Since I totally panned the newest album by my all-time favorite band, I’ve been ravaged by feelings of guilt and disloyalty. So I’m taking this opportunity to make it up to them. (As if they care. Oh well.)

In what can only be described as a moment of insanity, my husband and I decided to buy tickets for Duran’s Chicago show. Not that there’s anything crazy about buying concert tickets, especially for one’s favorite band. It’s just that this particular concert was taking place on a Wednesday night, 200 miles from our home, and we had to be back by Thursday morning for work and school. We raced home from work yesterday, changed clothes and jumped into our car. We braved a 7-hour round trip, Chicago rush hour traffic, the Indiana toll road and $4.00/gallon gas to go see Simon, Nick, John and Roger yet again.

This was my 8^th time seeing them over the past 21 years. I’ve seen them in 5 different cities with 5 different line-ups now. They always put on a great show, but last night was truly the best one I’ve seen from my guys. Not only is Dom Brown (the guitarist who replaced original member Andy Taylor) a cleaner guitar player than Andy, he also is more fun to watch. And the remaining four original members seem worlds happier than I’ve ever seen them.

All the guys were smiling all night. Simon was cracking jokes in a way I’ve never seen. They were laughing at each other’s antics as well as each other’s mistakes and their own. When Simon tossed his tambourine up to the ceiling, then missed it when it came down, it hit his leg and snapped. It had to have hurt, but he didn’t miss a beat. He made a hilariously surprised and sheepish face, showed the broken tambourine to the crowd, pointed to his crotch, and told us (in Maxwell-Smart style), “Missed it by that much.” When Roger spun his drumsticks at the end of one song and failed to catch one of them, he and John burst out laughing and shaking their heads. It was obvious they were having fun, and it made me smile just that much more.

Of course, the music was great. Even the few songs they did off the plastic-sounding new album were better when they rocked them out live. But the crowd went berserk for the older stuff – “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “The Reflex,” and “Girls on Film.”

And of course, they still look fantastic. John Taylor’s smile makes me melt. When he told the audience to put their hands in the air, I told my ever-indulgent husband that JT could ask me to jump off a cliff, and I would. (I’m very lucky that Sean’s not the jealous type!) And this tall, gorgeous, talented bass player was even wearing an Obama t-shirt during the encore! Could he be more perfect?!

So after 2 ½ hours, our ears ringing, our throats sore, and our feet aching, Sean and I began the long trek home. I drove so he could sleep. We pulled into our driveway at 3:30am. Sean had to be at work at 6. I had to get up at 7:30 to get the kids to school. So would I do it again? To see my guys happy and rockin’ a sold-out crowd? You bet.

Just maybe not on a Wednesday.