Roxy Music Live - S/D

The T. Rex part, a different concert performance, isn't quite as good, but also worth a viewing.

can anyone direct me to the thrill of it all cd online? i can't live without pyjamarama all of a sudden!

Is there an official release of the BBC material yet. Just listening to th e'72 In Concert show and it sounds fantastic. So surprised it hasn't come out in a legit way.
This was part of a 2cd set of various Eno era Roxy music stuff that I got torrented a few years back.
If it was possible to get it fully remastered from the masters it would be a lovely thing to have.
This did also include the first session which still has Davy O'List on pre Manzanera so that might possibly have thrown up some kind of obstacle.
There also appears to be one session missing that hasn't been rebroadcast so maybe has ceased to exist. Would think somebody must have a copy in some quality though, even if not as pristine as a BBC master.

Picked out Viva the other day, and the one-two punch of "If there's something" and "...Heartache" on that one tears the sky apart. I couldn't do anything for half an hour.

I think Roxy might be my favorite band.

that record is so fucking amazing....pyjamarama also kills

I'm sure I've mentioned this in some other Roxy thread, but Stockholm 1976, bootlegged as Why Do You Think I'm A Funky Chick? is my favorite boot, as it's song for song the show I saw them do on the Siren tour. A good portion of the video is on youtube (and maybe elsewhere?) as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G35X8XYAues

Nice! Never known this.

Turns out I mentioned it in 3 other threads! Happy to help. That Musikladen DVD referred to 10 years ago is incredible also.

Just picked up a vinyl of Viva the other day; not a superb recording but a great performance.

What a great gig! Smoother, more elegant Roxy-mode than the band killing it on Viva, but still awesome. What a fab band!

also who is the woman on the cover of Viva? Loads of info on every other album but not this one.

Always thought that's Jacqui Sullivan, one of "The Sirens" along with Doreen Chanter.

the Viva chick is one of the '75 tour backup singers...she is also in the Love is the Drug top of the pops performance (lip sync), killing in a powder blue WWII style pencil skirt suit type thing--unbelievably hot. If you don't own this, you're nuts

http://www.amazon.com/Thrill-All-Visual-History-1972-1982/dp/B000JLQT3M/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1376503308&sr=1-1&keywords=roxy+music

http://cache3.asset-cache.net/gc/102299596-english-singer-bryan-ferry-with-roxy-music-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=R4V%2fQay2ANwpmCZhkZDSEtJ%2fNB9CuZA6P62eiqU%2bI8uoJC4wu0mD06oG3nrdoCtUrt32SQS0DBuf%2fOeIK6gOxg%3d%3d

eh I'll dissent. The backup singers are too zealous or perhaps mixed too zealously esp on "Both Ends Burning."

Is there an official release of the BBC material yet. Just listening to the '72 In Concert show and it sounds fantastic. So surprised it hasn't come out in a legit way.

― Stevolende, Saturday, September 29, 2012 9:26 PM (10 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

still no official release. Eno goes wonderfully over the top on a lot of these. 'First Kiss' is a good sounding boot.

http://www.discogs.com/Roxy-Music-First-Kiss/release/4454187
http://www.roxyrama.com/releases/unauthorised/cd/firstkiss.shtml

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYgVORvXGAs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jS_AmSNUel4&t=52

the Manifesto tour had terrific performances.

^^^ the only two times I saw Roxy were Siren and Manifesto tours. I give the nod to the former, because it was my first time, and because I can still clearly remember so many details of that show.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyogdngZ5P1qilqg8.png

Could anyone ever be cooler?

the lady on the right is the one on the viva cover, akm

What's up with the eyepatch? The pad suggests it was more than a fashion statement.

well we know he's no stranger to danger!

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00438/news-graphics-2008-_438878a.jpg

Reminds me of nothing more than the Nazi alternate dimension Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart from the 1970 Doctor Who serial, Inferno.

Ferry wears the same expression on a plummeting plane that we'd see on stage.

Can anyone sort of the Musikladen appearances? I think there were 3, which tracks were performed when?

Wow didnt realise there was any pics of the plane incident

he was right about the socks

Btw the Frejus appearance from '82 is/was on BBC4, iplayer now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoVNmiBS65U

Fabulous. Bryan Ferry is such a weird frontman.

Was that guy ever young?

What a great band.

that is fantastic, thank you

There is a recording from Denver, 1979, which has been released under various names in the past few years, that I just heard for the first time this week, and it's incredible. It's on Apple Music as just "Denver 1979"

yeah they were on fire on the Manifesto tour. Many clips on YouTube.

loool the screen capture on that 1973 vid.

sweating pancake makeup

that is incredible, thank you

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/566943d25a5668b614270ff9/1510354687583-3BGT35UHWOUY0G872ZO9/930ee188c4f954e425100346e79f9962--classic-monsters-halloween-photos.jpg?content-type=image%2Fjpeg

That show is right before Eno left iirc.

Believe that Denver '79 show was a King Biscuit broadcast.

I didn't listen to the box set of their first album because at this point Super Deluxe box sets are burning me out, but I tried the smaller deluxe set for the second disc - half John Peel sessions, half live show from 1972 (probably a soundboard tape) - and it's pretty great! If it was a bootleg, I could see people grading the sound as an A or A-, but not surprisingly it's not on par with the professional recordings and mixes you'd expect for an official live album.

It kind of hit me that I don't own any live Roxy Music concerts from the Eno years, just a few TV one-offs. What's here isn't that long but it's worth it - Eno in particular goes wild, and he adds something remarkable and different from song-to-song. The John Peel sessions do sound like rougher, less developed versions of the songs - whether they all are, I'm not sure, but it has that feel to it, and the live concert recordings sound like a big step forward as a result.

I've heard the two-disc version, too. Most unlikely highlight: the rocked-up concert version of "The Bob".

Yeah, that was a nice surprise!

In Chicago, Roxy is part Live Nation's $80 for 4 concerts deal with no additional fees!

Direct link if interested:
https://www.livenation.com/promotion/summerslive/venue/KovZpa2M7e

Aw, crap all gone. Never mind.

There are soooooo many tickets left.

I'm guessing the $20 ones were probably nosebleeds anyway. Just wait until the day of. At exactly 4pm CST or 5 pm or 6pm (most likely 4 but it's always right on the hour), TM will automatically slash prices in half. Unless a lot of people buy up those tix between now and then, I can't see that not happening.

Central for Chicago that is.

is this not selling well? that's a shame if so, hopefully the tour isn't in jeopardy as a result.

Would they cancel the tour due to sale? I've never had that happen before and that would really SUCK.

*sales

So apparently sales for Philadelphia and Boston were so slow that they've moved those shows to smaller venues. They had to reassign seats for everyone, and anyone who was unhappy with their new assigned seat could get a refund and return their tickets. I haven't heard of any other shows doing this, even though plenty of tickets remain for NY, Chicago, etc...may depend on venue availability I guess.

Kind of breaks my heart to say that - yeah tickets were overpriced but Roxy Music is also a 1000x better than a lot of bands that sell out arena shows.

Well, Roxy Music the band certainly is. Roxy Music, *this* band, right now, all in their '70s ... I guess we'll see. Bryan Ferry has been great the few times I've seen him but I did not see him in an arena, and it's been several years. I saw Roxy Music on one of its more recent reunion tours, in an arena, and I recall being a little let down, tbh.

Anyway, still have not bought tickets, will consider buying tickets the week of. I'm definitely not paying $100 to hang from the rafters of the United Center, though.

I got tix for the Madison Square Garden show. Any smaller venue they could relocate it to would be an improvement afaic.

I missed out on their earlier reunion tours, but I did catch Ferry in 2019 and I actually thought it was amazing. The knock I hear from some fans is that his voice is too whispery now, but I actually thought it worked great for the songs. The show itself just whetted my appetite for one more reunion tour, which at the time wasn't a given. Ferry was playing with a much younger band, so I don't know if that helped.

And yeah, I'm kind of hoping they rebook it for three nights at the Beacon. (Two may even be enough.)

Roxy is one of my all-time favorites (pre-Manifesto Roxy, that is), and I went through a months-long period where I listened to Stranded every single day. I can’t remember why I missed them in 2001, but I never forgave myself. And with Paul Thompson back in the lineup, no way am I missing this. And even though I managed to get a decent floor seat at MSG, yeah, the Beacon would be amazing.

Was Oliver what's-his-name still his lead guitarist? He was good.

Yeah the Ferry show in 2019 was solid -- absolutely the most 'pro' show I've been to in years and years. Like you could imagine everyone on stage interviewed for their respective Guitar Player equivalents or appearing at NAMM.

I saw Ferry a few years ago and was actually slightly disappointed at the lack of “pro” slickness - figured that the advantage of seeing Ferry solo vs Roxy would be an extra level of “studio sheen” transposed into the live situation - but they were actually pretty rockin and perhaps a little stodgy. I was hoping for Prince levels of polish, and everyone in the band being 30 and not sweating.

The 2001 Roxy show I saw was absolutely sublime, best old dudes victory lap performance ever and turned me from a curious dilettante into a committed fan. Wild to think that they were all relatively spry 50-somethings.

I'd love it if this show moved out of the Chase in SF. haven't paid attention to how the sales have been but they've probably been fairly good.

oh wow there are a ton of tickets left for SF. floor basically gone, first several rows in the risers gone, everything else still available. yikes. There's even 2nd row tix available, but they run $600.

It's a vicious cycle, isn't it? Price a show too high and no one goes. Lower the price, and people learn to wait for the price to be lowered. My friend in the concert industry seems to think everything's a bit overheated, too active, everyone touring at once, too many big shows to go around. I wonder.

there are too many, several things I'm skipping on (kendrick lamar, roger waters, probably skipping new order/pet shop boys) because I just can't afford it

Yeah, exactly. And two of those things (NO/PSB, Roger Waters) are more or less strictly nostalgia/never ending tour propositions. Kendrick ... at least he is a major contemporary artist, which makes the show seem like more of an event, and not just another year, another Kendrick tour.

Saw them on the 2001 reunion tour in Boston and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. Perfect weather... incredible setlist... lots of energy. Brilliant.

As for this tour, it's really wild that they thought they could fill that venue (the Garden) here, especially at those prices. It never made any sense.

I remember when I saw them on their Avalon tour, forty years ago, I was thinking about how I wished I could've seen them "in their prime."

ya I mean all respect to Roxy Music but when I saw the venues and ticket prices I was like "god damn they must think they're Genesis"

lol I skipped the Genesis farewell tour, too, because I'd seen them before and knew that even if they managed to be OK there was no way they'd be better than they were the last time I saw them, or the time before that, or the time before that, etc. These groups, they can still be good but they'll never be *better*, not really. And rather than make things at least more interesting by playing smaller venues, say, or shaking up setlists, they typically make things worse (or more boring/rote) by touring arenas and playing the same ol' setlists the same way.

I mean, I'm planning to go, but I'm not going to pay piles of cash to see a band decades past its prime from a great distance. If I'm going to stare at a performance on a screen, I can do that at home.

That's what happened with me and Springsteen & The E Street Band. I already missed Federici, but when Clemons died (who I did see on the 2009 tour), I actually lost interest in seeing them in 2012, thinking it would be too much of a loss. Regretting that now because I actually think Wrecking Ball is his best album since his colossal run from 1973-1987. And now he's audibly older (I kept thinking that when I heard him a couple of months ago) which kind of reinforced my belief that if you want to see someone, go - yeah, they're older, but they're only going to get older and it's not going to sound better if you go to an even later tour just to see them while you can.

For sure if you've never seen an act, add them to the bucket list. That justifies the cost a bit more, because suddenly you're getting exactly what you pay for: just a chance to say you've seen a favorite act live.

I feel lucky that I've gotten to see most of the top tier and a lot of my favorite acts at least once, so a different calculation comes into play. For example, I've seen the Afghan Whigs a bunch, and they're responsible for a couple of my favorite shows of all time. So, counter-intuitive though it may be, do I need to see them again when I've already gotten anything I'd ever want from them and more? Especially once line-up changes and deaths come into play. What am I actually seeing, you know? At what point is the band you're watching not the band you're there to watch, even accounting for the passage of time? (Not talking about the Whigs, specifically, though they're down to two key members.)

Curious how far a lot of these acts can push it. Leonard Cohen made it to 82. Mick is 79. Paul is 80. Dylan is 81. Bryan Ferry is a mere 76, four years older than Bruce.

yeah, they're older, but they're only going to get older and it's not going to sound better if you go to an even later tour just to see them while you can.

When I saw the Who at MSG this past May not only was Townshend's soloing as brilliant as ever (even though the physicality of his chording was a little diminished), but Daltrey sounded better than when I saw them in 2012, and in 2006...and in 1989. I don't know what he's doing to keep his voice in shape, but he was hitting notes that he couldn't hit 30+ years ago. Hell, I'd go see Daltrey solo in a heartbeat if he got within driving distance.

The best I've ever heard Daltrey was a solo show.

xp Wow, I was actually at that MSG show! I agree, it sounded like Townshend was doing some amazing improvisations on his solos...but I had to really strain to hear him because they really buried him in the mix. (I was on the floor, right in front of the mixing board.) Someone else told me they heard him clearly, but they were also in the front row and might've heard him through some monitors on the stage.

I was insanely lucky enough to get a 3rd row ticket to that show, and Pete was clear as a bell; I was definitely hearing him from his stage rig, rather than the PA. But just about every report I've heard from this tour echoed your experience. It's bizarre that the PA mix wouldn't have Pete higher in the mix (unless someone in the Who camp is thinking, "Pete's old, he may hit some clams, better not turn him up").

Weird, when I saw them last Pete's playing was definitely not really up to par, with Simon (and someone else, too? I can't remember) helping out a lot with the trickier guitar stuff. Cool to hear he's picked up a bit. Maybe better arthritis meds?

Maybe it has something to do with his hearing? I imagine it's still a struggle for him to hear correctly. Would having the PA sound on top of his stage rig throw him off?

Nah, these guys all have perfectly calibrated in-ear monitors. I once saw Garbage, and this guy leans over and tells me he made Butch Vig's in-ear monitors, and that if you were on stage behind the PA there's very little up there actually making much noise at all, relative to the house volume. Vs. AC/DC, who if I understand correctly did have all the speakers and monitors blasting full on, because Angus wanted it to sound and feel the same no matter where he was standing.

i would absolutely have seen Genesis on this tour had they been able to come to the west coast. but look: I paid a shit ton of money to see McCartney this year, assuming it's the last time. (admittedly I have done that twice with him already in the past 10 years); for bands that are winding down or getting older, if I haven't seen them yet, I'll spring for it. Hence, yeah, I paid probably too much for this Roxy Music concert but I can't imagine I'm going to be disappointed. I will be happy if it relocates to the Warfield though.

I remember when I saw them on their Avalon tour, forty years ago, I was thinking about how I wished I could've seen them "in their prime."

I saw that tour too (1983 at SDSU) and pretty much feel the same now.

Nah, these guys all have perfectly calibrated in-ear monitors.

I’m not certain, but I believe Townshend doesn’t use in-ear monitors, opting for the usual wedges. His amp rig, though, had lots of black cylinders around it, presumably to both keep the volume reasonable and to prevent leakage. As for perfectly calibrated, on each of the last four Who shows I saw, Daltrey angrily ripped out his in-ear monitors and shouted curses at their soundperson.

lol my friend and I always joke that the singers who do things like angrily rip out their in-ear monitors or point to their microphones and yell at the sound guy are the singers that are fucking up. Or, in Daltrey's case, possibly just can't hear!

Revealing he now relies on lip-reading and in-ear monitors at live shows, Roger said: “The trouble with the​se ear things that I wear is that I am very, very deaf. And I advise you all – all you rock-and-roll fans – take your f***ing ear plugs to the gigs.

Anyway as for Pete https://www.musicianshearingservices.co.uk/2019/02/28/pete-townshend/

I bet he does have some stage wedges, but probably to augment the ears.

Ah, didn’t realize that about Pete. It makes sense, since the volume and bothersome frequencies can be perfectly regulated.

tickets for Roxy in SF are now being sold via Goldstar, which is like Groupon for events; $25 tix available. Yikes.

Same in NY - maybe that's a sign they won't be moving to a smaller venue?

Same here, it appears. Lowest price is $40 for the nosebleeds, $80 for the next level, $110 or so for floor. Plus fees, of course. Unless I'm doing something wrong, though, it does not show specific seat assignments here, at least not through the first few steps of checkout, just the general level.

Yeah, I really wish I waited - I could've gotten floor for what I paid.

lol i paid regular price for my half-decent seats, not sure if Goldstar is selling tix for the Toronto show but either way, not too upset, i'd be even less upset if they moved the show to a smaller venue

update: they're not but damn this website is janky looking

goldstar fuckin rules i saw alice cooper for $8 earlier this year!

So, 50% off?

(sorry, Alice Cooper, I couldn't help it)

have to assume this tour is a massive money looser, but whatever, it's not like it's going to impact their ability to tour again, because I know they won't.

I can't tell whether the seats they moved me to are better or not because the alternative venue (MGM at Fenway) is new and they don't have a virtual view up yet. But I did get moved to the floor (even if it's kind of jammed off to the site). Regardless, I, too, am stoked they are playing in a smaller spot.

Tour starts tonight, right? I guess pretty soon we'll find out what they're playing and how they sound.

yeah, starts tonight in Toronto. i'm going. never seen Bryan Ferry live or anything so i have no previous standard. anyway, will report back. if i remember.

Should we post setlists? I'm kind of hoping it will be a surprise, but understand others may not feel the same way ...

I mean, I'm going to look it up whether it's posted here or not. but I would be shocked if the set list was remarkably different from the last time they toured. there's no new material, obviously. and this is a farewell tour of sorts, so you kind of know what you're going to get.

just look it up on setlist.fm

I got a copy of tonight's setlist... they're just going to jam on "Bitters End" for 75 minutes and then leave the stage one by one.

Encore: "The Paw-Paw Negro Blowtorch".

https://preview.redd.it/v84sdc8ivcy71.png?width=613&format=png&auto=webp&s=24d68106b19d43822c89e2da7539f9492fd1a42f

you kind of know what you're going to get.

I don’t. I’ve never seen them, never seen Ferry, never even looked up past setlists. I’m looking forward to going in not knowing what they’ll play.

One Word: "Sultanesque".

Interesting setlist - a lot of stuff from the two Eno albums, a lot of stuff from Avalon, and only a handful from in-between! I wonder if they're going to change it up with each show?

I was pleased with the Avalon representation but no “Take a Chance With Me” or “True To Life” which I def was hoping to hear tonight

regardless, fantastic show, Bryan can’t hit the high notes anymore but they can all still put on a hell of a show

I’m vicariously checking this thread for reports/set lists, although realizing that some wouldn’t want those lists to spoil their surprise. I do think that, given Ferry’s perfectionism, the sets won’t change much, if at all, on the tour. They’re not The Grateful Dead.

Setlist.fm has Toronto's set list up if you want spoilers.

Cool! Thx

who is playing bass? fingers crossed for Michael Dempsey! (i know this is not real likely)

could it be Neil Jason?

My hubby , producer ,bass player #neiljason arriving in my hometown #toronto ,kicking off the 50th anniversarrytour #roxymusic #bryanferry #scotiabankarena https://t.co/7fzAZthqnk

— Brigitte Zarie (@brigittezarie) September 2, 2022

wow, that's actually pretty cool that it's someone with Roxy history rather than an anonymous session guy - Michael Dempsey wasn't too wild a guess after all!

well, a session guy with Roxy history shall we say

A quick glance confirms it's largely the same setlist as the last time they were here, but there are enough changes/surprises in there that make me excited.

I'd kind of been hoping for the return of Guy Pratt on bass, but I think he's out with Nick Mason.

I was curious to see which Roxy album tracks have never been played live:

Bitters End
Sunset
Triptych
End of the Line
Could It Happen To Me?
Just Another High (!)
My Little Girl
Spin Me Round
The Midnight Hour
No Strange Delight
The Space Between
True to Life

Least-played songs: "Cry Cry Cry" (once), "Running Wild" (twice).

Deservedly.

All of them? I always thought "Just Another High" was an anthem. And I'd much rather hear any of those unplayed ballads than "Jealous Guy" again.

No, "Cry Cry Cry" and "Running Wild."

"Just Another High" *is* an anthem imo, I played it repeatedly through several romantic breakups. It's one of my favorite Roxy songs, and among my favorites by anyone ever.

Yeah, "Just Another High" could make my top ten Roxy tracks. And yeah, it is a great breakup song - it got picked out as one (or as an "anti-love" song) on this Sound Opinions episode called "Love Stinks":

https://www.soundopinions.org/show/11

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpoQ0TT-uG8

The genius of Roxy Music sounding so ahead of their time is that even as old farts they don't sound like old farts.

I wish I had floor seats - visually that looks f-ing cool

Yeah wow, what a production. And the everyone-take-a-solo section was spot on, down to Eno's synth squawks.

damn they sound awesome.. I'm going to see them in London btw if anyone wants to FAP!

I watched the performance of "More Than This" last night - they've dropped the key nearly an octave from G♭ to A♭, and Ferry could still barely get the notes out. Almost as sad as Gordon Lightfoot.

Yah MTT sounds rough as hell... also they have two drummers?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcD-UAMlSB0

I wondered that, but I assume the other guy is mostly a percussionist who spends a lot of time propping up the more muscular parts of Paul Thompson's playing. Like when Pink Floyd reunited and Gary Wallis was supporting Nick Mason.

Just a heads up: Paul Thompson said on a Facebook comment that the setlist will change nightly.

Intriguing!

1. I'm psyched for 9/12, despite a.) I saw BF in 2018 at the Beacon Theatre (a venue like MSG that I would rather never have to go into for the rest of my life) and his voice is blown the fuck out and so it does bug me that for this reason the songs are often in keys that don't sound good to me and b.) if the band plays "Oh yeah" Monday, as he did at the Beacon in 2018, instead of almost any song from Country Life, Stranded or Siren, that will be disappointing, as it is the shittiest hit song they ever had, second only without any qualification to "Cry Cry Cry."

2. Someone at Livenation has mistaken this band for Eric Clapton or Springsteem, in that at no time, not even in 1982, could this band put a reasonable amount of asses in seats at MSG, and thus this individual should be fearing for their job. I got my ticket weds for $103, which is BAD NEWS for Livenation, and my friend in Toronto said that it was less than half full by his reckoning. But Ferry's management has no excuse for not understanding the touring market, as he tours the US every year: apparently, there was a belief that the S/T 50th anniversary and the Avalon 40th were a sufficient pretext for the band doing well at MSG or any other arena in major metropolitan areas in the U.S. Which is fucking insane.

yeah, there were a lot of empty seats on Weds night, I would say 2/3rds at most but I'm prob being generous

Decided to buy tickets yesterday for the DC tonight. Lots of mid-tier seats available for $50 each or so.

Mid-tier tix here still seem kind of pricy. Anything in the 200-level or above is at least $125, plus fees (so, like, more like $200?). Even the nosebleeds are hovering at $85 through Ticketmaster.

I saw Steely Dan once at the United Center here many years back, and it seemed half-full. But then I did the math and couldn't figure out a practical solution. "Half-full" at the United Center is close to 11,000, so to seat that many people would probably require multiple nights at a smaller venue (the places Ferry typically plays, say), which is not really practical for most big touring acts/productions. Of course, a smaller venue could have justified the ticket prices, but I also wonder how much ego is involved here. Then again, for sure Roxy Music is getting/has already gotten paid, so you're right, it's likely Live Nation that's losing out.

Something I am factoring in is that it seems unlikely Ferry will sound *better* several nights into the tour, but I guess you never know.

I checked out of curiosity and by contrast the cheapest seats at MSG are currently $273+ each, with lots of availability.

I'd pay $100 or so if it included fees, but no way would I pay $200 for shitty seats to this. Of course, I can currently get nosebleeds on the secondary market for $50, and I suspect a lot of those seats are just the venue/artist "reselling" tickets themselves.

Nosebleed isn't available for MSG on Ticketmaster; the $273 seats are some of the good seats but that's still an exorbitant amount for most peoples' budgets for the 2022 version of Roxy.

StubHub has nosebleeds in Chicago for $32. Main floor and first section are still around $200, but we're also 10 days out.

Yeah, I think the $32 is before fees (which even secondary market has). So it comes out closer to $50, iirc.

FWIW, it's been reported that they're closing the nosebleeds at some shows and upgrading ticketholders in those sections to lower tiers like the 100 section. So there's a chance that a nosebleed ticket will actually get bumped to a much better seat the day of the show.

Also, I saw Bryan Ferry in 2019 and I thought he was great. He did do "More Than This," but I honestly couldn't remember if he changed the key. I imagine he must have, so I checked - key was actually higher, but what made it work then was that he turned the high parts into a two-part harmony between him and a female vocalist, so Ferry was able to sing lower while the more familiar higher notes were sung by someone else. He still has the back-up singers on this tour so curious as to why he didn't keep that arrangement.

Upgrading at some Roxy shows specifically?

I guess it depends, but in Toronto they closed the 300s and two different ticketholders who bought tickets in that section confirmed they were upgraded to the 100s.

Maybe someone who's more familiar with venue logistics will know for sure, but I imagine they'd rather close down floors and have less to deal with than spreading the audience thinly across a venue.

The first time I saw Roxy Music, on the first reunion tour, they had actually curtained off about a third of the arena. I've seen other shows like that, where they sort of carve out a smaller space.

ugh i don't begrudge others getting their ticket upgraded but i actually paid full price for a 100-level ticket

I know what you mean. I paid full price for a 200-level ticket. So basically someone who sprung for a 300 could end up with a much better seat. But I've benefitted from similar lack of ticket sales too, so I'm fine with it.

I'm not sure how formal a thing it is. I know Springsteen's reunion tour, there were lots of accounts of "men in black" going to people in the nosebleeds and upgrading them to great seats. Heck, I used to do that myself when I was covering a lot of shows. The label or whomever would give me great seats, but if I wasn't into it or was just there for fun, I would often walk to the back, find a chill couple in the really cheap seats, and then just let them have my top tier tickets.

You might say that Ferry, absorbing the curtained-off seats, said, "More than this, no, there's nothing..."

Saw them in DC tonight. They closed off the top nose bleed seats in the arena. St. Vincent opened. Nice enough night. Ferry's voice was soothing to me after a tough day. Manzanera's guitar pyrotechnics sometimes worked and other times were too arena bombastic. Andy Mackay still sounded good on sax

I had a fun time. Ferry's voice is indeed shot, which made More Than This kinda feel like the Bill Murray karaoke version from Lost in Translation. But most of the time it all worked. Manzanera and Mackay sounded great. It's also a big production, with intentionally (I assume) disjointed imagery. It was wild to hear something like "In Every Dreamhome a Heartache" in the same building where the Washington Capitals play.

For what it's worth, afaict the setlists of Toronto and DC were identical, though a couple of songs were played in a different order.

I'm looking forward to this with tempered expectations. I mean I saw McCartney this year and his voice is really going down the tubes and it was still thrilling. People get old. As long as they seem like they care, there's still something to enjoy.

how was st. vincent? I didn't care for this latest album at all, but had heard her earlier tour was really great (as they usually are)

As long as they seem like they care, there's still something to enjoy.

What if their entire persona has been the cool appearance of disinterest?

Ferry has been giving off the cool appearance of disinterest since 1959.

Bryan Ferry as goalkeeper in the Washington Glebe, Newcastle, side 1959. #RoxyMusic pic.twitter.com/bfjfK8oSM9

— Danny Baker (@prodnose) September 9, 2022

Only to hide volcanic emotion

The emotion of a guy who just walked into a party and is already thinking about a better party he's leaving for in 5 minutes.

That is soul death.

As someone who thinks St Vincent is clearly talented but has a lot of issues with her albums and creative instincts, she was a good, energetic opener.

From 2019 - great tour IMHO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRXZFXxBniA

I saw Ferry in 2011 and he was still in fine whiskery voice. In 2017 the variety of his song selection ("Bete Noire"!) compensated for his diminished range.

He did "Virginia Plain" in Oakland in 2019 (but not at the tour's NY stop):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adbhXX-Vr-Y

love that fonzi thornton is still singing with him there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVnt5gNcb6o

Messed that up, try this.

Ferry’s voice may not be what it was, and he has assistance from 2 backup singers on this tour, but I’m ok with current status of it . I wouldn’t call it “shot” but to each there own

Haven't he and Roxy been enlisting backing vocalists for years? At least since "Avalon," but certainly some times before that.

Since the Country Life tour, I think.

so far the setlists seem pretty... set

The whole top level of MSG was empty tonight, but the rest of the place seemed full. I was never a St. Vincent fan, bordering on disliking her…but I was shocked at how much I dug her set. I dunno if her live presentation and arrangements are vastly different from her records (I’ve only heard a few stray songs, and saw her SNL appearance), but I can’t remember the last time an opening act impressed me this much. Roxy came charging out of the gate with ”Re-Make/Re-Model”, and there were surprises early on — I didn’t check out any setlists beforehand, but I never would’ve guessed they’d do ”The Bogus Man.” Ferry didn’t lean on the backing singers too much, but most of the songs were in a different key; sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn’t. For me, things really dragged as more post-hiatus songs dominated. And I was deeply disappointed that nothing at all from Stranded was played. Phil had a couple of outstanding moments, Andy seemed fatigued, but sounded ok, and Paul’s abilities have not diminished a whit. Considering his is arguably the most physically taxing role, that’s saying something. Ferry’s voice lacked power, and the contrast with Paul’s fire was instructive in terms of the importance of musicians taking care of themselves long-term (though Paul is also six years younger than Ferry).

was also at the garden and will second basically everything you said, tarfumes. mackay did seem tired but he had some excellent moments, particularly early in the show ladytron was a major mackay showcase and perhaps my favorite moment of the whole show.

i will say i wish they played a bit more from the early days, though i did like some of the avalon and flesh and blood deep cuts

https://i.ibb.co/C269kKM/PT.jpg

Thanks Paul.

I had a good time, but unlike the 2019 Ferry show, this did not exceed all expectations and simply met modest ones. The early stuff was great - after the first four numbers, I thought this would be a great show, but virtually all of the post-hiatus stuff was a cut below the early material. A shame because the same post-hiatus numbers knocked me out in 2019 - Ferry was clearly in better voice then and simply sung them all better (see above)

But I thought his smokey whisper was perfect on "Ladytron," and his church-organ-like keyboards sounded amazing on "Editions of You." Manzanera and Thompson were great and I agree that Thompson was a surprise. For some reason, I thought he'd be frail, but man did his pummel the shit out of his drums. Mackay was fine - I agree he sounded a bit spent at times, but I thought it was still wonderful to hear him.

Downside - I missed St. Vincent and I couldn't take full advantage of seat upgrades because a friend I went with wanted to be in the 100's, way off to the side. (The visuals were kind of ruined from our skewed perspective too.) They did offer floor seats, but no pairs next to each other - they had a pair that were in the same seats in adjacent rows, which I wish we took.

(was being sarcastic in thanking Paul...glad I didn't spring for multiple shows)

*he pummel

The visuals are all pretty set for each song, I don't know why Paul would promise anything other than a different order. Maybe by the time they get to England they'll switch it up.

Ferry was clearly in better voice then and simply sung them all better

yeah and this simply is less of a problem in the earlier songs, but in everything from siren or later, he needs to be able to croon

I dunno, the visuals for “Tara” — an unfortunate tribute to QEII (met with tepid applause and some boos) — surely weren’t in place at the start of the tour. I think it’s no more difficult to prepare or adjust different visuals at the last minute these days than it would be to adjust the sound mix for a different setlist.

xp

i laughed out loud when lizzie's face popped up. nice version of “tara” tho

The whole top level of MSG was empty tonight, but the rest of the place seemed full.

I think that's going to be the norm for this tour? I checked the seating charts for the two Texas dates next week (Austin & Dallas), and both have all the nosebleeds greyed-out (plus some of the rear floor area for some reason). Looks like a decent amount of front-section floor seats still available for both shows too.

so what happens if I buy a nosebleed today?

Speaking of preparing new visuals, I'm glad they did not yet have the queen tribute ready to go for the DC show.

Enjoyed the show while also feeling a bit sad that it's unlikely they can do this for much longer. Was surprised when Ferry said Roxy had played MSG back in 1972! Which is true. And they played the Whiskey a Go Go on the Sunset Strip on the same tour - quite a contrast! Hope it's not too spoilery but I thought the Warhol silkscreens behind "Editions of You" worked great and helped make that song a highlight (although there appeared to be some faux Warhols in there!)

Spoke to an usher at MSG who said she loved this particular crowd (=the Roxy crowd as a whole, surely).

MSG handled the upgrades by having personnel stationed just past the metal detectors. They had a stack of printed tickets and attendees seemed to approach them not the other way around, and the explanation was they didn't sell out so they're moving everyone up. You show them your ticket and they literally just go through the stack to look for an improved seat. I didn't try going to the closed section, but I imagine someone was there to either hand new tickets or tell you to turn back and get new ones. (Box office windows were all open so it's possible they did upgrades there too.)

On the 100 level, the food at MSG is amazing. Not sure if it's the same on other levels, but Mighty Quinn's, Paulie Gees, a good sushi place, etc....if it wasn't for COVID I would have eaten like a king. But the hallways also felt a lot emptier. It wasn't too sad because again COVID - it did feel a bit safer. I should've gotten a T-shirt or at least the postcards. (The 50th anniversary shirt and most others were $40.)

I should add it was probably the nicest-dressed crowd I've been with at a MSG show, which is fitting.

Ha, I thought the same thing! It was by far the most fashionable crowd I’ve ever seen at an arena show. One guy was immaculately dressed in a full tuxedo. I felt like a shlub in my Cecil Taylor t-shirt and jeans.

Was surprised when Ferry said Roxy had played MSG back in 1972!

What he didn’t mention is that they were opening for Jethro Tull. According to Ian Anderson, the audience reaction to Roxy was, “We don’t like you.” Yeah, get those glam guys off the stage so we can see some REAL rockin’ with…really long flute solos…and a guy in a bunny suit…

This couple sitting next to me had really stylish off-white outfits. At one point one of them stepped out at the same time as my friend, leaving just me next to this fabulously dressed person, and I thought "Jesus, if people think we're a couple, they're going to look at us and my T-shirt and shorts and think 'THIS mismatch isn't going to be together for long.'"

lol

didn't see very many well-dressed people at the Toronto show

however, was seated next to the most obnoxious couple in Ontario - kept on standing up when everyone else was seated, obnoxiously loud cheering to the point that the mild-mannered dad in front of me LITERALLY SHRIEKED "shut the fuck up!!!" at them like an actual shriek, the whole section p much cheered when they were kicked out (or left, i'm a bit unclear tbh)

also was more impressed with St. Vincent than expected - at one point, she tried to get on top of a security guard or something, expecting to be held but the guard wanted none of it and dropped her, she replied "this is a fuck show"

also was more impressed with St. Vincent than expected - at one point, she tried to get on top of a security guard or something, expecting to be held but the guard wanted none of it and dropped her, she replied "this is a fuck show"

LOL, I hope that's on YouTube

I've seen a handful of loud "woooo!"ers get told to shut up before, or get kicked out. Depends on the show, really.

Once I saw the Bats play a tiny backyard in Texas, and this kid behind me kept doing the loud whistle thing. After a while I turned around and did shout "shut the fuck up!" I'm no giant, but I somehow struck the fear of god into him and he apologized. I think he was just caught up in it all. Fast forward several years, to 2013, and the Bats are playing Chicago. Before they on this other guy near me gets the attention of everyone around him and says "The Bats are my favorite band of all time, just warning you I'm going to dance, I'm going to sing along and shout." And he did, but everyone was cool with the heads up.

The Bats, man ...

the annoying couple did actually give some of us a heads up but we were still unprepared for the breadth and volume of their annoyingness

On the floor at MSG people mostly stood or sat together — and I don’t think it was a coincidence that most stood for the early songs and sat for the later ones. But there was one guy who just stood completely motionless through the whole show. He was blocking my view of Paul Thompson, but I didn’t wanna stand, because I’m tallish and didn’t want to be That Guy to the people behind me. Overall, a well-behaved crowd, even though a fight almost broke out as people were leaving.

also was more impressed with St. Vincent than expected - at one point, she tried to get on top of a security guard or something, expecting to be held but the guard wanted none of it and dropped her, she replied "this is a fuck show"

She did a bit at MSG where she walked into the audience — the first 15 rows or so — and sang to people and let them take selfies. It was actually kind of charming, but as she stepped off the stage she said, “THAT was uncomfortable,” and I don’t know if it’s because she tried to climb on a security guard.

missed this thread till today. Posted my thoughts on facebook and got hundreds of comments and responses. Add me there if you haven't already. St. Vincent was absolutely FANTASTIC. I like some of her records more than other but the performance was outstanding regardless.

It really pisses me off now that I missed St. Vincent simply because my friend took his sweet time eating and sipping his gigantic drink and didn't want to consume his meal at our seats.

She did crowd work...she came out and sat on some guys lap and took his hat. She went and picked up a little kid.

She also had a waitress come out and bring her a drink and dance around.

And the band was great and featured a guitarist who was apparently in the Three O'Clock?

I should say I've seen her own concerts twice before, but it's always entertaining when they're performing in front of a less-receptive audience as an opener - sounds like she had fun with it. Someone posted this elsewhere:

I had the most bizarre experience watching her open in Toronto. A crowd full of boomers either disinterested or walking up and down the stairs. She's such a good sport though, someone in the front row was TEXTING and she went up to them and started asking who they were texting. Then she was like "your ambivalent faces only give me ammunition".

I heard she also drank some audience member's beverage in D.C. Pretty bold in the COVID era!

An entire show from 2001...man, wish I had caught this back in the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMuam2eJzLc

I know I saw them in 2001, but it's one of those shows that for whatever reason I can't remember a single thing about it except for the venue and where I was sitting. Oh, and seeing Jon Langford there.

i know i've said this before but i saw the 2001 show and it turned me from a roxy dilettante into a committed fan - at the time I still had a bit of residual punk sniffiness about seeing legacy acts but i was totally blown away - at the time they seemed very old to me (now they look spry compared to this year's model) - but the show had tonnes of energy and captured a lot of the sophistication and glamour one would hope to see at a roxy concert

related, was the early 2000s a particularly good time to see warhorse acts? like, between 2001 and 2004 i saw pretty amazing shows from roxy, bowie, neil young, prince, the cure - probably some others - it felt like they all had a really good sense of what their strengths were at that point, and were very smart about the way they mixed canonical stuff with strong new material (roxy were the only band that didn't have new tunes) - anyway yeah maybe some sweet spot of reissue culture meets online fandom meets 40/50-something musos with a bit of life force left in the tank - i guess the cynical view is that this is when bands started totally pandering to their base rather than forging ahead artistically - but they were good shows to see!

The upshot of seeing them that late is that you can hear them play pretty much any major song from their catalog since it's all behind them now. I didn't see them on tour, but Bowie's Reality tour was definitely great - he put out excellent releases based on that tour. Even though Prince was doing the Jehovah's Witness thing, the live box set he put out in the early '00s is really good, particularly the "aftershow" disc. (It was recently reissued with a DVD included, the one that used to be a standalone release.) I can't tell you how much I regret missing those tours - I was already a huge fan of both by then, but I thought there'd be a whole lot more. In Prince's case there were, but in terms of shows I could realistically catch due to location, I think there was maybe two more that I could've seen.

I always liked Viva Roxy, and somewhere I've got a promo DVD of a BBC doc about them, that ends with a reunion show: really good, although seemed like the camera person was kinda short, standing in an audience of mighty tree-people? Memory might be exaggerating.
Haven't listen in a while, but St. Vincent albums tended to seem so hip they square, "Didn't I blow your mind with that line, now dig this"---an exception being Clark's song to her mother, "I love you more than Jesus"---yet as leader of St. Vincent the band, she and they ripped up SXSW, streaming on NPR several years ago---to the extent that an argument broke out on some thread around here about whether she was pandering by shredding, rockist etc---but yeah catch her live.

She seemed to get more and more high concept with each album, which turned me off, because the high concept stuff was also pretty pretentious. This all happened around the time she started to self-consciously act like a dick in interviews, which is certainly one sort of strategy.

There was definitely a wave of memorable reunions around the same time, give or take a few years: E Street Band, Gang of Four, Wire, Mission of Burma, Pixies, Television (again), Roxy Music, Soft Boys, Sabbath, Sex Pistols, even the Police. Most were pleasant surprises, just to see them back together again at all. I suppose the same went for Fleetwood Mac before them. The VU was the biggest surprise reunion before that, as short as it lasted. I got to see a three song Big Black reunion at one point, that was unexpected.

yeah definitely could've added Springsteen and Pixies to my little list during that early 2000s window - and pretty good iterations of those bands too (eg Clarence Clemons & Kim Deal still there)

May have mentioned this before but Zev Katz (bass on this 2001 tour) would do session work at my place of work back in the day. I remember his coming in just after this tour was over and telling us how great an experience it was. He said the band were great folks. He also added that Ferry was a stickler for detail but a kindly one.

to emsworth above: The last great big venue shows I remember seeing were in the early 00s. Prince (Musicology tour, twice) was excellent and Yes (30th or 35th anniversary with the classic lineup) were outstanding.

xp i always thought it was cool that Zev Katz threw in a little quotation from ‘Lover’ at the end of ‘Oh Yeah’ - it’s one of my very fave Roxy songs so to hear it acknowledged (I’m assuming it was intentional)

(non-xp the stones were another band who i saw around then and seemed to be in good mid-career form - and playing some interesting stuff like Can’t You Hear Me Knockin and Stray Cat Blues

i say mid-career form but at the time i was of the mind, “see all these veteran acts now cos they can’t possibly keep doing this much longer” - now 20 years later they’re mostly still doing it with diminishing returns - and some sad losses - so that little early 2000s period does look sweet)

(a caveat, I saw Neil Young again 10-12 years later on the Psychedelic Pill tour and he was even better than 2001!)

The Who’s 1999-2000 tours were an unexpected peak for them. Entwistle and Townshend were on fire — I’ve shown videos of Townshend solos from these shows to casual Who fans who all said, “When did he start playing like that?!” — and Zak Starkey really drove the band. Daltrey struggled with range occasionally, but longtime fans who’d seen them throughout the years called their ‘99-‘00 shows better than any since ‘76…or ‘71. The setlists were unpredictable, with a number of songs that hadn’t been played in years (or decades — “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,” “The Kids Are Alright,” and in 1999 their last “Happy Jack”). They didn’t take advantage of this momentum to make a studio record, so in that sense it was a missed opportunity, but fortunately the tours were well-documented. It was arguably the last-best time to have seen them.

Yeah, someone was sharing their 9/11 tribute show, and I forgot that not only was Entwistle still with them, they were playing as a fierce five piece.

Anyway, I finally bought my Roxy tickets. About $80 each with fees on Seatgeek, in an area currently greyed out on Ticketmaster (that until a week or so ago had plenty of tickets for $85, plus fees). Hopefully we get upgraded!

Caveat: I wouldn't have called Bowie a legacy act in 2002-2004.

No, but it was something of a comeback tour. Two well-received more or less "return to form" albums (produced by Visconti, no less) and once again playing the hits. The tour I saw him on before that was opening for Moby, iirc.

In some ways there were a lot of parallels with Prince's "Musicology" tour, a comeback tour from an act that never really went away.

I could have seen Bowie at one of those two shows...was opening for Moby the outdoor show (maybe Moby's Area festival) where it was like half or mostly empty? I remember reading about that from Greg Kot and it sounded shameful - like Bowie deserved more and he still gave it his all.

Anyway, one of my biggest regrets ever was not going. To save "money" because concerts were supposed to be too much of a luxury. Ugh.

yeah I regret not going to that tour since he did Low in entirety. but it was at a shitty venue and I didn't care to see Moby and probably didn't have the money. I'm really glad I went to the Reality tour. it was at the high school theater! Unbelievable.

I was at the Miami show in 2004 when the roadie fell to his death.

Project canceled.

Yeah, it was the Area show. (I may have even been there with Kot, lol). Bowie didn't do Low in its entirety, but he did play a couple of deep cuts from it - "Breaking Glass," "A New Career in a New Town." I could have sworn he did "Sound and Vision," too, but maybe not. The 2003 show at Madison Square Garden I saw had more "hits," iirc, including stuff like "Under Pressure" and "All the Young Dudes."

I'm really glad I went to the MSG show: acoustics were not bad at all; St Vincent, as many of you have said, has what it takes to command that space (despite its problems, no performer can deny that to play there, even as opener, means something more than arenas elsewhere); the band, particularly Thompson, who didn't make the RRHoF gig cuz of arthritis, sounded quite good, and Ferry's ruminative croak and the key changes thus necessitated didn't bother me at all, unlike 2018 at the Beacon… I saw quite a lot people under 40 who were dressed up and psyched…

1. In the first couple of rows, like 20 or so guys (probly all guys) were visible throwing fists and shouting the lyrics back at the band during the post-"then you blew my mind" crescendo of "Dream Home Heartache," like it was, I dunno, Slayer or Rush or some much nerdier or aggro rock band than this one…

2. I don't understand the affection for "Editions of You," which seems a first, inferior draft of "All I Want is you," but I do understand the affection for the very shitty "Oh Yeah," superior only to "Cry Cry Cry" and transparently an instance of Ferry thinking to himself "The americans will love this song about driving in cars and listening to a song on the radio." One song each from Country life and Siren, and none AT ALL from Stranded = not as good a show as I'd want. The 2001 Theatre at MSG show had lots from those trhee, but I got too fucked up to properly enjoy it.

I'm not an "Oh Yeah" fan either.

My confession is that I don't particularly like "Dream Home/Heartache," relative to the other stuff from that era. I think the broad affection for all the later stuff in general is why they can't make more room for Country Life through Siren, even though, ironically, that stuff is pretty muscular and imo better suited to an arena than "Avalon."

Those albums broke Roxy in America; they should honor them.

Caveat: I wouldn't have called Bowie a legacy act in 2002-2004.

I wouldn't now - in hindsight he's clearly on the upward trajectory towards regaining his full creative powers on Blackstar - but think he maybe was to most of the audience at that time - and he is embracing the legacy himself (was this something to do with needing to keep Bowie Bonds viable - I think maybe it was lol) - after the creatively searching 90s (including "retiring" the back catalogue in 1990), Glastonbury 2000 seemed to pretty intentionally signal "the David Bowie you like is back"... and then yeah, as someone mentioned, the reunion with Visconti, PR deliberately linking Low with Heathen, etc -I like Heathen and Reality a lot, and the material from those LPs was a very strong component of the Reality tour shows I saw - but the setlists were very carefully constructed on the basis that "we understand that you can only hear two songs you don't know before you need to hear Fame or Under Pressure" - with a carefully judged handful of deep cuts for the faithful - kind of exactly the kind of canny playing to his strengths I was talking about - it was actually a masterclass in structuring a big show like that IMO

anyway sorry for Roxy derail!

Good post!

As a fan who adored 1. Outside, liked much of Earthling, and watched him regain his American cred in the late '90s, Heathen and Reality played like culminations, especially the latter, which at the time I liked more for being the loosey-goosey relaxed album Tonight wasn't.

Pardon the chart talk, but it is curious that Country Life was their US breakthrough (#37) despite having no charting single, whereas Siren did have a big hit on it but the album charted lower than Country Life.

I never thought much of "Oh Yeah," but if I think about it as a throwaway, it's a very pleasant throwaway, the kind of thing that would've been nice as a soundtrack contribution.

And I f-ing LOVE "Editions of You," that was a highlight of the show.

I also with regards the show visuals, I kinda loved that final image of a drive-in full of cars, and they're all watching the road passing by, on the big-screen, in grain black & white like a European arthouse movie in the '50s (whereas the cars and drive-in are all in color and evoking American '50s culture).

*in grainy black & white

"Oh Yeah" was my least-favourite song they performed at their 2001 concert, but I remember thinking that they made it fit in with songs I preferred. They made a case for it belonging in the set.

I saw St. Vincent in 2014 and was impressed; I wonder if opening for another, older act at this point is humbling (if probably pretty lucrative). The stage business that people are describing sounds like "acting out".

it is curious that Country Life was their US breakthrough

It's a pretty deadpan joke - "country life, get it, here's a forest".

Pardon the chart talk, but it is curious that Country Life was their US breakthrough (#37) despite having no charting single, whereas Siren did have a big hit on it but the album charted lower than Country Life.

― Josefa, Thursday, September 15, 2022 4:57 PM (thirty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Chart Geek Me noticed it too when I discovered Roxy. The latter even sports their only top 40 hit in America.

It's payola.

1. In the first couple of rows, like 20 or so guys (probly all guys) were visible throwing fists and shouting the lyrics back at the band during the post-"then you blew my mind" crescendo of "Dream Home Heartache," like it was, I dunno, Slayer or Rush or some much nerdier or aggro rock band than this one…

I was in the 10th row, and at least where I was, it was definitely not all guys throwing fists at the end section of “Heartache.” The audience-unison “but you blew my mind” is Roxy’s equivalent to “it’s only teenage wasteland!”

And I f-ing LOVE "Editions of You," that was a highlight of the show.

Seconded. The studio version is easily one of my favorites of theirs, and one of the keyboardists really had fun with the synth solo.

Those albums broke Roxy in America; they should honor them.

I think the setlist was designed around what Ferry is currently most comfortable and capable of singing more than anything else. The Avalon songs aren’t nearly as demanding on his voice — especially in terms of exertion and projection — as pretty much anything from Stranded (except maybe “Sunset,” which would’ve been wonderful to hear).

he probably could've pulled off "amazona"

I've seen him three times and the moment when he runs/walks/hobbles to his Farfisa for his solo remains a thrill.

I have to say I love Oh Yeah. Just owning the schmaltz of it. Heard it in a supermarket once and was surprised. I didn’t realize it was that popular, never hear anything other than Love is the Drug in any kind of mainstream context, and it just sounded really good in that supermarket.

just listened to "oh yeah" for the first time in a while and i liked it more than i remembered, like if the pina colada song were good or something

i was happy to hear "same old scene" though, that song kicks ass

“Same Old Scene” my absolute favorite, transcendent even with Ferry singing some of it lower.

I listened to The Complete Studio Recordings yesterday and Flesh + Blood was surprisingly better than I remembered - lightweight but very pleasant stuff. ("Over You" is pretty amazing, it sounds like it was made for teen movies that would soon flood the '80s.)

Manifesto was pretty disappointing though. I enjoyed listening to the singles in isolation on the bonus discs, especially "Angel Eyes" which was completely re-done.

The remaining six are all great.

I like the best songs on Manifesto a lot especially the title track. Trash and the rock version of Angel Eyes which I only heard years after knowing the single version. But the rest is their most spotty for sure.

STILL FALLS THE RAIN

Manifesto is the only post-hiatus album I’ve heard, and yeah, it’s pretty disappointing, especially given Thompson’s involvement. The lack of Paul on the remaining two records is why I’ve never given them a fair shot, though I do like the Avalon hits. But the general agitated quality of the first six records (I’m counting Viva!) is missing completely from the later ones. It feels like a different band; not an awful band or anything, just one too far removed from what I loved about them.

STILL FALLS THE RAIN

Welp Siren, Manifesto, and Avalon all worked for me as their idea of the new mainstream, para-everything else that was going on there, and with a mid70s-as-hell toward and into early 80s, w/o seeming too trendy, just increasingly smoov,catchy, romantically pessimistic to new-married hopeful, reasonably committed to being good in the late night hotel bar-to-supermarket-to-drugstore. Not the creative peaks, but ageing or aging gracefully

Manifesto's the only Roxy album that exists in its own space. It has nothing much to do with its successors: it's Roxy's attempt at an L.A. studio rock album with disco overtones -- say, Ned Doheny or Nicolette Larson.

Part of what makes "Dance Away" work like hell is how it sounds like Player or Doobie Brothers but those dissonances -- the bass part, Manzanera's guitar parts -- keep interfering.

I could say a lot in defence of Manifesto, but one thing that pleases me is that Ferry is writing break-up songs with a sense of humour rather than the usual brooding. It's like the dark clouds of The Bride Stripped Bare have receded for awhile.

Dow OTM re: Manifesto as their idea of the new mainstream. The title track is one of their best lp openers, and all of side one is great.

Did Pell Mell cop Rhyming Guitars from the chorus?

i've always thought Manifesto was stronger than Flesh & Blood - which is pretty strong for a band's weakest LP - just lose the covers etc

maybe they couldn't get the F&B track listing to work but spare a thought for 'Lover' - surely one of the best songs ever squandered on a b-side (and the Miami Vice soundtrack LP) - really nails the perfectly languid drift of their late sound (which feels like it has roots in the middle section of If There Is Something?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQA-oIbjbr4

F&B, their weakest album, is interesting: I can hear on tracks like "Rain Rain Rain" Ferry figuring out how to use synths (its loping quasi-reggae rhythm anticipates where Brit electrofunk would go by at least four years). Maybe their greatest run of singles ("Over You," "Same Old Scene," "Oh Yeah" [ugh]) but weakest album tracks.

I've always thought of "Flesh + Blood" as essentially a transitional Ferry solo album. His previous solo albums more or less reflected the sound and weirdness of Roxy (whose members always featured), and then along comes "The Bride Stripped Bare," which is the first solo Ferry with all session dudes, setting the stage for slickness to come. You get to "Manifesto," then particularly "Flesh + Blood," and that plus "Avalon" is basically the template for the all session dude era Ferry to come. Which is cool, because after a decade of doing new wave before there was a new wave ("Over You" is basically Roxy hearing the Cars doing Roxy and saying hold my martini), Ferry skips ahead once again to the '80s and makes everyone else play catch-up.

(I mean, "Flesh + Blood" *is* 1980, but unlike a lot of records from the time it actually sounds like that decade and not a remnant of the '70s.)

#1 twice in the UK at the dawn of the Blitz era

Yeah the high points on F+B are amazing but otherwise it's their only half-assed album (TWO covers!).

xxp I was actually thinking about this the other day, culturally and politically too, not just musically, but the '80s really began in 1981. Like imagining what it was like in 1980 from the political climate to the clothes to music to just home living, it doesn't feel like the '80s yet. Same with movies, the New Hollywood had its last hurrah in 1980 (Raging Bull in particular). The "creative executives" didn't take over until a year or two later.

Disagree! In America it took a while.

I'd say it took (a) MTV's penetration in 1983 (b) Reagan's climbing poll numbers. 1983 was the start.

England had New Pop. Their 1980s began chronologically.

1981-1982 in America were awful, still the '70s imo

Yeah, I remember (from my childhood) that the things people think of as being "totally '80s" didn't really kick in for a couple of years. Like,"Let's Dance," that wasn't until 1983. "Scary Monsters" was 1980, but that was very much in line with "Lodger." Or Talking Heads, I think people now have a conception of them as an '80s band, but "Speaking in Tongues" was also not until 1983, and while "Remain in Light" was 1980, it was very much in phase with its '70s Eno predecessors. A band like Devo, on the other hand, like Roxy had a sort of post modern view of everything; "Whip It" now sounds ahead of its time by a few years rather than being representative of 1980, the year it was released.

I dunno, probably bears more thinking.

(lol, total coincidence that every band I just cited has, like Roxy, an Eno connection.)

Dylan Jones' book on New Romanticism posits that by 1985 Bryan Ferry had weathered the 1980s better than Bowie. Given the success of Boys & Girls and how every smoothie with bad breath apes his tailor, I'd say he's right.

LOL. What a strange time.

Is it just me or did the '80s and the '90s (the alternative era) make the '00s look a lot less remarkable from a cultural standpoint? I'm not knocking the quality of what was being created, but it feels like the '80s and the '90s at least had lots of things that visibly and immediately date it to that era, whereas I'm struggling to remember anything as distinctive about the '00s. There were definitely fashion trends, and we had the Iraq War going on, but even then the era doesn't really pop out in the same way. Maybe I just need it to recede further in the past? I keep thinking of something Richard Linklater said about Boyhood - when they made it, they were curious how things would change over 12 years, but they were kind of surprised how stable the culture seemed to be compared to other stretches of time.

Disagree! In America it took a while.

I'd say it took (a) MTV's penetration in 1983 (b) Reagan's climbing poll numbers. 1983 was the start.

England had New Pop. Their 1980s began chronologically.

― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, September 16, 2022 12:24 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

This is otm. I was going to argue for 1982 being the start, in that "Don't You Want Me" was big, but that was an outlier among the Cougar-Mellencamps, J. Geilses, and non-playing motherfuckers like Steve Miller. And while "Hungry Like The Wolf" was a big radio hit in the US in 1982, it didn't hit its chart peak until early '83, and only because it was re-released the previous December. The original June '82 release did nothing here.

I want to say 1982 just because of 1999 and Thriller - that's like a blueprint for where R&B and pop was going to go in the '80s. Paul McCartney's Tug of War screams '80s to me, especially compared to his '70s work, and that's 1982 as well. Springsteen's Nebraska is all about what Reaganism was doing to America. Lou Reed's The Blue Mask feels very NY 1980s to me. It's at least where the transition was becoming much more clearer.

wrt Thriller, it wasn’t released until the end of November, 1982. As with 1999 (released only a month earlier), I feel like its impact wasn’t widely felt until 1983.

You can still see things that led up to them, even in the previous year (1981) in either Prince's own work, Rick James or even stuff like Hall & Oates's own music ("I Can't Go for That" feels like the rhythmic precursor of "Billie Jean"). Again, I'm saying it's at least where the transition is pretty visible.

Hmm, I don't associate The Blue Mask or Nebraska with the '80s at all, at least not sonically. Thematically, sure. But even then, nowhere near as much as (later) BitUSA and New York

Eliminator (the ultimate 'Boomer Goes New Wave' record) was March '83.

But yeah, the transition was already in place, probably as far back as "Cars" (late '79, iirc), or at the success of eventual tourmates the Police and especially the Go-Gos (who could have only broken through when they did).

I wouldn't even tie Nebraska to any decade sound-wise - but I strongly associate it with the '80s because of what it has to say about that decade, and for me that's more than enough. It probably does a better job of it than any other album I know, even more than Born in the USA.

I remember seeing massive displays in mall record stores — in Omaha, no less — for Nebraska, and even though I didn’t hear the record until two years later, for that memory alone I can only associate it with the ‘80s.

The irony is that much of Born In The U.S.A. — including the title track — was recorded before Nebraska. Imagine sitting on that song for two years, not realizing how insanely perfect the timing of its eventual release would be.

(To clarify: much of BITUSA was recorded before Nebraska was released.)

MJ is 1983 very much.

I love every mincing millisecond of this thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg-Yte9X1go

Eliminator (the ultimate 'Boomer Goes New Wave' record) was March '83.

There were some lead-ups to Eliminator. Both the J Geils Band and REO Speedwagon had massive albums in 1981/1982 by turning down the 70s boomer rock/guitar solos and turning up the new wave pop. A lot of 70s bands back then (if they were still around) were all-hands-on-deck to boost sales and if it meant new wave-ish pop then so be it.

I think of the early 80s as when you start seeing new bands who were obviously listening to Roxy Music and then running past what Roxy was doing concurrently (it's interesting reading this thread as the New Gold Dream thread was revived for its 40th anniversary)

And while "Hungry Like The Wolf" was a big radio hit in the US in 1982, it didn't hit its chart peak until early '83, and only because it was re-released the previous December. The original June '82 release did nothing here.

As mentioned earlier MTV really was *the* hegemonic force across the country. "Girls On Film" was a massive KROQ hit here in Los Angeles but zilch outside of broadcast range.

Both the J Geils Band and REO Speedwagon had massive albums in 1981/1982 by turning down the 70s boomer rock/guitar solos and turning up the new wave pop.

J. Geils, definitely. But REO? I fail to hear anything remotely “new wave pop” in “Take It On The Run,” “Keep On Lovin’ You,” or “Keep The Fire Burnin’.” To me, they’re a kind of nadir of adult contemporary boomer rock that flourished in the uncanny valley of 1981 US top 40 radio (see also: Styx, Dan Fogelberg, John Lennon’s “Woman,” Christopher Cross, and the Climax Blues Band).

A story I heard regarding REO’s radio/chart success at that time was that the management of labelmates the Clash went to one of the bigger/more influential radio stations in the US and asked their program director, “What the hell? Why are you playing this REO crap instead of Sandinista?” The radio guy said, “Their managers gave us cocaine. You didn’t.”

This right here, here's the 1980s being born:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keKySy4z6wc

My favorite from that album. IIRC, there is an incredible live version on TV of Flesh and Blood where Manzanera goes off but I haven’t been able to find it again.

At the Boston show, in the middle of Remake/Remodel, two plobby guys about 30y/o stood up from the jump in front of our section – when the boomer woman in front of us asked them to sit down he turned around and said, “I paid for these seats. Go fuck yourself.” At which point her husband started furiously and aggressively pumping his middle fingers (from a seated position) and they got up and complained (and got moved I think). The two plobby obnoxious guys eventually sat down and started … hugging affectionately for the rest of the show? The whole thing was completely bizarre.

As for the show, the irreconcilable nature of early and later Roxy was never more obvious IMO. In addition to an older crowd that seemed to know (and prefer) the Avalon-era material, bc all of those songs had been adapted to a lower key they felt somewhat less convincing (tho still perfectly enjoyable). The s/t material was stunningly good – Ladytron and If There Is Something in particular had a Bryan Ferry Psychedelic Jazz Quartet vibe to them that was wonderful. Ferry was good, I loved him seated at his electric piano with all the swirling atmospherics, but Manzanera and Mackay were just terrific.

There is this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIRWJr1l1pI

Yep!

One of the best attributes of Manzanera's playing is that he's rarely flashy even when he's got more going on. In a way kind of ego-less, happy to cede space to the sonics and effects in service of the song. Kind of an anti-guitar hero a la such peers and successors as Andy Summers (who is truly gifted) and the Edge (who is not).

I was trying to identify the caveman they have playing drums in that clip (Allan Schwartzberg?), but then I came across this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q1JKqwtgwM

Mimed or no, Bryan Ferry with a guitar! Steve Goulding (from the Rumour/Mekons) on drums!

Ferry played real guitar on "Flesh and Blood," but it doesn't mean I wanna see him holding one.

One of the best attributes of Manzanera's playing is that he's rarely flashy even when he's got more going on.

Even on "Remake/Remodel", where he's basically soloing through the entire song, there's something modest about it - "this song needs non-stop lead guitar, I will provide".

he tried but he could not find a way iirc

Been a while since I've heard it, but really enjoyed 801's Live, with Mananzera, Eno & Co. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOG7SfERU0k
That's an LP; there's also more of a CD-length rehearsal of that set posted here and there, dunno how it is. Didn't get into their studio album, Listen Now so much: was okay, but more on the broody Floydian side. Also didn't get into the one by his prog band, Quiet Sun, but some of my friends did. Oh, I did like his Diamond Head!

Oho, here's Andy MacKay's In Search of Eddie Riff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap9G9z-AeZM

Was disappointed in their Roxy-ish pop Explorers venture; mainly what tipped the scales was an off-putting, off-brand Ferry clone (aptly named James Wraith). One after that was billed as Manzanera-MacKay, didn't listen.

Your collective strategery paid off: bought secondhand nosebleed seats last week (though not the worst I could get) for about $80 a pop (after taxes/fees), got to the venue tonight and we were upgraded to awesome $175 face value seats, from the 300 level to 100. I had a hunch when I saw that Ticketmaster had greyed out all these seats that were for sale just a week ago that the upgrades some of you had seen or experienced would be in effect tonight, too.

Band was good, setlist was good, Ferry sounded good enough, everyone was into it, though I am always a little sad/suspicious when every musician has a double. Reminds me of when the saw the Beach Boys 50th anniversary tour and there were as many as 7 or 8 guys holding guitars on stage and I thought, come on ...

St Vincent did indeed kill it tonight. Annie Clark's current ott rock star persona was perfected suited to the occasion. She was having a blast, and I bet she made some new fans.

I would argue that Thompson technically didn’t have a double, and the auxiliary percussionist was largely unnecessary (and often barely audible).

And looking back (all I did was look away), I realize that all the Roxy Music I ever heard on the radio was on WXRT, and it was a regular occurrence.

The percussionist was keeping time for the whole band but also afaict triggering a lot of pads arrayed to look like regular percussion. He was often barely audible because he was often doubling (thickening, mostly) Thompson's snare and tom hits. Not that Thompson was bad or anything, just needed a little juicing. Same with Mackay; there were lots of times the other player was perfectly matching his sax and oboe stuff, to help him out a bit. Again, no biggie: Bryan gets three singers (and thee keyboard players) to help him out, so why not the others?

I was surprised they skipped "Virginia Plain," given the anniversary nature of it all.

Ferry played real guitar on "Flesh and Blood," but it doesn't mean I wanna see him holding one.

Requires a 'apart from on the For Your Pleasure gatefold spread' qualifier imo.

Seeing them in Manchester next month. I haven't been over-excited - I generally avoid arenas and big reunions, even (especially?) for a band this dear to me, but a friend suggested it as a reason to visit. Now though, getting cautiously optimistic.

I know I saw them in 2001, but it's one of those shows that for whatever reason I can't remember a single thing about it except for the venue and where I was sitting. Oh, and seeing Jon Langford there.

And I guess he was back again! (With Alan Doughty of Waco Brothers/Jesus Jones)

https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/308050326_5817507248301628_7110603320778770001_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=sbP3Uz-C6dgAX_oQQXj&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-1.xx&oh=00_AT_geOd0MQXA-o5WLeX7DgxlNp3RyBzqtHDA06F1haN06w&oe=632E65A8

Nice!

FWIW Hugo Burnham also posted this

there were as many as 7 or 8 guys holding guitars on stage and I thought, come on ...

Guy behind Mike Love was the only surplus player, and as Love had brought just two musicians from his band (this dude who is his bandleader, and his fucking great drummer) was almost certainly there to collaborate on arrangements, not to substitute for inadequacies among Brian’s players.

(Jardine strummed acoustic on just a handful of songs, probably as an aide-mémoire, and David Marks was lifted in the mix for solos.)

This made me laugh…

Last night at Roxy Music a friend reported that a dude on the floor was dancing & having a grand time until a very slow song & then he yelled “THIS IS WHY BRIAN ENO LEFT” which is both hilarious and not incorrect

September 20, 2022

Last night at Roxy Music a friend reported that a dude on the floor was dancing & having a grand time until a very slow song & then he yelled “THIS IS WHY BRIAN ENO LEFT” which is both hilarious and not incorrect

— Caryn Rose (@carynrose) September 20, 2022

Eno was on several slow ones on the first album.

It doesn't seem to be correct at all honestly, just a cheap joke.

not correct, def cheap, and def funny

My friend I took had no idea about the band's formative years. He only knew the smooth stuff, but found it fascinating that the same band could do both so well.

Missed this - Bill Wyman was able to write a nice primer in NYMag:

https://www.vulture.com/2019/03/roxy-music-guide-bryan-ferry-brian-eno.html

With Ferry no longer an obstacle, Eno could follow his muse and record blistering, high-velocity slammers like Music for Airports and On Land (originally titled Land Speed Record).

hahaha

How's that Ferry album he produced?

He didn't produce it. He co-wrote a song on Mamouna and Frantic apiece and was responsible for sonic gahoozits on the former.

"I Thought" (the Ferry/Eno collaboration on Frantic) is the capstone of his career for me. It's Ferry's "I Can't Give Everything Away", he even plays harmonica on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4HSj8IR8GE

It's a beautiful melody, and their harmonies are gorgeous.

wow never heard that song before. Maybe one of the best songs of all time?

Andy MacKay, riding with Mott The Hoople---"All The Way To Memphis":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuMOWrRZ0HA

Also on their "Honaloochie Boogie":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGdVMpuBiik

Damn, had no idea that was him. What a great album, Mott's best by a good margin.

Well, Mott and Brain Capers, I think---anyway just noticed that 2006 CD reissue of the former has bonus tracks I'd like to hear:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mott_(album)

Mamouna and Frantic both excellent albums

Eno also did a lot of keyboard stuff on Olympia, which was the failed attempt at making a new Roxy album, AFAICT

Have only heard Mamouna once but was really surprised by how good and strange it was - felt like it pushed Ferry’s solo aesthetic almost into abstraction- incredible grooves and barely-there songs - hope it lives up to my memory of it!

Sounds like I need to give Frantic a listen

Eno also did a lot of keyboard stuff on Olympia, which was the failed attempt at making a new Roxy album, AFAICT

― akm

He plays on only four songs -- Ferry plays most of the parts.

I still like Mamouna: the end of a method but not quite abstracted; the grooves + vocals + words are at times sexy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_GmpQI0LEg

& then he yelled “THIS IS WHY BRIAN ENO LEFT” Like those who turned against the Dead after Pigpen left the building---

They stole his liver, man

Rummaging around the Ferry solo discography I realised I had never heard this - which according to the Legend soundtrack wiki page is a reheated scrap from the Avalon sessions. Absolutely not great! But better than the awful version of He’ll Have To Go he inexplicably released as a single a few years later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jVclWz_eXU

Wow, el wrongo.

If you want to criticize his only unfortunate sartorial decision of the '80s, fine; but this is a fine, elegant sequel to "Slave to Love."

his only unfortunate sartorial decision of the '80s

Horns and talons do not suit him at all.

To me it seems stodgy while Slave To Love feels slinky - but I am glad to hear there is a positive take to be had, perhaps it will grow on me.

The clip is weird! Very like I remember his ‘The Fly’ single also being weird - just loitering on a big set while bits from the film are back-projected seemingly at random. They feel very low-budget for such an expensive gentleman!

Gilmour reprises his "No More Lonely Nights" solo to lesser effect but it still works.

A little late to chime in but "Is Your Love Strong Enough" is how I learned about Bryan Ferry and then backtracking Roxy Music in the first place so it will always have a place in my heart.

Last night was good fun -- very little to add to what everyone else has already said on the thread but it struck me as a perfectly valedictory performance with appropriate side performer boosting. Just being able to see Manzanera do his thing was reason enough. I'd thankfully avoided spoilers and steered clear of this thread until now so I didn't quite know what to expect and was generally happy with the results -- I did sadly miss those early 2000s shows (which I probably grumble about way upthread), so without being able to compare them directly and having seen Ferry in 2019 I'll say I lowballed a bit and was very pleasantly surprised.

Fuck yeah…this is my ideal set…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY8_lLbpszM

isn't there, way uptread, a list of tunes they never did live? Like it would be so amazing to hear a live "Whirlwind…"

"upthread" … this sounds great, some of the performances were used for Viva…

That setlist rules.

If that Newcastle show was used for parts of Viva, does that mean it was all professionally recorded? Is it just sitting around somewhere?

I’m pretty sure they played Whirlwind in Stockholm in 1976 but I am seeing conflicting set lists. I remember hearing it on my bootleg if that show tho.

Feel like there may be quite a bit of Roxy live material that’s never been officially released.

"Whirlwind" is in all the 1976 sets on setlist.fm. It's on the Stockholm bootleg, which is song for song the setlist I saw back then.

https://www.discogs.com/release/2830508-Roxy-Music-Why-Do-You-Think-Im-A-Funky-Chick-

Saw Roxy Music last night in Manchester. It was a great show and I never thought I’d get to see them, but my mind did wander to how much careful planning must go into tours with older performers must be well-planned. I felt it was a slightly oddly paced setlist and I was surprised at some of the major hits left out. I wonder if Bryan’s energy dictated the shape of the set - he had an electric piano he sat at, but rarely played, for several songs and there were a few long instrumental sections where he disappeared presumably for a rest. He did seem frail but I knew his voice hasn’t been what it was for years so I wasn’t expecting a miracle and I was really pleased he didn’t have backing vocalists shadowing every line like he has on some solo tours.

This seems to definitely be the last roll of the dice but it was a great great night.

def seemed to give both him and Andy a rest. Tara was Bryan's chance to go freshen up, then just after that I think there was a song where Andy wasn't needed.

Phil is told to shut it and do as he's told.

Ferry, born 1945.
McKay, born 1946.
Manzanera, born 1951.

he's a baby compared to those guys. Crucial years. Hell before his hair went white he was passing for much younger. I remember seeing the David Gilmour "Remember a Day" clip and not believing how young Phil looked.

I looked at the Manchester setlist and sure enough looks like they added Virginia Plain for the UK

I work with professors in their mid-70s who teach a 2:2 and are probably on their feet longer than Roxy Music every week with less downtime

maybe didn't spend the 70s living rock-n-roll lifestyles?

if you want to know if they spent their formative years drinking a ton and doing lots of drugs, that would be a yes

At the Manchester show too and found it really moving - seeing them for the first time while saying goodbye to them. So somewhere in Virginia Plain basically almost in tears at the simultaneous 'holy shit I'm seeing actual Roxy doing this, my god 50 years, what a thing to have done, this whole career, and thank you' Also hit hard when the collages or images of young Roxy would come up on the big screens.

Delighted at the setlist - had an idea it was going to be v smooth Roxy, but then everything except 2HB from Roxy Music, side 1, plus a lot of For Your Pleasure. in fact haha wtf is The Bogus Man doing as song 3.

(Not complaining given what I got, but the total absence of Stranded & 1 each from Country Life and Siren material felt a gap.)

Clearly there was a fair bit of support for Ferry and Mackay (and Manzanera to a lesser extent) through doubling and breaks. Ferry's voice feels barely there, I guess, but that's style choice + age dictating on top. Whenever Mackay stepped up tho' he sounded fantastic.

(This was all despite p bad sound in our section - mud & echo, so eg no space in Love is the Drug)

Ferry, born 1945.
McKay, born 1946.
Manzanera, born 1951.

he's a baby compared to those guys. Crucial years. Hell before his hair went white he was passing for much younger. I remember seeing the David Gilmour "Remember a Day" clip and not believing how young Phil looked.

Hmm, I don’t think he did. At least I didn’t notice.
I felt the sound was really good where I was sitting on the ground floor. “Love is the Drug” sounded a bit claustrophobic but I think the lower key may have helped that too.

I just read that they did Same Old Scene in the US, but swapped it for Virginia Plain here. Can’t grumble too much about that!

One thing I did notice was how overwhelmingly older the audience was. Nothing wrong with that but I expected to see more of a mix. Reminded me of when I saw Gilbert O’Sullivan.

Right, I thought it might be better elsewhere - we were up a level getting towards a corner.

And yeah I was a little surprised that there wasn't more of a mix of ages - I'm late 40s and felt unusually young for the first time in a long time. Makes sense, I guess, since they were obviously chart huge in that generation above me and even their UK reputational survival sometimes seems weirdly delicate for a few reasons, but I just thought there'd be more fans who found them posthumously.

re that last point - i am always surprised that OG Roxy vinyl is mostly affordably priced when (say) Bowie or Eno LPs cost astronomical amounts

oh yeah this was the oldest crowd I've seen at a show in a very long time. I'm 50 and felt quite young.

man seeing Roxy last night at O2 was extremely magical. they sounded absolutely out of this world. added Virginia and Jealous Guy to the set. It was like seeing Santana in the Bay or Los Lobos in LA energy.

ticket price would have put off younger people - I know it did for me and other friends in our 30s who love the records

This is fantastic (from Manchester a few days ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEPwaxA9XKA

"ticket price would have put off younger people - I know it did for me and other friends in our 30s who love the records"

yeah but the tickets were dirt cheap in the US

they were not. Even the cheapo seats I got were still $80, iirc.

Always thought that's Jacqui Sullivan, one of "The Sirens" along with Doreen Chanter.

maybe it was just the SF bay area; yes the tickets started out expensive but when they didn't sell they wound up on Goldstar for like $25.

they were a bit more than that on goldstar here, and they sold out fast.

Do you suppose there’s been a problem with ageism and Roxy music? Are people saying they are too old?

Nah, they just aren't the live draw in the US that they are in the UK.

Yeah, but the audience was overwhelmingly made up of fans from the band’s original lifetime in the UK.
I can imagine some fans feel they’re too old, yeah.

Oh yeah, the show I went to in Texas was like mostly an over-50 crowd. But they don't really get played on radio or have any presence in contemporary pop culture here aside from More Than This being in Lost in Translation twenty years ago? Leonard Cohen and the Rolling Stones sold out shows here, so it's not their age per se.

Their work always seemed much more contemporary to the present or "younger" than a lot of big arena acts from the '70s (at least the ones that played arenas in the U.S.), but at the same time, they're not up there with, say, David Bowie in terms of reaching a younger audience.

In the UK I think a part of it is that later smoother Roxy + public-Ferry blot out the pre-hiatus invention, fun, adventure etc - ie it's an effort to see through to a cool that's palatable to the Gen X culture class. Hypothetically - not that audience age is a problem to be solved - a tour with Eno in the line-up would have got more under 50s?

haha photo of under-40 at the Manchester gig:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_Ferry

i think a tour with eno would have sold out due to the novelty of it; but it also obviously was not something that would ever happen.

yeah absolutely I meant it more about perceptions of Roxy rather than viability or desirability.

haha photo of under-40 at the Manchester gig:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_Ferry

― woof,

he really does have awful children

Fox hunting advocate? Ok.

It always reminds me of that story (I think in the Paul Stump biog) of Jerry Hall inviting Bryan to her family's house in Texas and him just being completely freaked out by the iguanas (or some kind of infestation) in her house.

Notwithstanding his blue collar upbringing, I think Bryan has not-so-secretly always aspired to be an aristocrat.

If it was Texas it was probably geckos. They are everywhere and we leave them along because they eat bugs like roaches (also they look cool and don't bite or otherwise cause trouble).

Cockroaches iirc.

i think Bryan himself has advocated for fox hunting

Notwithstanding his blue collar upbringing, I think Bryan has not-so-secretly always aspired to be an aristocrat.

yeah I take it as the arc of Roxy/Ferry - Ferry creates a fiction which envelops him.

WHy is that kid in wikipedia

Pet Shop Boy Neil says there is ageism in pop music.

HWO CAN WE VERIFY

Would there be any more than a couple of dozen people in any city who would only have bought tickets to see Roxy if Eno were there pretending to turn some dials onstage?

I'd buy a ticket regardless of whether Eno was there, but if Eno showed and just sipped a cup of tea onstage the entire time, I'd still get a kick out of it.

Eno could just send a robot a la Kraftwerk and he coudl appear on ZOOM for three seconds and say "CHEERS DUES!"

i think a tour with eno would have sold out due to the novelty of it

Even if they had, and played the first two Roxy records in full plus Here Come the Warm Jets, I'm sure they would have sold fewer tickets in North America, not more.

Notwithstanding his blue collar upbringing, I think Bryan has not-so-secretly always aspired to be an aristocrat.

Which is probably part of the problem in their attracting younger fans.

"More Than This" is enough of a staple that my students know the song without identifying the singer. He's not attracting younger fans because the traditional modes of image promotion at which Ferry excelled -- the glossy magazine, the poster, the constant video push -- are gone.

Plus, Ferry wasn't writing acoustic guitar hummables. One of those students shocked me last spring when in our newsroom she strummed "Criminal World" after "Life on Mars?" She loved Bowie, learned the song on her guitar from her parents' collection.

The friend I took with me to see them a couple weeks ago considered himself a fan, yet as far as I could tell only knew "More Than This."

Oh boy, it is getting rough
When his old world charm isn't quite enough.

I'm not sure I knew anyone among my peers who ever mentioned Roxy Music. I even recall bringing them up when I was in college on certain occasions and having to explain who they were. I remember when "More Than This" was used in Lost in Translation partially because I don't think I ever heard it anywhere else before, and even afterwards, I can't remember hearing it anywhere. (I don't think classic rock radio in Chicago ever programmed it or any Roxy Music, did they?) Their music in general is something I had to put it on myself.

Its more the idea of Roxymusic that I like than the music

I first heard of Roxy Music through a couple guys in college who were just intimidatingly cool to me. As it should be I guess.

(I don't think classic rock radio in Chicago ever programmed it or any Roxy Music, did they?)

"Classic rock" stations in Chicago never played it, but in addition to "More Than This," I heard all of the following on WXRT with some regularity between 1984 and 1998: "Love Is The Drug," "Do The Strand," "Both Ends Burning," "Out Of The Blue," "The Thrill Of It All," "Avalon," "Over You," "Dance Away," and even "Eight Miles High" once or twice. I have never heard Roxy on any other radio station, in the midwest or northeast, ever.

I remember a DJ back-announcing Roxy on our classic rock station, presumably to help endear them to Van Halen fans: "'Virginia Plain' - one of the many, many women Bryan Ferry has known over the years!"

In the early '90s Ferry and Bowie were wiped off American radio. I heard "Jump They Say" and "I Put a Spell on You" on my college station a couple times, dat's dat. They simply didn't fit the times. By 1997, though, Bowie had reclaimed much of his aura. Ferry, though -- my friends would nod sympathetically when I mentioned or played him, wondered why the 2001 concert DVD I got for Xmas excited me so. I don't know how anyone between 1995 and 2010 discovered Roxy Music; I had to rely on microfiche/microfilm in the uni library.

I don't know how anyone between 1995 and 2010 discovered Roxy Music

Well, Lost In Translation and Velvet Goldmine, plus Virgin's Roxy/Ferry reissue campaign for starters...

It probably came down to the critics. Greg Kot wrote about them in the Tribune when he could - there weren't really any news events to give him reason to, so when he did, it was usually some broad feature related to rock music like one of those user-friendly guides for beginners that mainstream publications would periodically do. I think I mentioned an old list of "100 Greatest CD's" by EW I found that I actually used as a library loan guide. IIRC Avalon was on there, so that was my first exposure to them, but the occasional Trib article and The New Rolling Stone Album Guide pointed me to the rest. IIRC The RS guide was really big on Siren and Kot preferred the two Eno albums.

*the critics too

Plus the Roxy reunion tour in 2001. It probably didn't make them brand-new fans, but it kept their hat in the ring. They didn't seem like underdogs at the show I saw.

I think I mentioned an old list of "100 Greatest CD's" by EW I found that I actually used as a library loan guide. IIRC Avalon was on there, so that was my first exposure to them, but the occasional Trib article and The New Rolling Stone Album Guide pointed me to the rest. IIRC The RS guide was really big on Siren and Kot preferred the two Eno albums.

In the miserable desert of the early '90s I remember these appearances (and used former ILM poster Mark Coleman's RS guide), but these are critics. I meant, like, fans. I was going to mention Velvet Goldmine but it and 10,000 Maniacs' somnolent hit cover of "More Than This," but both were too early.

I do remember Velvet Goldmine but I didn't bother seeing it for a long time due to poor word of mouth (like "too bad he couldn't use Bowie songs like he originally planned"). I didn't realize they used Roxy Music's songs, but the movie was a flop so I doubt it made that many new fans.

it's terrible

(it is better than that Stardust movie that recently came out though).

there was a daniel craig movie several years back called "Flashbacks of a Fool" which has roxy and ferry as major plot points, even dressing craig up as ferry. but it didn't do very well I suppose.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/4e9d6465fb46296ad8b916cf2da6ce80/tumblr_pa6123LPAE1wbvw5fo2_400.gif

oh I guess it was the actor who plays Craig's character when younger. anyway here you go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f09xX7-Kos

In the early '90s Ferry and Bowie were wiped off American radio. I heard "Jump They Say" and "I Put a Spell on You" on my college station a couple times, dat's dat.

I still heard Bowie on Chicago “classic rock” stations in the early ‘90s, but usually just “Changes” or “Suffragette City.” “Jump They Say” got heavy airplay on the northeast “alternative” station I listened to — that is, I listened to the station mainly in the hopes they’d play “Jump They Say,” and they fortunately delivered.

Heart's Filthy Lesson and I'm Afraid of Americans were legitimate alternative radio hits. Nothing much after that though (I also stopped listening to commercial radio by the late 90's, for the most part).

Tuesday's Child definitely got PR push and had a video (as did other things on Hours) but the album was so poorly received I don't recall any of it really getting much traction, and then of course Bowie stopped doing videos for Heathen, I don't think he did any for Reality, and neither of those really had 'singles' songs and radio had completely changed by then.

As for Roxy: I certainly remember Avalon on the radio at the time of release, I never know who did that song until fairly late in the 80's. My parents around 79/80/81 listened to a lot of contemporary and 'crossover country' and I swear Avalon got play on those stations so I honestly never associated it with a British band. By the time of the 90's no, I don't remember Ferry or Roxy fairing very well radiowise in the US. I was into Ferry heavily in the early 90's and was one of like three people I knew who were into that but it was an extension of interest in art rock, Japan/Sylvian/Mick Karn stuff, etc, ie we were called art fags.

Same, though I discovered Japan/Sylvian and New Pop in the '90s through Ferry.

I was a consistent college radio listener through 1999 and never once heard "Heart's..." or "I'm Afraid of Americans." Guess it depended on region.

The MuchMusic channel in Canada was still showing videos like "Mamouna" or "Thursday's Child", not in frequent rotation, but enough that I knew they existed without seeking them out.

Roxy I recall hearing (three or four or five songs) a pretty good deal on WMMR in Philly growing up. but I got into Roxy by way of Eno (though always saw "Avalon" on audiophile lists); I don't recall listening to solo Ferry until "Mamouna," and again I think that was due to Eno, who was in his imperial '90s phase and all over that album. Stuff like Sylvian I got into by way of Fripp. Bowie I likely got into by way of both, Fripp and Eno.

By the '90s I was in Chicago and recall hearing "Earthing" stuff a lot on XRT, though don't recall hearing much "Outside" stuff on the radio.

Did any of Bowie's '90s videos get much airplay? I remember getting that DVD set and thinking that I had never seen any of them before. (Which is a shame for many reasons - they clearly put in a lot of work into each of them.)

"Jump They Say" is top five Bowie videoe.

*Video

within my friendgroup roxy was kind of like a record nerd band. juts like the eno records. seeing them in the uk this tour seems like they were more like fleetwood mac are over here or something. the whole crowd knew every word from every song. also billy idol sat near me which i might have already said!

Hearing it in the wild today, I'm reminded what a different world this have been if Ferry had taken the "Don't You (Forget About Me)" assignment.

Also, re: '90s Radio & Bowie: Classic Rock radio never forgot "Fame", "Rebel Rebel" and "Let's Dance".

...and "Changes" too!

A song that was never a hit in the US was Life on Mars. It’s odd how well known it is now.

Sales figures would suggest that more Americans knew the Barbra Streisand version of "Life on Mars" until recently, as it was on her ButterFly album that charted at #13 and went gold.

Don't think Life On Mars had much recognition amongst the american general populace until a season of American Horror Story used it to death.

yes, that! it's kind of weird to see it retconned into one of his most iconic songs now but obv. the US is not the world (neither is it mars)

Hearing it in the wild today, I'm reminded what a different world this have been if Ferry had taken the "Don't You (Forget About Me)" assignment.

Yep. Ferry's top-button-buttoned-at-all-times ethos doesn't suit an arrangement meant to be bellowed.

Yeah, he's James Bond lounging by the pool at the casino (and still in a tux), not James Bond in tactical gear about to rappel down a tall building.

I still hear tons of Bowie on the radio all the time. "Changes," "Space Oddity," "Ziggy," "Suffragette City," "Let's Dance," "Modern Love," "Jean Genie," "Diamond Dogs," "Heroes," "Starman," "Young Americans," "Fame," "Ashes to Ashes," "Golden Years," "Rebel Rebel," "China Girl," "Under Pressure." Rarely "Life on Mars," sometimes "DJ" or "Scary Monsters." Pretty impressive classic rock (and beyond) showing for a guy whose fame in the US was sort of simultaneously perennial and peripheral.

IIRC Kerr came up with the “Laaaa/Lalalalaaaa…” bit himself too. I can’t remotely imagine 80s Ferry singing that (tho These Foolish Things Ferry could’ve done wonders there, I suspect).

I am a sirius XM subscriber, and I note that Berlin/Scary Monsters DB as well as Peter Gabriel from Melt on fits the "First Wave" format, i.e. new wave and major label post-punk such as the Cure, REM, Smiths, Depeche Mode, New Order et al, as well as Classic Rewind, which approximates AOR from 1978-1986… the Genesis shit/"Solsbury Hill" and DB stuff going up to Young Americans resides on "Classic vinyl"… whereas any Roxy music and Ferry solo shit at all is formatted only on First Wave…granted, that's only "Love is the Drug" and the avalon material as far as Roxy (we have agreed on this thread that that material is what Roxy amounts to as far as the mass audience in America is concerned anyway), but Ferry is purely a classic alternative artist as far as Sirius, which while a deeper experience of commercial radio than, say, IHeartRadio is still very much a product of commercial radio…

I've always wanted to start a Sirius XM thread, as I do find the fragmenting and winnowing down of commercial radio formats so that deep cuts are regularly played to be interesting…not sure if anyone else would be interested…

I really enjoyed my trial of satellite radio that came with the car. I think I might have renewed once at a discounted rate? After the rates went up fully, and dismayed by all the bullshit political stuff they broadcast, I canceled it, but I really did like all the music stations. Not sure where I would have heard most Roxy, aside from the obvious stuff. Deep Tracks channel?

they also play Roxy on Deep Tracks

First time for me seeing this great 1973 show! posted today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LspMHCeyCw

whoah.

holy shit

Holy shit!

lol xp

Bryan Ferry on guitar.

Eno doing some Terry Riley-esque time lag accumulator tape delay on the reel to reel for Mckay's epic if there is something breakdown...

Eno and Mckay with arms outstretched for the harmony vocals during the ending. Never thought I'd see that.

Marvelous!

"Eno and Mckay with arms outstretched for the harmony vocals during the ending. Never thought I'd see that."

without a doubt, anyone who has ever cared about Eno or Ferry/Roxy MUST see this… it is some Wicker Man/ Midsommar shit and you will be scarred for the rest of your life…

Quick notes:

- Andy Mackay's three-finger organ jabbing is almost as inspired as Ferry's.

- Ferry sweats like a farm animal

- Manzanera doesn't play a single dull note.

BADGERS COULDN'T COMPENSATE AT TWICE THE PRICE

otm

holy shit x4 or whatever

Holy shit x5

what's her name? holy shit

without a doubt, anyone who has ever cared about Eno or Ferry/Roxy MUST see this… it is some Wicker Man/ Midsommar shit and you will be scarred for the rest of your life…

i hadn't seen the complete montreux set before, really cool! have folks seen the bataclan november '72 set that's on the deluxe s/t set? it's rather rougher, on-stage grainy film with lots of cuts, but it's got a great version of "would you believe" - prob. my fave eno backing vox on record. at bataclan mackay is more highlighted. the really frustrating thing is that i would _kill_ for a complete recording of a fall '72 show in good quality. "if there is something" reached truly epic heights live - the version on _viva!_ is nearly perfunctory compared to early versions. the BBC version from august '72 (unforgivably left off the deluxe set - i'd also kill for a really good recording of that) is fine enough. i could listen to eno treat mackay and manzanera's instrumental duo for hours. anyway the fall '72 version is only 18 minutes... the only complete recording i know of is a truly abysmal fidelity recording of croydon - one of the worst-quality bootleg recordings i've heard, and i've heard a _lot_ of bootleg recordings. the music, though? chef's kiss.

Watched this last night and it’s amazing - seems like they got much less rave-up/improvisatory after this. I love how the attention of the performances are about equally divided between all the members, almost like Can. Like an outfit where MacKay, Eno and Ferry are co-leaders.

Highlights of this, other than the appearance of Manzanera's fly's eye sunglasses at the end, were the interstitial/interlude bits where everyone else stands around waiting for one or two members to finish making a glorious racket before they all start back into the songs.

Not sure what the best place for this is but it sounds like we’ve seen the last of Roxy Music according to Phil. Also, they may release a live record of the 50th anniversary tour (which was great):

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/phil-manzanera-roxy-music-farewell/

no surprise there. really glad I got to see them last year.

Yeah, I figured it might be the last chance I had given their age. Very glad I went.

The stuff from the first two albums was exceptional when I saw them in Boston. Manzanera’s solo on Ladytron was otherworldly.

I don't know if anyone here's caught Phil Manzanera's talks in NYC or DC, but apparently he said the 2022 tour is the last time Roxy Music will ever play live. (Glad I saw it - better late than never!)

BUT, even though Roxy Music as a live act is over, he said that there are loads of archival material that haven't been released because no one really wants to take it on. Meanwhile, the individual band members are still producing music, and Andy Mackay, Paul Thompson and Manzanera actually have an album coming out at the end of June, followed by a US tour in the fall.

New Ferry album today. He plays keyboards behind a female singer who writes lyrics.