After spending many years listening to a lot of Duran Duran music through the 80's & 90's, globalization has come in my life through the Internet. ? powerful tool
that gave me the opportunity to meet great fans and collectors from all over the world and so I did. We became close and we were very creative in an effort
to keep the flame of the band alive. John from England, Peter from Holland, Roman from Czech republic, Kirsten from Germany, Nuno from Portugal, Andrew from USA
and Fabiana from Argentina are some of those No.1 Duranies which I have the honor of having frequent communication and great friendship. In Greece, I started to
make friends after the concert in June of 2005. Bill as the first and the closest one, Thanos, George, Konstantinos and Natasa were and still remain my best
Greek duranies at the present time.
After three amazing concerts in Greece, I realized that my biggest dream was left unfulfilled. To meet the members of the band, to shake their hands, to say a great
"Thank you" for the excellent music they offered all these years that made me always feel so great. While I thought it was probably all over, this opportunity came
with the date announcement for the concert in Croatia at 29/08/17.
Without a second thought, I took all the necessary actions to be in the right time and place to meet them. I had all the information I needed. For
this purpose I have been helped by my friend Mario, a big Duran Duran fan and collector who lives in Croatia.
My stay time in Zagreb was from the 28th to the 30th of August. I arrived in the city early at noon. Without time for rest, I prepared and
I went for a walk to the centre of town, taking pictures of beautiful places and to buy some souvenirs.
Early in the afternoon I went to the place where I had the info. On the road to Esplanade hotel, two messages came to my cell phone. One from Fabiana from
Argentina, that told me the name of the hotel which made me feel once more, confident about the info I already had. The second message came from Mario. He confirmed
for a second time that "The band arrives in the afternoon.. stay around!" Indeed I stalked around. I arrived at the hotel’s entrance for a second time and the sun
blinded me. To the side I saw cars arriving in a line.. ?y heart started to beat fast!.. The door opens.. Yes! Its Simon Le Bon!.. I immediately ran close and
I asked him to take a picture. He was very positive and funny. I prepared the camera and he said "Say kuku!" I thank him and told him I came from Athens, Greece.
His reaction was warm as were the other band members. After Simon, Roger Taylor came over. We stood together and had a picture. A few heart warming words of welcome
and we had a good chat. Nick had already gone into the elevator and John refused everybody from taking pictures. "It's ok" I said.. It was too early for that and
the guys were tired. Then I took a pic with Dom Brown. Dom is always cool and we had a conversation. I reminded him that I was the one who bought his used effect
guitar pedal from a music instruments site. The rest of the band were already in the elevator. I thought that my "Mission" was to continue on the next day.
I had 2/4 of the original band members.
When I entered the lounge of the hotel, I meet Mario for the first time and we stayed there at least for an hour talking about the band, the fans and the whole atmosphere.
I managed to upload the photos on my Facebook page and I then realised that my pics was the first to appear of anybody’s that had been taken of the band members
in Zagreb. I see many notifications to other pages with a lot of enthusiasm from fans around the world and I was very happy with it. That was the end of a big day
for me, full of emotions, smiles and hugs with fans and the band members.
The second day I managed to find Duran Duran again! I took selfies with the other two members of the band, Nick Rhodes and John Taylor. Nick is my favourite one.
?e was quick and I believed that he had to go to the stadium for some rehearsals. He was very gentle. When i asked him to take a photo, even though he was rushed he
still stops. We took a great pic and then he goes to his work. I believe that he had a lot of things to arrange (soundchecks etc). Right after that, John comes
down to the lounge but he didn't stay for long. At least I took my last pic and got 4/4! I saw them closely and I had my pics at last. It's all done as I wished.
I felt complete. I was now relaxed and ready to enjoy the concert where I also met my friend Roman from Czech republic. The show was fantastic and surpassed all
my expectations. The band's performance and Simon's voice was excellent, at a level that i didn't expect and that pleased me to the maximum. I was in the
fan's pit, almost at the front and the band was very close to me. It was a dream come true. The show right at the front of me will be a spectacle I will never forget
in my whole life.
