Hungry like wolves

Nostalgia wafted through the velvety lounge of the Chateau Marmont on Tuesday night as demigods of ‘80s New Wave Duran Duran sauntered into a crowd of adoring friends and fans.

Simon LeBon, looking tanned in a white suit, led Gwen Stefani, Gavin Rossdale and Christina Applegate to a table in the back of the room, where they were later joined by guitarist Andy Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor. Keyboardist Nick Rhodes batted his eyes (accented with just the right amount of charcoal shadow) and basked in one woman’s compliments. Bassist John Taylor, accompanied by his wife and Juicy Couture co-founder, Gela Taylor, fielded questions from reporters.

“I feel young again!” he said.

The party feted that night’s show at the Roxy, a recall of their first-ever Stateside gig at the Sunset Boulevard club in 1981. It was billed as the band’s first performance together in 18 years. Enduring fans in their 30s packed the 450-capacity club, sporting Duran Duran buttons and lots of hair gel.

The band was also set to play the Orange County Fair on Wednesday and Las Vegas on Saturday.

But there was a bit more riding on their Los Angeles gig, Taylor said. The fair was booked first, he said, but “to be coming back and playing the county fair didn’t feel cool enough.” So they booked the Roxy and invited a few famous fans, including a platinum blond Beck.

“What we were doing up there tonight was in defiance of those 18 years,” Taylor said. “We haven’t changed that much.”