Prairie Rose addition welcome...but dropping of 2HB and This Island Earth not imnsho.
But as usual, there will be changes and twists throughout the tour....c'est la vie

And now by the 3rd show in Portland we have a 19-song set list of which 15 are Roxy songs.

Disappointed though that the great "Running Wild" is left out after just 2 outings, although maybe it's not best placed as the final song of the night as it was in Seattle.

Still a fan of the "Flesh + Blood" album but am probably in the minority here. If Bryan wants to delve into it again and not just for "Running Wild" he could always play "No Strange Delight" One from my wishlist definitely.

Less and less, I`d say.

Here's an uncut video someone posted of the San Diego show, which I had the pleasure of attending.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wmFHNWegL0

I had a fantastic evening, although it was a tad chilly on the bay as you can see Bryan had to put on his overcoat for the encore. 2HB was sorely missed, but I was pumped to hear Virginia Plain!

Fellow Philanderers,
This tour has me interested. It's the smallest band he's played with since 'Frantic' and when I look at these videos it is amazing how quickly messrs Beard, Quistgaard & Jones have mastered the act. Given the time line after AEWBF, there most have been some pretty frenetic rehearsals.
Furthermore,it's a great set list and the more stripped back sound seems to work well in what look like, for the most part, medium size to smallish venues.
However, the problem I have is that everything proceeding this has always seemed like a progression and for some reason, this is in danger of sounding like Roxy Music without the others and I'm not sure that is a great thing.
Don't get me wrong, Cherisse Osei is a good drummer but Paul Thompson is a great drummer, Quistgaard is a good guitarist but is he in the league of Manzanera? And although I do think Chalmers is fantastic, does she attack it with Andy's panache?
Oh, and one more thing - I do think that the new axe men need a trip to Paul Smith. Call me a boring old Ferryista if you like, but I do think that the look has long been a Roxy prerequisite and with our hero often back on the keyboards it's more important than ever that the front of house looks sexy. Initially I thought that BA had just lost their gear but even they manage to track you down within a couple of weeks. Doubtless DJC will tell us it's a financial issue but money can't be that tight — there must be a wardrobe budget somewhere - surely?
Anyway, despite all of this, I'm still over excited about Dublin and I've instructed my butler to prepare some suggestions for my valise!
a bien tout,
Windswept
Ps. Colin Good is tinkling the ivories at London's Nightjar cocktail bar on June 3rd. I think it will be tremendous!

A lot of the songs are getting decidedly shorter as well which has been happening since the 3rd and 4th verse of street life being left out in 2001. Fine if BF is saving his voice but a little improvisation from his band, if nothing else to put their own stamp on it rather than it be an attempt at copying the original records, wouldn't go amiss.

Hard for me to understand that you still stick to this roxymania. Anyway, RM is as much BF as BF - if not more.
Yes, PM might be better suited for some of the songs that now are on the show than the present guitar players - still I believe that Ollie was the best ever for BF;s music - and surely AM played more aggressive than Jorja does. But one has also to consider the visual aspect. I simply love to see Jorja on stage. That mixture of yin and yang is what makes a BF concert so special.
Wish list: Running wild, Running wild, Running wild... again!

Many good posts in this thread.

Here's my vote for running wild and no strange delight.


I dissed f+b a bit when it came out, feeling it was too twee, overproduced etc. but I think it's a great album now, and quite underrated. Several great songs. Even the title track is good (but imnsho only the live version of that tour). As I've mellowed with age, I've grown to love oh yeah....

WS2:
Thanks for thinking of me when it comes to the "Finances of Touring," but on the fashion issue you raise I wouldn't attach that to an effort to keep costs down. The new axe men do indeed seem to suffer from "coffee house urban geek/hipster" syndrome and I can only surmise that BF countenances such a fashion motif because it emphasizes the youthful character of his new band.

WS2's other point that the new band is in essence a version of "Roxy Lite" (my phrasing) is something I agree with (Yes WS2, sometime Worlds Collide and you and I agree! Oh Dear, the Apocalypse may be frightfully near...). They are all good musicians and they play the Roxy catalog with considerable skill and talent. But they are playing songs that are not THEIR songs and this ultimately limits the concert experience they seek to impart. I think the Las Vega Review description of the recent Vegas concert made this point in describing how many of the song tempos seemed rushed (this is something I felt in watching various clips of Stronger Through the Years).

But hey, the band still sounds pretty darn good and earlier today I got some front row Loge Level tickets for the Philly/Tower Theater show on Oct. 4. I presume that the band for "September Songs" will be the same as this Spring and - in the absence of the Real Roxy - I look forward to the concert!

Elegantly Debauched Philanderers,
Visitors to this hallowed cyber hall will doubtless be shocked that temporary harmony has broken out between that renowned Roxologist, DJC, and myself concerning issues surrounding our hero's current band line up.
DJC encapsulated my thoughts beautifully when he described the new ensemble as potentially being ''Roxy Music Lite''. Albeit I don't share his rational that any failure to add feeling or expansion to the music is down to them playing songs that aren't theirs.
My point, and I'll reserve definitive judgement on this until after the forthcoming Dublin fandango, is that our hero seems to be moving away from a band that was very much his, who knew the music inside out and whom had contributed to arrangements over the years (Colin Good's intro for 'Song For Europe' gave the piece a whole new dimension) to a scenario were he seems to be working more with journeyman musicians.
My dream line up for a stripped band would have comprised Colin Good, Andy Newark, Oliver Thompson, Chris Spedding, Zav Kats and Jorja Chalmers. This is a line up that would really rock but doubtless there are always questions regarding availability and other demands that have perhaps lead our hero to ring the changes and go with a more transient line up?
On the all important sartorial point, I can't agree with DJC's assessment that our hero is countenancing this "coffee house urban geek" - quelle horreur!
I would asses that he is currently in deep shock, doesn't want to be dictatorial,but can't wait to get them onto terra firma and rush them down to Rubinacci!
In any event, they have to take some responsibility themselves. They are playing for the maestro, not Robbie Williams for God's sake!
What will we have next? Players turning up in shell suits — quel bordel!
Anyway congratulations to all of those that have bout tickets for the "East Side'' leg and particularly to DJC on getting his Philly tickets (love Philadelphia railway station).
a bien tout,
Windsept.