I agree- I found an audience recording of the Birmingham show which is eminently listenable- sound quality OK, not up to professional/commercial standard so a "proper" release would be very welcome. But I suspect the time for that has passed and it probably wouldn't be regarded as commercial enough for release.

DCJ wrote:

For me, the bottom line is that I wish an audio cd of the FYP tour would be released because I have no doubt but that it could be extremely listenable (TGPT later commented that the Aussie shows were of particular high quality).

If you're not averse to bootlegs, there are good quality audio CD-Rs floating around of at least five of the FYP 2011 complete shows: Nottingham, Birmingham, London O2, plus a pair of the Aussie gigs in Sydney & Newcastle (NSW).

In today's Sunday telegraph magazine when asked about Roxy it doesn't seem to Ferry that Roxy toured after 2001, and "didn't feel like recording another band album " after that so are the 2005 Roxy sessions (where even Ferry once seemed enthusiastic) a figment of everyone's imagination?

Hi Smudge
I'm certainly not averse to bootlegs but didn't know so many were available for this tour. Which would you say has the best sound quality? And if it isn't the Birmingham show I have already, where could I possibly find any at this stage??

Bob,

You'll probably find that many fans with an interest in this area prefer to exchange CD-Rs, rather than buy & sell. There are also downloads available, but I'm technologically challenged...

I used to buy a lot of mine from a guy in South America, but he's been quiet for several months now, so he may have ceased trading. I can put you in touch with another guy in Canada (not all his shows have artwork/CD covers, which is a pity), but I'd better check with J.O'B if that should be by private message (i.e. not sure if it's the done thing to advertise bootleggers' wares here!).

Ahh the fateful FYP tour - I remember seeing posters at Lovebox too and felt really excited about it.

I think it was organised and set up during 2010 in response to the 2010 festival shows - probably all with the best intention and done with the aim of making some money.

But then the whole Roxy/Ferry management/PR fiasco took over - press releases from the Ferry camp talked up Olympia as a Roxy reunion of sorts, dressed it as a Roxy album by putting Kate Moss on the cover etc etc.

Then in someone's mind, probably Ferry's, the idea of a second drummer took hold - good training for Tara and more support for BF - from what I saw at the O2 it was a complete waste of time, money and effort. From what I understand it was dropped on PM, AM and TGPT at a pretty late stage, like turning up for the first rehearsal and discovering two drum kits set up.

As for Jorja on second sax, she was in the solo band playing sax and keyboards and the same probably applied. In this case I thought the two saxes worked really well - 2HB was a highlight and Andy was always generous in his praise for her.

I loved the show and the setlist and still listen to the O2 show regularly.

That said - the whole period from Dylanesque to the end of the FYP tour is possibly the most bizarre in Roxy's history - it was just one enormous mess.

As a result we have NO FYP Tour CD/DVD, no RM anniversary album and the end of one of the UK's best and most influential bands ever.

...i don't think there is quite as much conspiracy....

i recall that in 2010 TGPT played the first raft of shows, then had a health scare that saw andy newmark take over for the rest of the summer.

i believe that tara had a small perc/drum setup for the last couple of shows (i saw electric picnic & bestival) , and indeed at the last show at bestival newmark played the 1st half, TGPT played the rest & tara was onstage for the whole show!

i reckon that BF was priming tara as an emergency replacement just in case something went wrong in the middle of FYP...as well as prepping him for olympia tour. ditto jorja on FYP, i think they were being 'blooded' for BF solo stuff...

Why use Tara when you can Newmark or TGPT - doesn't make sense - would be like using me

The Tara Experiment was rather strange. He wasn't without skills as a drummer, but compared to the rest of the talent assembled by BF in his band, he was definitely the odd man out, someone who never would have been engaged if he hadn't been BF's son.

The point above regarding BF's much hyped use of Kate Moss as a "Roxy Girl" for what wasn't a Roxy album is a good one. BF wanted to publicize Olympia like it was a Roxy reunion but all the while keeping total control over it as a solo album. This no doubt really rankled PM and AM...

Renowned Roxologists,
All this is interesting stuff but we are no nearer answering True2life's original question that I prefer to think of as 'The Mystery Of The Lacklustre Tour'.
Earlier in this thread, a most eminent Roxologist commented that TGPT had rated the Antipodeon gigs particularly highly.
Having attended the Sydney show, I can, to an extent concur. As I said earlier, the setlist was fantastic, the back drop visuals were perfection and animated the songs in an amazing way and the band were absolutely note perfect whilst playing some of their most challenging material.
Despite all of this, the frisson was just not there!
Why was this?
Ticket sales, thanks to a rogue promoter, had been something of a debacle resulting in cancelations. Had that affected them?
The Sydney venue had not sold out - did that have an impact?
Had our hero's heart already moved to 'Olympia'?
Questions that can only be answered when our hero publishes his memo!
Regards,
Windsept.