The reunited Duran Duran landed in the Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday night minus one member. Guitarist Andy Taylor temporarily left the tour last week to return to the bedside of his ailing father.

Perhaps Taylor is more key to the Duran Duran experience than one would have imagined. For much of the show's first hour, the band's performance felt sluggish, awkward and pained. Who would have guessed Motley Crewe " who hit the Target Center last week " would be the more entertaining of the dueling reunited '80s superstar tours?

It certainly didn't help that fill-in guitarist Dominic Brown hasn't quite learned his parts. At times " most pointedly during the band's classic debut single "Planet Earth", " he seemed to be playing a different song, with a different band, possibly in a different state.

And here's a free tip to Duran Duran's camera crew: Avoid all those lingering close-ups of keyboard player Nick Rhodes. Yeah, the guy's always reveled in that whole icy cool thing, but Tuesday night he looked downright bored and occasionally angry. (Yeah, Nick, I forgot to tape "The Amazing Race," too.)

Not that Duran Duran members didn't occasionally find their groove. "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Union of the Snake" rocked with a certain feathered-hair panache, and "Save a Prayer" had the whole arena singing along. When the songs started to get dull, there was
always John Taylor. The bass player  " long a fan favorite " got lustful cheers nearly every time he lifted his chin.

The biggest saving grace for Duran Duran's future is that a few of the band's new songs " from last year's indifferently received "Astronaut " actually improved in a live setting,
particularly the evening-opening "(Reach Up for the) Sunrise" and the ballad "What Happens Tomorrow."

So what happened Tuesday? Maybe Simon Le Bon and the boys were merely attempting to re-create a jaded '80s ennui, minus the mountains of cocaine and supermodels? Maybe they looked out at the surprisingly small audience of about 6,000 " half that of Motley Crewe's " and figured they'd save their "A" game for, uh, tonight's show in Moline?

Whatever the case, it was tough not to leave this show a little hungry, hungry for more of what made Duran Duran so much fun the first time around.