Duran Duran and Snow Patrol to play Olympic Games opening concert

Duran Duran are to represent musical talent from England at a concert marking the start of the Olympic Games.

The band will appear alongside other acts representing Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on July 27 to coincide with the opening ceremony of the Games.

The line-up will include Snow Patrol, representing Northern Ireland, Stereophonics for Wales and Paolo Nutini who will play for Scotland.

People attending the concert will be able to watch the London 2012 opening ceremony broadcast live on giant screens.

Tickets for the BT London Live opening ceremony celebration concert will go on sale to BT customers only on Thursday at 9am before going on general sale on Friday.

Another major outdoor concert to mark the closing ceremony of the Olympics will be held on August 12 with Blur as the main act.

The BT London Live concert, also featuring The Specials and New Order, sold out in just a few hours.

The choice of Duran Duran to open such a high-profile show did not meet with universal approval this morning.

The band - formed 34 years ago and led by 53-year-old Simon Le Bon - have scored just two top 10 hits in the past two decades.

Novelist and broadcaster Tony Parsons was among many Twitter users who posted messages highlighting that the group's golden days were in the early 1980s.

He wrote: "Duran Duran to headline Olympic gig. Who is running the 1500 metres - Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett?"

People also mocked the choice in the wake of reports that Olympic ceremony organisers had tried to recruit The Who to perform, including their drummer Keith Moon, who died in 1978.

One wrote: "I'm guessing Duran Duran must have got the call last minute when the London 2012 organisers found out Keith Moon wasn't available."

Another Twitter user said: "Duran Duran to headline the Olympic gig and a manager whose last title was in 1988 gets the England job. What next? Leg warmers & Rubiks cubes?"

PA