The Time I Opened for Duran Duran
The Mountain Winery, Saratoga, CA 09/26/11
A friend and fellow DJ, Robin Simmons, was kind enough to recommend me to a friend of a friend that does the booking for the Mountain Winery, who was looking for an opening act for Duran Duran on Monday, September 26, 2011. Given my New Wave affiliations and whatever else was found on my blog, they thought I’d be a perfect fit. Here’s the story:
It was 7:35pm and the sold out crowd was trickling in, the seats directly in front of me still empty, for the most part. I opened with Mylo’s “Destroy Rock & Roll,” which has has a sampled loop in the middle, “Missing Persons, Duran Duran. Missing Persons, Duran Duran…” Some people got it and cheered, but I realized it may have been best heard at the end. That was the entry point for Depeche Mode’s “Behind The Wheel (Shep Pettibone Remix),” which I assumed the majority of the crowd could easily recognize. I continued on with a mix of: either current artists in that same vein, current remixes of 80s songs, or current songs by 80s artists. The ender was supposed to be Mark Ronson’s “Record Collection (Plastic Plates Remix),” and I was pleasantly surprised to find out later that he was the producer on Duran Duran’s latest album. So there was that connection. Due to changes in the set time, I had an extra ten minutes to fill, so I winged it, and did alright, just not quite as strongly as the first 30 minutes, which I had practiced about five times over the night before. Scrambling for a song to end on, I dubbed Danny Daze’s “Your Everything” as the perfect one, with it’s bone-rattling bass. A total hype-up-the-crowd song, which is what I was there to do.
Being the opening “act,” I wondered if just playing songs would be enough. And if Erlend Øye is the “singing DJ,” then I might consider myself the “dancing DJ.” As I got comfortable and began to move around a little bit, the crowd took notice and cheered me on. So I ran with it, making eye contact with some of the 40-something ladies in the front rows, strutting to and fro, spinning circles as the headphone cord wrapped around my torso, and even sitting at the foot of the stage, lip synching into the ear pieces during the breakdown of Calvin Harris’ “I’m Not Alone (Deadmau5 Remix).” With the last record left for the crew to remove, I casually sauntered to the beat, jacket over shoulder, exiting stage left.
There was also the cover curation. Having a picture sleeve ready for each song, I placed them each on the music stand, to be viewed by those who were close enough to see (no JumboTron at this venue, which may have been a good thing). Human League’s “Dare” was a hit. “I Am Europe” explained the strange lyrics. And when there was no sleeve for the last song, I paraded around the cover for Duran Duran’s “The Reflex” 12-inch, signaling that they were up next and my set had come to a close. People are often surprised to see DJs still using vinyl. It’s a novelty.
Being the winery’s first time to try out a DJ as the opener (who doesn’t double as a comedian), the booker wasn’t totally sold on it afterward — he was a bit critical and seemed to want a more roaring applause — but he also wasn’t out there watching me. More importantly, Joe, the production manager (my original contact), was out there, and seemed more than pleased, saying he’d bring me back if there was an appropriate match. Unfortunately, their string of 80s acts for the year: Tears For Fears, Devo, Human League, and B-52s had already passed. Further encouragement was received in the form of high fives from a couple burly crew members, who exclaimed, “I wasn’t expecting that!”
Overheard in the crowd by my brother and girlfriend were some ladies who said, “I want to take him home with me!” Joey replied, “Well, you’ll have to fight her for him first!” When I went out to watch Duran Duran, a few people came up to thank me and say, “good job.” And at one point, after a sleepy, most likely current Duran song, a man standing four seats away shouted, “We want the DJ back!” knowing I was in earshot. So there were some affirming moments afterward.
I never got an official greeting or thank you from Duran Duran, but wasn’t too surprised. Could’ve been the fact I was without a dressing room, so they didn’t know where or who I was. Or maybe they just didn’t care. I did see an older, presumably English man wandering around backstage, so I said “What’s up, I’m Danny.” He said, “I’m Roger,” and I thought, “Roger, Roger, Roger… I should have researched what their names were!” I only knew the obvious, Simon Le Bon, so I didn’t know if he was in the band or not. He saw me soundcheck and we had a nice little chat about still using vinyl and displaying the record covers. Later I realized I had accidentally met the drummer, the Roger Taylor.
A coworker asked me the next day, “How are you going to top that gig?” and I realized, “You know, it really wasn’t that cool.” I’ve had much better gigs at dive bars like the Attic, where the dance floor is packed, people are up on the tables, and crowd surfing. To me that’s where it’s at.
Listen to the songs I played that night here.
