could not find it, soon realizing that it was still in our car down in the garage. I called for the concierge to bring it up, and flew down to the lobby to wait for it, pen and paper in hand! While I was in front of hotel, recovering my forgotten camera, a little bus drove up and dropped off a single passenger. My heart began to beat before my mind realized that Warren had arrived. I skipped over to the front doors where he was speaking with other fans, and sneaked my way into a picture and autograph. After this brief encounter, I went inside to let Steph know that he was outside. While we were all out collecting photos and autographs, we asked him about the shows, and if they were enjoying themselves. Warren very diplomatically announced that Houston was one of their favorite places to play. I asked him if he was serious, or just that polite…he smiled and assured us that they had always enjoyed visiting Houston. We also asked about the rumored tour Duran planned to bring to the States in the Spring/Summer with Blondie. He indicated that there would be such a tour, possibly hitting more outdoor venues. I mentioned something about the '93 tour at the Woodlands Pavilion, and he seemed to recall that venue. Warren said the tour would definitely incorporate such outdoor accommodations. He didn't stay out to talk with us much longer so we went back to our table in the bar.

Simon came into the hotel followed closely by the tour manager. As we had our pictures and autograph session standing before the grand staircase of the hotel, in walked Nick as if to present the evening with a more ephemeral atmosphere. My heart either stopped completely in my chest or forgot how to beat for a few moments. All I could think was 'please don't run away.' He didn't run away, rather stopped to oblige us with photos and pictures. After my mini photo session with Nick, my idol since adolescence, I had to calm my shaking hands and knees before collapsing. I walked immediately to the bar. Vodka tonic, please!

As we sat and drank, I kept an eye on the table where Nick was seated with some friends. During our conversation, Steve Alexander came up to talk to us. We did the "fan thing" with pictures and autographs, and someone must have said something interesting, for he sat at our table and ordered his drink. We talked with Steve for quite a while before Wes Wehmiller came into the bar. But Wes didn't stay long, and the tour manager would later say that it was unusual that he even came down to the bar at all. We continued our conversation with Steve, who was both witty and charming. Some of the things that we talked about were so unassuming I can't recall them. I remember that there was a discussion about the opening band, Al's Not Well. (I know why Al's not well...their music sucked!) He mentioned that ANW would "decorate" Duran's faces with glitter and shiny stars. One of the people sitting with us began a conversation about John's departure, and Steve explained that he felt it was a big mistake for John to leave the band. I asked if he felt John might return, but he only shrugged his shoulders. We asked him if he wanted to become a full member of Duran, and he indicated that he has wanted that for some time, and that John was one of his biggest proponents. After all, he has been their session drummer for a while now. He was so genuine, and charismatic, and it would be a real shame if Duran were to lose him. But for all his charm, he mentioned that he was quite content to remain in the background, and away from all the fan adulation. He said that he had had a band back in the eighties that was quite popular in the UK and Europe, so he had had his share of being a pop star.

Nick still sat at his table, but there were only two people still with him. I had kept my eye on him all night, for fear he might disappear. I really wanted to go over and talk with him, so I asked my friends if they would accompany me. You know…safety in numbers! But no one would. So, I went alone, heart pounding so hard I felt it could be heard through my chest. Once I was standing before him, I politely asked if I might join them. Nick turned to me and said "Sure". Since I needed to calm down a bit, I sat and listened as the conversation I stumbled into was completed. When it was, Nick turned to me and began to talk. The conversations I had with him are etched into my brain...I will NEVER forget his words.

"So, what is it you do for a living?"
"Oh, you don't want to talk about that," I almost choked on my words.
"And why is that?"
"Because it's not very interesting."
"Why do you suppose that is?"
"Because I don't much enjoy what I do."
"Why don't you look for something else, then?"
"It's like moving from house to house. There is so much packing to do, and it's easier to stay where you are than to uproot yourself. Even though you know you need to, you are just too lazy."
Then he smiled and said, "Sometimes you have to make changes anyway, no matter how inconvenient. What would you like to do instead?"

We had a long conversation with him about various topics, and he teased me about my Christmas decorations (he wondered what my tarot card reading might say about them). We discussed Christmas gifts for Tatjana (a children's type of Apple laptop), the Duran.com web site (they plan on a lot of virtual reality and he recommends Netscape for viewing it at its best), what the next single might be (still undecided between Who Do You Think You Are...and Big Bang Generation). He shared his opinions on how long concerts should be (under two hours), and how long CD's should be (about 50 minutes) because of people's attention spans. We talked about the Simpson's and South Park (he had not yet seen South Park, but as of this writing he has and he doesn't like it), why they added "Girls on Film" at the Houston show (because it sounded so good during sound check), and his dislike of sports. He does like ballet, though. We also briefly discussed Milton Nascimento and their inclusion of him on "Breath After Breath."

Soon, the evening was over, and the assistant tour manager had to usher our little one to his room for the evening. It was all very surreal indeed...even the next morning! While Steph was checking out, Nick walked up to me and asked how I was feeling that morning. I smiled and said, "Tired." We talked about the thunderstorm we had had overnight and as we did, Warren came down looking as if he had just rolled out of bed seconds earlier. Nick asked him what he had thought of the thunderstorm as well and Warren said, "What thunderstorm?" We also said goodbye to Wes and Steve, wishing them success and good luck for the rest of the tour. One thing I am able to confirm at this point is that there will be a spring/summer tour. The tour manager called Nick in London the other day and Nick simply said, "Get ready for the summer!"

To be certain, there is more to the story. Some of the things that happened should not be repeated out of courtesy, and I do want to have some special memories that are all my own. But I hope you have enjoyed my story of incredible luck...I wish you the same!