Perth: Fan Review - Sun 19th Aug
Perth: Fan Review
19 August 2001
Perth: Fan Review
Thanks to Neil who sent us this review of the Perth Roxy Music Concert Sunday 19th August 2001
The first and only other time I saw Roxy Music live was in October 1975 when they toured supporting the "Siren" album, and came to Leeds University. It was the first rock concert I had ever been to. I went with my big brother Andy. We had both been huge fans of the band since we saw them perform a few songs on a BBC2 arts programme, before the first album came out and before "Virginia Plain" was a hit. He had all their LPs, and we listened to them constantly. I guess that, apart from being a big Rolling Stones fan, they
were my favourite band throughout the seventies (or at least til Punk came along).The crowd sat politely through the Sadistic Mika Band, the support
band, but as soon as they left the stage, everybody stood up and rushed the stage, and then we all waited uncomfortably for Roxy to come on. It was fantastic of course.
Never saw them live again til the other night in Perth Australia (my new home). When I knew they were coming there was never any doubt that I would have to be there, and I was even more convinced it was a good idea when I learned that Paul Thompson would be playing with them.
They had the luxury of several albums worth of material to choose from, and it was great hearing the tracks they did off the later albums, but the biggest buzz was hearing them blast their way through "Remake/Remodel" and "Editions of You", mixed in with the atmospherics of "For Your Pleasure" and "In every Dreamhome a Heartache".
I'm no nostalgia freak normally, but they played their hearts out throughout, and it was not a quiet gig by any means.
I felt a bit sorry for anybody in the audience who expected to hear just the later hits like "Dance Away" etc - some of Phil Manzanera's solos ripped everyone's heads off.
I never for an instant imagined that Brian Eno would join them, I love his stuff too, but it's not where he's at now. Lucy Wilkins was great. I was amazed that the solo on "Out of the Blue" was exactly the same as the original one, note for note! I'm not always in favour of solos that aren't really improvised, but it was played with feeling, and came off much better than the Guitar Solo replacement heard on one of the old Roxy live albums.
My sister in law came with us, she has been in love with Bryan Ferry since time immemorial, and he didn't disappoint her, he looked so cool, and sang brilliantly. I read somewhere that early on in the tour his voice was shot and I was worried, but I needn't have been.
I thought "Avalon" fell a bit flat, it was always more of a textural studio song, and, although the audience gave it's intro a great reception, it's lack of a chorus and general lack of dynamics made it a poor choice for the set. They would have been better off replacing it with "Same old Scene" perhaps (although that wasn't as big a hit as "Avalon" was).
The lighting was great, the sound clear as a bell, the dancers were a fun idea (although I thought they worked better in their feathered plumes during "Love is the Drug", than in the sixties look during "Both Ends Burning").
We all thought it was a fantastic gig. The new tour programme will now sit proudly next to my (well travelled) original 1975 tour programme on my bookshelf.