In what was a treat—not a trick—on Halloween, Duran brought their Danse Macabre party to Co-op Live in Manchester.

Named after their sixteenth studio album, the Halloween-themed record features new tracks and reimagined versions of older Duran Duran songs alongside a few cover versions.

The subsequent Danse Macabre concerts have to date been in America. Bringing the show to their home country for the first time saw the band and many of the 23,500 sold-out audience members digging out their best Halloween costumes from the crypt.

Looking as if they had just walked off a Hammer Horror film set, the group had some devilish tricks up their sleeves for a performance that was spookily shocking and  
full of surprises with a mix of glamour and fun.

As part of the New Romantic movement back in the early eighties, which saw the band and their peers dressed extravagantly, the idea of dressing up and celebrating Halloween appeared to be the natural conclusion.

Hungry Like The Wolf was ideally placed in the set; the track still had teeth, so to speak, providing a strong bite early on in the set. Any Two Tone music fan back in the eighties would have been astounded with the thought of Duran Duran covering The Specials' number one hit, Ghost Town. Tonight, as on the Danse Macabre album, the song fitted perfectly into the overall theme.

Likewise, the ELO cover of Evil Woman and the Cerrone disco hit Supernature alongside their own song, New Moon on Monday.

Many would have been unable to fathom out who the invited guest bass player was who joined the band on stage towards the end of the night. Victoria De Angelis from the Italian rock band and Eurovision Song Contest winners Måneskin brought a youthful edge to the night.

With a fire flame dancer opening up the encore of Wild Boys, the festivities reached fever pitch that also included recognition to Manchester band Joy Division as keyboardist Nick Rhodes played a few chords of Love Will Tear Us Apart.

The chilling and spookiness became wrapped up even further as Rio closed the sinister spectacle. “Manchester has been with Duran Duran since 1981; we love you guys,” affirmed bassist John Taylor, ending a night when the wolf howled, the moon shone and the spookiness was nothing less than spectacular.