Bryan Ferry at the Royal Albert Hall programme / ticket (and NME review)... anybody attend this show..any memories ?
39 years to the day virtually...The £3 admission wouldn't get you a drink at the interval today !

Thanks for this! I missed it concert... no internet etc in those days
I always relied on NME for Infos...

The Girls were good, especially the oo-oo's

Great reading, thanks again

Cher Billy Porter & Other Interested Hipsters,
Yet again I'm obliged to acknowledge that there are many benefits associated with being a Silver Surfer and having the great memory of this gig is one of them.
I remember it for many reasons — not least of all for its huge cultural significance.
By the time this show came around, I'd seen our hero no fewer than five times. Once with "The Gas Board" and four times with "Roxy".
In two years, he'd released six albums and performed four tours — an unbelievable work rate by any standards. Roxy were obviously well established and I'd become completely seduced by the whole thing. That said, the two solo albums had a huge effect on me. The first I found quite accessible but I remember buying ATAP and being initially shocked. On the first plays it was really only the title track that did it for me and I really stuck with it in the belief that he knew better than me and I just didn't get it. After multiple plays, I was proved right, 'The Taste Tarantula' had his way and I fell in love with it.
Back in those tribal days being a "Ferryista" was not always easy. There were many confirmed, fur boa wearing, Roxologists who viewed the tandem solo output as treachery. I traveled down from the NE to London (I couldn't get to the City Hall night) and went to see the show with my London based friends.
I'm so pleased I made the effort, that gig was IMNSHO as significant as Dylan going electric. To plough this furrow and to showcase this eclectic taste with such style was really the absolute demonstration that we had a musical phenomena on our hands.
The whole gig was a complete innovation and it was my first visit to TRAH.
The orchestra, the band and the black tie set was just so seductive. I'd never seen anything like it before and nor had the majority of the people in the room.It was clear to all that Geordie's favourite son was introducing us to a whole new level of sophistication.
The set list comprised pretty much the first two albums and with the exception of "Sympathy For The Devil" (that song never suited him) I remember everything as being great. I can't recall everything but I know that my personal highlights were "Hard Rain" "The In Crowd" and "Help Me Make It Thru' The Night".
The feed back after the gig was quite polarising. Confirmed Roxologists were grudgingly appreciative but saw the whole thing as a threat to Roxy. Those of us who'd bought the first two albums and loved them were ecstatic. In any event, there had been few braver moves in popular music. The late, great Robert Palmer, tried a similar trick in 1992 when he showcased his excellent album of jazz standards, "Ridin' High". I was also there for that one but unfortunately despite a great performance, he didn't take the majority of his audience with him. Happily our hero did and it was so poignant that he celebrated this year with AEWBF.Clearly one thing lead to another!
I have absolutely no recollection of how much I payed for the ticket but if it was £3 it was a hell of a deal. It would be £26 today and you can't even buy a dark blue Charvet knitted tie for that!
Anyway - great days then — great days now!
Warm Regards & Joyeux Noel,
Windswept

You may have seen this clip before but just in case......................

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkwn1yFi9ys

Cher Roxy,
You've made my Xmas!
It was a premier for me and what a blast from the past.
An elegantly ageing hipster has had his day made.
Warmest of regards et Joyeux Noel,
Windswept

Thanks a lot for the clip- never saw it before. Love the attack on the vocals.