OXFORDAs we don’t seem to have an Oxford review here, I hope you’ll forgive these belated memories… Maybe they’ll have a little value for those who haven’t yet witnessed the current tour.
BF took stage centre, of course, looking fit & well and relaxed in a customarily well tailored dark two piece suit and open necked shirt (hard to tell under bright stage lights whether the suit was black or dark charcoal grey, but who really cares if it’s a good look, right?). To his right stood Fonzi, Bobbi & Rhianna (who looks uncannily like Jodie, right down to the beautiful corkscrew curls) and to his left a bearded Quist all in black, complete with trilby hat.
Just behind BF were Neil Hubbard to his right and the impressively bearded Jimmy Sims to his left. On a raised podium to the rear were Luke Bullen’s drums, flanked by Paul Beard (behind the backing singers) and Jorja & Lucy (behind Quist).
I thought it was a brave move to open with new songs, but Avonmore and especially Driving Me Wild (the latter featuring the first of several good Quist solos) were well received, before we settled in to (for me) slightly over-familiar waters with Slave To Love.
Then came the highlight of my evening: at last I can say I’ve heard Beauty Queen performed live and very beautiful she was too, complete with some great slide work from Quist (any chance of Strictly Confidential appearing in the setlist at the Albert Hall please?).
We stayed with vintage Roxy for Ladytron. with BF moving to his keyboard, Jorja on soprano sax, more Quist & Rhianna showing off a fine pair of castanets (I’m sorry, that’s my daily dose of schoolboy humour over, I promise…).
A good chunk of the audience may have been unfamiliar with Bob Dylan’s Dream, but it fitted nicely with the following Don’t Think Twice (a personal favourite); both are great vehicles for BF’s mature voice and harmonica work, while the Beard piano on the latter song was plenty Good enough.
After Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, with some nice alto from Jorja, Loop De Li led into the welcome return of Zamba. More nice work from Quist on Stronger Through The Years before some tasty violin from Lucy (a big welcome back!) on Bete Noire.
As BF & the singers nipped off for a change of clothing, Tara was expanded from trio to quintet, with solos from Jorja’s soprano, Beard, Quist on acoustic guitar, Hubbard (the only solo he was allocated all night) & Lucy. As always, it sounded as close to perfection as makes no difference.
BF returned to give us Take A Chance, One Night Stand (more nice alto from Jorja) & Midnight Train, before returning to his keyboard for the re-modelled More Than This and Avalon. The latter featured nice tenor from Jorja & some impressive vocals from Bobbie.
By this stage the very responsive crowd sensed the hits coming and were quickly out of their seats for LITD, VP & DTS; some great guitar from Quist, Jorja’s biting tenor cutting through the ensemble sound and Lucy proving that a real instrument can add colours that a synthesizer never really could…
And then… a real encore, i.e. everyone actually left the stage, before returning for more; I love these throwback moments!
Of course, we were treated to LST, with plenty of BF harmonica work, Editions and Jealous Guy, before the band received a well deserved standing ovation.
All in all a terrific show, with very few minus points (more solo work for Lucy & Hubbard might have been nice) and so many positives: the sound was great; BF seemed happy and relaxed and the band was impressively tight – we all have our all time favourite players, but this ensemble is far from Roxy Lite.
I’m a big fan of Ollie, but Quist is also a fine soloist and, to these ears, quite similar in style; that transition has been seamless, as has the Good to Beard one. Luke Bullen added plenty of heft from the kit, just as Cherisse once did, but the unsung hero for me was Jimmy Sims… I don’t care if he wears bracers and his grandad’s long sleeved vest if he can underpin the music as well as this; to tread the boards immediately after a bass legend like Lee Sklar and not sound in any way overawed suggests a very bright future.
So let’s quit fretting about who and what we’re
not getting and celebrate what we
are witnessing: a near 70 year old icon still putting together a great band and a great show… Enjoy it at every opportunity (which reminds me: has anyone got a spare ticket for Brussels in Sept?!
).
