Sent to the site by e-mail:

Dear John,

Congratulations on an excellent website. It's hugely impressive.

I notice some of your forum members had been kind enough to comment on my blog about Bryan Ferry's recent Manchester gig: http://thedavidmford.blogspot.co.uk/201 ... eatre.html

I tried to respond but couldn't see a verification code anywhere on the registration page.

So just a couple of points: I'd be grateful if you could tell Helen (who, as she says, wasn't at the gig) that I haven't got a man crush on Bryan and, rest assured, I didn't leave the theatre in floods of tears; and Smudge should know that I travelled up from London specially, full of hope and expectation, because I couldn't get a ticket for the Albert Hall only to be disappointed at what I thought was a lacklustre performance. His presumption that I would have been alone if I'd stayed at home was wrong.

Regards,

David M Ford

Dear John,

Tell him I'm not convinced! haha

Irrespective of whether I was at the gig or not (I was there on Saturday if he must) his rude and personal insults were uncalled for.

I went back and re-read DMF's review and I also checked out a number of other recent reviews he's posted for concerts for bands like James, Echo and the Bunny Men, Human League, etc.

Yes, his review of BF was pretty snarky, but that's his style. He wants to be provocative, but at the same time I think he also wants to be truthful in conveying his thoughts about a particular gig.

I found it interesting that he basically had little positive to say about the BF concert, but he did enjoy the renditions of LITD and LST. I imagine for many devotees of the VRM forum (or at least for me) those two songs are probably among the most overdone and least interesting songs in the BF catalog.

So DMF is coming to the BF concert not as major BF/Roxy fan, but as a purveyor of Pop Music who sees BF/Roxy as but one band in a very large ocean of musical outfits from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. And I think the dismay he experienced upon hearing the 2013 version of BF's voice basically colored his reaction to the concert as a whole.

You'd assume that DMF was more than a casual fan if he travelled from London to Manchester for the show...

Still, he deserved to go home disappointed, if only for his undignified & snarky comment about the backing singers/dancers.

As for there being someone there to welcome him home, well they do say there's always someone worse off than yourself...

I think that it is his cheap quip about the backing singers that gets the hackles up. I suspect that we are quite a gallant group on VRM.

Otherwise, from the perspective of somebody who has no special interest in BF, and who has no prior awareness of either Bryan's general stage demeanour nor the BFO format, then I guess his comments are valid enough, whether we agree with them or not.

BTW, he is a Manchester City fan so perhaps he didn't go too far out of his way to attend the gig. As I understand it (and as Helen will doubtless confirm), unlike their local rivals, City fans actually come from Manchester.

Maybe there has been some editing of DMF's blog post, but I just re-read it and the only reference to the back-up singers I could find was:

"Things did warm up a bit in the second half, his two-and-a-half backing singers dancing a joyful charleston in sparkling green..."

This seems pretty benign to me. But maybe the blog has been edited.

What is definitely still there is his comment about OT's "horrible" and "hairy" guitar solos. He's certainly entitled to his opinion on such things but, based upon crowd reactions to OT solos over the past several years (as evident in a multitude of youtube videos), DMF's perspective on this point is not shared by very many attendees at BF concerts.

Personally, I still prefer PM over OT when it comes to solos, but OT is no doubt a very talented musician and his solos can be very moving. But apparently, DMF is of an 80s generation that thinks guitar solos are horrible relics of hippie music that punk/alternative pop must forever reject and oppose.

There are only 2 singers so I don't think his comment is benign.

I really enjoy OT's solos but they do push things to the limit at times so I can see why they might have proved too much for DMF. Hardly horrible though - and far removed from the self-indulgent long-haired axe man solos of my youth that I assume DMF was comparing him with.

Yes, making a reference to "two-and-a-half backing singers" is no doubt an attempt to call attention to their weight and perhaps it was inappropriate for me to label it as benign. Me bad. Sorry.

While I would not make a "two-and-a-half" reference in posts I might make, I guess my reaction to such terminology in this context is tempered by the fact that being less-than-svelte is often not considered a liability in the realm of female soul singers. Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Hudson, and plenty of others, have certainly demonstrated that.

Others might take umbrage at DMF's terminology and I respect their right to do so. I'm just less inclined to take to the ramparts in this particular instance.

Hipsters,
The great Roxy has it sussed, this ne'er-do-well has clearly stumbled into this hallowed cyber hall by mistake. Doesn't he know that it is uniquely the domain of "Taste Tarantulas"?
Judging by his inappropriate, misjudged and inarticulate reporting of events at Manchester one can only assume that the finer things in life are lost on him. I'm sure he'd be much more at home @ www.cliffrichard.com
Regards,
Windswept

Then he sent out his seven-piece, black-tied jazz band for 15 minutes to play Jeeves and Wooster versions of some his best-loved songs. So we got novelty 1920s arrangements of Do The Strand, Slave To Love and Avalon with no sight nor sound of the man we'd paid to see sing them. Very irritating.

this guy has no clue...bf released 'the jazz age' last year - to acclaim...and followed it with 'yellow cocktail music'...he could have had a support band for 30mins...but you got jazz age for 15..?! and then tons of bf...

what did you expect?!?!

it has to be supported (?!) for the man to make his mark...if this poor soul had checked out the previous gigs of the year - ie on youtube, he'd have known what to expect...

his whole reading of the show is totally half-cocked...and i say this now not as a fan, but someone who has seen many shows, for better or worse....

this is a good show, and i feel that this chap needs to see another one, to compare & contrast, and to then slink off to his pit of despair...

mate, get yr facts straight! (& then do one...x)