IN the distant and all-too-brief glory days of the New Romantics, when the shirts were frilly and the hair was big, no-one stood prouder than Duran Duran. Head and shoulder pads above their peers, it was Simon Le Bon and co who had the sharper suits, the flashier videos, and the most highlighted hair.

Twenty years on, the Spice boys of their day are back. They may have mellowed a little, the days of wild excess may be behind them, they may even have toned down the hair - apart from John Taylor - but whatever they had 20 years ago, it's still there.

From the opening bars of Hungry Like the Wolf, the sell-out crowd are in heaven. New Moon on Monday and View to a Kill get the Arena bouncing, and singing, as one.

Duran Duran reformed three years ago, but, as Le Bon tells us, they don't want to be just another 80s revival band, and are writing new material, which is peppered through the set. Much of this has a rockier edge than perhaps their fans are used to, the bastard progeny of their trademark synth sound and Noel Gallagher, and it gives Whitley Bay lad Andy Taylor scope to show off his guitar licks.

But it's not really what the 30 and 40-somethings have come to hear. Three successive new tracks give them a chance to sit down, but they're up on their feet at the first bars of Planet Earth. Ordinary Day, Notorious, Reflex, Wild Boys - there are enough hits to keep everyone happy.

A huge screen behind the band plays accompanying videos, particularly for the newer songs, including a bizarre Japanese anime, which hopefully doesn't give an insight into anyone's state of mind. Cymbals slicing into faces, guitars impaling gangsters, oodles of blood, Godzilla, and the band wrecking the headquarters of the Endangered Music Industry (EMI). It might be loaded with meaning but it's still baffling.

Yet Duran Duran don't really need any histrionics or pyrotechnics - perhaps just as well, as they are surprisingly subdued on stage - instead letting the songs speak for themselves, and with a back catalogue such as theirs this is a very appealing option.

Nor do they want to give the impression they haven't been keeping up with the modern world. Last time Le Bon performed Save a Prayer there would have been a sea of lighters swaying in the air. Now, he asks for a galaxy of mobile phone screens to light up the night.

And at the end of a wildly-received and hugely indulgent two-hour set, there's still time for an encore featuring two of their best tracks: Girls on Film and Rio. They're the ones many in the crowd have been waiting for, and it shows, as the singing and bouncing ratchets up still further. They were all there, all the hits, and when the lights finally went out, there wasn't a disappointed eye in the house.

Published: 24/04/2004