We shouldn't forget that Andy was treated for throat cancer a while ago and also suffers from Dupuytrens contracture which can impede his playing.
Thank you for your comments about Queen Elizabeth. A true and selfless leader, as she demonstrated during the dark days of COVID-19. RIP Ma'am.

Perhaps Phil wrote the instrumental outro of OOTB and then handed it to EJ to play on the violin but I doubt it. My guess would be that Andy created his violin solo based upon the chord structure that Phil crafted - then later when EJ was gone, Phil adapted EJ's solo for his own guitar-based outro.

Phil is a great guitar player and his soloing at the end of OOTB is quite remarkable. But it's not as remarkable (or memorable) as EJ's solo. Just my opinion...

I seem to recall somewhere that EJ said he wrote the violin solo for OOTB.

Mes Amis,
The great ‘UKRichard’ says it all.
When compared to the FYP tour, this set list is deeply uninspiring and W2 is starting to feel that his loyalty is being tested to the limit.
Not only is he being dragged kicking and screaming to the Godawful O2. He now discovers that he is being dragged there to watch a sub optimal line up (No Colin Good, No Lucy Wilkins) play a pretty bland set list.
No 2HB. No ASFE, No MOP, No Amazona, No PR, No DTS, No Seranade. Not much of anything really.
Furthermore, W2 does not hold out much hope for a change. He fears the die is cast and this is it.
Sad really. This should have been a great moment and an opportunity to play deep cuts to the ‘Roxy’ diehards who have supported them all of these years.
W2 has sent out for a huge supply of positivity tablets He thinks he is going to need them.
Salutations a tous,
Windswept

W2:
Sad to say, I think your take on the set list is hard to (impossible?) argue with. It doesn't come close to the 2011 FYP tour...

I hope for your sake that there are some changes for the British shows.

Mon Dieu, even le grand W2 joins the choir of old grumpy men. That was the drop, so to speak. Now I will not read this forum until I have been to the concert at O2.

OK, I know sound quality on online clips can be less than optimal (even on those BF opts to post) but having seen clips of many songs, I feel quite uncomfortable.

Arrangements sound ponderous and flat like a band going through the motions - to borrow an analogy, it makes the 2011 outing sound like The Clash. But more worrying, BF's voice is frailer than ever.

I've long said the voice is ageing and maturing and, like (for example) Johnny Cash, can adapt to new musical styles - we've seen great examples in much of BF's recently recorded output, from the more contemporary tracks on Olympia and Avonmore right up to this year's EP. But a RM 50th anniversary bash couldn't be further removed from 'new musical styles' and it's serving to highlight the problem, not subjugate it. Sound systems in big arenas do BF's voice - competing with a huge band - no favours at all. Windswept's calls for a residency at Ronnie Scott's (or similar intimate venues) - however unlikely - really are where the future lies if BF is to continue live work, IMHO.

Looking at these videos ought to be a moment of immense pride, marking 50 years of a band we all love and admire to a point they've become woven into our DNA. To cite Windswept again, they've collectively written the soundtrack to our lives. But I'm starting to feel the precise opposite. It saddens me to the core to say I feel quite embarrassed watching these clips. At times it's been claimed the much discussed 9th album was aborted for fear of tarnishing the body of work that preceded it. Maybe that ought to have been a consideration here.

I'm truly sorry to be negative about this. It gives me no pleasure whatsoever - quite the opposite I can assure.

I am not optimistic about any set list changes. What was the point of all the hints about Manifesto in interviews? A more cynical person than me might think such comments were designed to nudge any of the faithful who were wavering to purchase these expensive tickets. It reminds me of the Stones - ahead of every tour there are comments about how they "have rehearsed 50 songs" but then come opening night it is the same old same old. And what of the tour T-shirts quoting lyrics from All I Want Is You? As a long-time champion of this forgotten hit single it seemed it might finally be getting a long overdue revival, but alas no. Someone really should ask Mr Ferry what he has against this song to have deliberately not played it for over 40 years.

Perhaps they are assuming that we will be so overjoyed at the chance to see them together again on stage for what surely must be the last time that they thought a set list that must have taken all of 5 minutes to compile would go uncriticised. Yes the hits are to be expected but something else as well for the cognoscenti please!

Suprised by the consensus overhere...
By the way, just watched the RRHOF-videos of IEDH and OOTB. My goodness, the decay is pretty precarious.

I may be out of kilter with others but I am reasonably re-assured by what I have seen so far. I have to caveat that with the fact that I am approaching these gigs with very low expectations (due to health and age). I did think hard before buying tickets and am treating it as a final curtain call rather than a new Roxy experience. I thought Bryan just about got away with it in 2020 and it looks like this is similar. I too am a little disappointed in the set list but suspect Bryan’s voice plays a key part in the selection - a lot of the older tracks (Bogus Man, ITIS and Dreamhome) have long instrumental passages and elements where backing singers can support. It wouldn’t surprise me if we see a couple of the Avalon tracks replaced for the UK gigs, as this is their most well known album across the pond but given the short nature of the tour I don’t see huge changes.