Roxy - 50 gigs on: Richard Evans - Mon 1st Oct
Roxy - 50 gigs on: Richard Evans
01 October 2001
Many thanks to Richard for his review of these two gigs.
I had to go and see Roxy again. It was going to be my last opportunity
probably and didn't want to miss out.
Manchester 2 and Hammersmith 1 were my chosen ports of call. And how Roxy had improved during their travels.
I was a bit puzzled by the Apollo audience who remained in their seats
until Both Ends Burning.
By contrast the Manchester crowd was great, up from the first note.
At B'ham first time around, the band blew me away with the choice of songs and the sheer strength of their performance.
At Manchester and the Apollo, the musical unit was on peak form. Old and new songs were performed with a stylistic consistency missing from earlier shows.
The musicians seemed to have blended perfectly while they were away from these shores.
Even Avalon, a song difficult to translate live, retained the smoothness of the original at Manchester.
Heart Still Beating has grown in stature, while Dance Away, My Only Love,Oh Yeah and Jealous Guy all had an added muscularity absent from the album versions - something to do with TGPT no doubt.
The pre-Manifesto songs had a new depth, a more sophisticated and thicker sound.
This was due to the standard of the support musicians as well as the
quality of performance from Mackay, Manzanera, Ferry and Thompson.
Out of The Blue was a highlight at all three concerts I went to. Lucy was superb each time, with her grin lighting up the crowd almost as much as her violin. Zev Katz is a great bass player and thankfully didn't overdo the
histrionics. Julia Thornton and Sarah Brown would have been missed if they hadn't been there while Chris Spedding proved the perfect foil for Phil.
On the second leg Andy Mackay and Phil Manzanera had clearly benefited
from the worldwide trek. I was particularly impressed with Andy at Manchester and the Apollo. His subtlety was evident throughout and when needed drove the material along with youthful enthusiasm. Tara was superb - a favourite each night.
Manzo obviously enjoyed having Spedding on board and it showed in his
playing.
As for Ferry, I was delighted he played the piano quite a bit - a move
which emphasised the 'Roxyness' of it all. Thanks for doing that.
What really made it for me at the second two shows was that they looked as though they were having fun rather than just playing the songs. They had added details, flourishes and subtlties to each song to bring their catalogue to life.
For me the highlight of the shows was Remake/Remodel - a song which for me captures the very essence of what we know as Roxy Music.
Thanks boys and girls for three great shows.....here's hoping........