Hi Elegant Readers,
I would like to introduce my new travel writer, my hubby, J. He will be writing on upcoming travel plans, past trips and concerts that we have been to. J is a cool guy and my best friend so welcome aboard honey. In this post he will be writing about the fun times we had in Memphis.
Enjoy!
Last year, Duran Duran began a tour the United States with the release of the latest album “All You Need Is Now”. My wife had always wanted to go to one of their concerts; but never had the chance to go. I began checking out the tour information, I found that the concerts were far away from the Gateway City and the venues were quite small. Getting tickets seemed to be almost impossible. I thought that the tour had finished and that the dream would have to wait again. Until last month I found that the wild boys were playing in Memphis and the tickets were still available. My wife and I decided that this would be our chance. I quickly purchased the tickets and started planning our road trip to Memphis to see Duran Duran at the Live at the Garden concert series.
Waiting for the concert to begin!
Duran Duran put on an awesome show. The two hour concert was jammed packed with hits that made them popular in the 1980s; with a few from their latest album. They knew what people wanted to hear and they didn’t disappoint. They made sure that the playlist included hits like Reflex, Hungry Like The Wolf, and Save a Prayer. It was great to look over at my wife and seeing her singing along, as if she was a back-up singer. I must admit, I too liked Duran Duran. So when they played Wild Boys, Come Undone and Ordinary World, I too was singing along and jamming.
The line up of songs for the night.
Playlist for the Memphis concert / Duran Duran FB page
I had been to several big-name concerts, but this concert at the Memphis Botanic Garden was a unique experience.
For the first time, I had to purchase general admission tickets. Typically, I want to be as close to the stage as possible. However, by the time we found out about the concert, there were only general admission/lawn seat tickets left. Considering that we found out about the concert three months after the tickets went on sale, I feel fortunate that we were able even get tickets.
As we parked on the grounds of the Memphis Botanic Garden, I expected to have to pay $15 or $20. But parking didn’t cost a dime, it was free. This was the first time I had been a large concert like this and didn’t have to pay for parking.
Since we had general admission tickets, we arrived at the Garden an hour and a half prior to start time. We didn’t know what to expect so we wanted to make sure we could get a good spot to view the concert. There looked to be only a few hundred actual seats, while the rest were lawn seats. When we arrived, most of the lawn seats closest to the stage were already filled up, so we stayed towards the middle of the field. We were not crammed in; and we felt free to set up our blanket and chairs under a tree.
The setup for the lawn seating worked well except for the Italian Ice food stand on the left side of the lawn section. Because of the placement of this large tent, it prevented people from sitting behind it because they could not see the show. If this tent was not there, the people in the lawn section could have spread out and prevented people from having to sit close together.
Duran Duran Concert
I never had been to a concert where people brought in their own food and drinks. Maybe because the concerts were mostly inside where you had to pay for your food. I witnessed people eating baked chicken, salads, and deserts; all on fine china. They were popping open wine bottles and sipping champagne. I thought people came to concerts to jam, to rock, to dance and to get their groove on. This crowd was much different. While some danced to the hits, others sat there; looking like they were at a movie or just there because their spouse wanted to go. My wife and I do like to people watch so to see the vast array of expressions was quite interesting.
Although my wife and I didn’t stand up and dance to all the songs, we were definitely jamming. We both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the Duran Duran concert in Memphis. Seeing my wife singing along with all the hits at a concert that she wanted to go to for many years, made me feel good. I would do it all over again, in a second.
Now, if anyone knows how my wife can be a back up singer for Duran Duran, that would fulfill another one her dreams. So Simon, if you are reading this, just let me know how we can make that happen.
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