i tend to agree with avalon eyes, i can't help but think we're overreacting slightly to the "berlusconi gig". we don't know the full details, i'm pretty sure bryan would not actively support any one politician in favour of another - not publicly anyway. rightly or wrongly he has his tory links, but certainly doesn't shout from the rooftops. his presence at a berlusconi-paid show doesn't necessarily mean he's a supporter, only that he pays well - presumably.

thoughts on the set list.. (for those interested!)

1) a strange mix, but at first glance - and listen - the songs appear to gel together fairly well. ferry clearly thinks them through and they aren't simply plucked from nowhere because he hasn't heard them for a while. it's a smooth show, and there doesn't appear to be anything horribly out of place - something like dreamhome or remake probably would, for example

2) there are indeed a lot of "overhanging" roxy tunes from the recent UK and AUS tour. two things to consider here. firstly, the length of time between group and solo tours. throw into the mix a sudden - and apparently quite serious - illness, and who can blame him for not having the time to trawl through more unrehearsed favourites. ferry's a perfectionist, my guess is he wouldn't go "live" with anything unless up to the highest of standards. plus of course, the roxy tour encompassed only the UK and AUS.. could it not be that he's simply giving his european fans a taster of what they missed earlier in the year? just a thought..

3) and finally.. to my knowledge, chris spedding is "filling in" on the early part of the tour. again, if memory serves, spedding was one of the leaad guitarists on bride stripped bare - what goes on/ sign of times/ hold on/ can't let go (according to recent pictures).. could it not be that his appointment, at fairly short notice, prompted a return to "what he knows best"?

in my opinion, given recent health scares and a high-energy roxy tour, we should be grateful he's touring at all. time to cut the man some slack, i think..

hwyl

Perhaps he -- Bryan -- felt Silvio needed to hear the instructional lyrics of "Let's Stick Together"?

It's not so much the fox hunting - more the fact that he chose a platform for Roxy to mention Otis . Why drag the others into the PR mess ? As far as Milan goes .. He performed to an audience of Berlusconi flag wavers .

It seems to get more and more difficult to justify Ferry's behaviour to friends - I thought the Roxy tour was excellent if not a little distant. Berlusconi is an embarrassment beyond belief and I would like to think that artists and other people in the public eye whom I hold in high esteem would avoid any association AT ALL - let alone performing at a rally to a crowd of his supporters . It's sad for me, but any respect i had left for Ferry seems to be dwindling by the second . Probably Reason or Rhyme is all I have now ( sigh.. )

Really sad ! I am hurted while watching this video.
What's the next step ? A support concert for Strauss kahn?

Here's the background info .. Near the end of the article we discover that he was dragged in at the last minute because the main act pulled out as a protest against the rightwing Northern league... It's comforting to know that some performers have principles...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/ma ... berlusconi

This is real bare knuckles political fight that BF inserted himself into for whatever reason. Wow. Either he did it in order to get another paid gig to help amortize Tour Overhead, or he cares about supporting the Berlusconi candidate for mayor and took the gig to show his political support. Or it could be a combo of the two. But clearly he wouldn't have taken the gig if he had any qualms about who he was helping "rally support" for...

The Guardian article was also featured in yesterday's Observer and George Galloway has tweeted in favour of a boycott of Ferry.
"The job of entertaining Berlusconi's flag-waving activists fell , bizarrely to Bryan Ferry, who gamely performed a medley of hits".
The lead act had pulled out at the last moment.
This makes me more uneasy and there are questions to be answered by the Ferry camp , otherwise this could become another media-driven feeding frenzy.

Check out some of the comments by fans ( mostly Italian) under the photo sets that include the Milan pics on his Facebook page.

I'm totally agree with that !