Roxy Music - Thursday, 3rd March 2011 - Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
I saw Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry play a solo show for charity a few years back. It was a pretty good concert, and the two support acts, Joan Armatrading and Daryl Braithwaite, were quite entertaining as well. But the one thing that really stuck in my mind was how old the audience was. I was convinced that Carmen and I, bar the staff, were the two youngest people in the attendance by a long shot. To be honest, it was pretty embarrassing.
So, when I saw Roxy Music at Rod Laver a few years later, would it be a similarly old audience? Honestly, it didn't seem as bad. Maybe it's because I'm a few years older now and on the way to being an old fart myself. (Ilona was also supposedly in attendance, so add another to the not-yet-thirty crowd).
Just like Iron Maiden a week earlier, I had a few small dramas beforehand: arriving in Melbourne later than I should, struggling to find a park, and then a mad dash on foot to the venue. Unlike Iron Maiden, where I actually missed a song and a half, I managed to get to my seat on time, albeit in a rather sweaty state. I guess this problem wouldn't have occurred, had the original support act, Mondo Rock, still been on the tour. I actually wanted to see them, but as they had pulled out, I decided to skip the replacement support act, Sydney band Cameras... which lead to the whole running late issue. Oh well.
Roxy Music is a pretty big band when performing live, and outside of the main members, there were plenty of other musicians onstage, including a second guitarist, Oliver Thompson, an extra percussionist (who was Bryan Ferry's son, Tara (yeah, I didn't know it was a man's name either)), a fellow on keys, two female backing vocalists, and an Australian woman by the name of Jorja Chalmers, who played additional sax and keys, and also some synth. She looked pretty stylish in high heels and a cocktail dress. Curiously enough, there were also two scantily clad female dancers onstage for a few songs: dunno why, but it was rather amusing (and, err... visually pleasing). Throughout the show, imagery was projected onto a screen behind the band, which was pretty cool.
The setlist was a bit surprising, with plenty of unexpected songs being played, including opener The Main Thing, To Turn You On, Prairie Rose, Pyjamarama and a few songs from Flesh and Blood. The Flesh and Blood songs came across really well live, which was quite a surprise, and I should probably relisten to that album. The band also really played up their moody, artsy side, with songs like the ultra creepy Bitter Sweet, the mellow Humphrey Bogart tribute, 2HB, a monstrous version of If There is Something, and a huge My Only Love. For good measure, they played a few covers like their excellent version of John Lennon's Jealous Guy and Neil Young's Like a Hurricane, which was turned into a moody epic (complete with shipwreck graphics). Some of the songs were slightly re-arranged: the gorgeous More Than This had a slower intro, and In Every Dream Home a Heartache's lyrics section was played with a steady drumbeat and guitar arpeggios. Fascinating, eh?
Set:
The show finished with a pretty cool run of the band's better known (and mostly up-tempo) hits, including Love is the Drug, Virginia Plain, Do the Strand, Avalon and a (surprise?) cover of Bryan's solo hit Let's Stick Together, which also showed off the man's honking harmonica skills. I actually managed to record most of the latter song, too. There was no encore, and the very last song of the night was the grim For Your Pleasure (incidentally, it was also the name of the tour), which ended with the band members leaving the stage one by one, and everything degrading to a mess of piano notes and drum pounding. Pretty cool finale.
It was a really great concert, and for me the only disappointment was that they didn't play the brilliant Remake/Remodel or maybe Both Ends Burning (and it would've been particularly awesome if they played Take a Chance with Me... though I was already stoked that they played To Turn You On). Still, they played lots of great and interesting songs, and there was plenty of highlights and stupendous musicianship. I certainly would see them live again, should they ever return.
Oh, and Bryan Ferry looks quite tall and still appears to be one hell of a suave bastard. Dresses well, too.
So, when I saw Roxy Music at Rod Laver a few years later, would it be a similarly old audience? Honestly, it didn't seem as bad. Maybe it's because I'm a few years older now and on the way to being an old fart myself. (Ilona was also supposedly in attendance, so add another to the not-yet-thirty crowd).
Just like Iron Maiden a week earlier, I had a few small dramas beforehand: arriving in Melbourne later than I should, struggling to find a park, and then a mad dash on foot to the venue. Unlike Iron Maiden, where I actually missed a song and a half, I managed to get to my seat on time, albeit in a rather sweaty state. I guess this problem wouldn't have occurred, had the original support act, Mondo Rock, still been on the tour. I actually wanted to see them, but as they had pulled out, I decided to skip the replacement support act, Sydney band Cameras... which lead to the whole running late issue. Oh well.
Roxy Music is a pretty big band when performing live, and outside of the main members, there were plenty of other musicians onstage, including a second guitarist, Oliver Thompson, an extra percussionist (who was Bryan Ferry's son, Tara (yeah, I didn't know it was a man's name either)), a fellow on keys, two female backing vocalists, and an Australian woman by the name of Jorja Chalmers, who played additional sax and keys, and also some synth. She looked pretty stylish in high heels and a cocktail dress. Curiously enough, there were also two scantily clad female dancers onstage for a few songs: dunno why, but it was rather amusing (and, err... visually pleasing). Throughout the show, imagery was projected onto a screen behind the band, which was pretty cool.
The setlist was a bit surprising, with plenty of unexpected songs being played, including opener The Main Thing, To Turn You On, Prairie Rose, Pyjamarama and a few songs from Flesh and Blood. The Flesh and Blood songs came across really well live, which was quite a surprise, and I should probably relisten to that album. The band also really played up their moody, artsy side, with songs like the ultra creepy Bitter Sweet, the mellow Humphrey Bogart tribute, 2HB, a monstrous version of If There is Something, and a huge My Only Love. For good measure, they played a few covers like their excellent version of John Lennon's Jealous Guy and Neil Young's Like a Hurricane, which was turned into a moody epic (complete with shipwreck graphics). Some of the songs were slightly re-arranged: the gorgeous More Than This had a slower intro, and In Every Dream Home a Heartache's lyrics section was played with a steady drumbeat and guitar arpeggios. Fascinating, eh?
Set:
- India (not actually played, was intro music)
- The Main Thing
- Street Life
- Pyjamarama
- Prairie Rose
- If There is Something
- More Than This
- Jealous Guy [John Lennon]
- Like a Hurricane [Neil Young]
- 2HB
- In Every Dream Home a Heartache
- Tara
- Bitter Sweet
- To Turn You On
- Same Old Scene
- My Only Love
- Virginia Plain
- Love is the Drug
- Editions of You
- Do the Strand
- Avalon
- Let's Stick Together
- For Your Pleasure
The show finished with a pretty cool run of the band's better known (and mostly up-tempo) hits, including Love is the Drug, Virginia Plain, Do the Strand, Avalon and a (surprise?) cover of Bryan's solo hit Let's Stick Together, which also showed off the man's honking harmonica skills. I actually managed to record most of the latter song, too. There was no encore, and the very last song of the night was the grim For Your Pleasure (incidentally, it was also the name of the tour), which ended with the band members leaving the stage one by one, and everything degrading to a mess of piano notes and drum pounding. Pretty cool finale.
It was a really great concert, and for me the only disappointment was that they didn't play the brilliant Remake/Remodel or maybe Both Ends Burning (and it would've been particularly awesome if they played Take a Chance with Me... though I was already stoked that they played To Turn You On). Still, they played lots of great and interesting songs, and there was plenty of highlights and stupendous musicianship. I certainly would see them live again, should they ever return.
Oh, and Bryan Ferry looks quite tall and still appears to be one hell of a suave bastard. Dresses well, too.