Arena (An Absurd Notion)

Arena (An Absurd Notion)
video by Duran Duran
Released	March 1985 5 April 2004 (DVD)
Recorded	1984
Format	Beta video, DVD, LaserDisc, VHS video, Video 8
Genre	New wave, synthpop
Length	124:42 minutes (DVD)
Label	PMI
Director	Russell Mulcahy
Producer	Duran Duran
Duran Duran

Arena (An Absurd Notion) is a concept concert video filmed during Duran Duran's 1984 Sing Blue Silver North American Tour in support of the album Seven and the Ragged Tiger.

The video was released by PMI in November 1985.

About the video

Instead of releasing a straight concert video, Duran Duran and director Russell Mulcahy thought it might be fun to play around with the origins of the band's name (the 1968 film Barbarella), and added a storyline and some surreal elements that are woven around and through the footage of the band playing on stage.

The film's villain, the evil Dr. Durand Durand (played by Milo O'Shea, reprising his role from Barbarella) has crash landed on Earth and is surprised and confused to find teenagers chanting his name. When he discovers that they are not chanting for him, but for an upstart pop group, he sets up shop beneath the concert arena and attempts to wreak havoc on the band that stole his name. Of course, he and his henchmen fail at every turn and Duran Duran continue to perform, seemingly unaware of the evil doctor's plans.

The video also included Mulcahy's long-form video for "The Wild Boys". It was meant to be a teaser for a full-length feature film of the same name, based on the 1971 novel The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead by William S. Burroughs. However, that film was never made.

The expensive sets for the conceptual portions of Arena and "The Wild Boys" were built in the massive 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios. Young actress Jennifer Connelly appears, walking across an empty stage, in one segment of the video.

The DVD for Arena was released in April 2004 and includes a behind-the-scenes documentary,"The Making of Arena" as a DVD extra.

A live album, also called Arena, was released in late 1984. It featured the two singles "The Wild Boys" and "Save A Prayer" (Live). The video for "Save A Prayer" (Live) is included as a DVD extra on the 2004 Arena DVD release.

A 2-in-1 DVD set with both Arena and the Sing Blue Silver documentary film has also been released by EMI.

As The Lights Go Down

The Oakland, California concerts that were filmed for Arena (An Absurd Notion) were also edited to form the one-hour As The Lights Go Down concert video.

As The Lights Go Down is essentially the same as the Arena video, minus the conceptual and storyline scenes, although the raw live footage for many songs was edited differently. This version was first aired on the Cinemax cable television channel, and later on MTV and other music channels. At least two versions exist; one version omitted "Rio" and "Girls on Film". The name comes from a lyric in the song "Shadows On Your Side" from the Seven and the Ragged Tiger album.

DVD Track listing

Arena (An Absurd Notion):

1. The Return of Duran Duran (the story of Dr. Duran and the band)
2. "Is There Something I Should Know?" (Live)
3. "Hungry Like the Wolf" (Live)
4. "Union of the Snake" (Live)
5. "Save A Prayer" (Live)
6. "The Wild Boys" (7-Minute Version)
7. "Planet Earth" (Live)
8. "Careless Memories" (Live)
9. "Girls on Film" (Live)
10. "The Reflex" (a remix version of the song with chained girls and ugly monsters)
11. "Rio" (Live)

• Running Time: 60 minutes

The Making of Arena:

1. Introduction
2. Concepts and windmills
3. Costumes, choreography and make-up
4. Hanging around with robots
5. Milo and stilts
6. Blowing it all up

• Running Time: 49 minutes

Extras:

1. Arena TV ad
2. Arena trailer
3. Arena video mix
4. "Save A Prayer" (Live)
5. Simon Le Bon interview

Personnel

Duran Duran are:

• Simon Le Bon - vocals
• John Taylor - bass guitar
• Andy Taylor - guitar
• Nick Rhodes - keyboards
• Roger Taylor - drums

See also

• Duran Duran discography
• Discography 3: Arena (An Absurd Notion)