Electric Picnic Review: Duran Duran

That lime green jacket though.

Ed Power

Simon Le Bon sported a lime green jacket almost as bright as the ferris wheel twinkling on the horizon as Duran Duran arrived for their apparently-quite-controversial Electric Picnic headliner.

An Eighties hit-machine with a larder stuffed with danceable smashes might seem a natural fit for an event that has traditionally appealed to a wide demographic of festival-goers.

But social media has begged to differ and having Duran Duran close Picnic 2017 was decried, in some quarters, as criminally underwhelming.

However, they blew the doubters out of the water with set that, true to their day-glo outfits, lit up Stradbally with fizz-bombs of enthusiasm. Wild Boys was a full-on retro salvo while View To A Kill was the pop equivalent of an eye-brow waggle from Roger Moore – silly yet completely irresistible.

Yes. That was a mega headline music booking @duranduran #ep2017 #oldskoolswagger #ColourIsTheNewBlack pic.twitter.com/aJ7g85IjPG

— Suzanne Doyle (@SuzanneDoyleSDC) September 3, 2017

Their status as big-haired, tall-shouldered pin-ups has tended to obscure the group’s musical virtuosity. Now older and craggier – though bassist John Taylor could still poke your eye out with his cheekbones – they’re at a point where they can get out of the way of their own songs, as demonstrated by winning versions of Notorious and Girls On Film.

Duran Duran also tapped that incredibly specific, intensely feel-good Picnic atmosphere by having the Dublin Gospel Choir join for an encore bash at Save A Prayer.

The whiff of cheese was ever-present – but who could doubt but that, in a field in the middle of Laois, we were in the presence of pop deities?