bookmark | print | email

Review: Roxy Music

O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom
7th February 2011
Keiron Tylor

Matchbox Magazine 15th February 2011

---

What are Roxy Music? The name itself is, deliberately, evocative of the silver screen, of smoke filled Gaumont cinemas, nostalgia and glamour. On one level they are a brand-maker's dream, having come to represent romance, balladry, wit and irony. Even without sounds, a casual glance at the stage set-up tells you that Roxy is present and correct tonight; elegant dancing girls on podiums flank backing musicians and singers, plus the band themselves, with master Bryan Ferry centre stage, besuited and clam.

But this says nothing of the music itself. To many, Roxy Music are known for songs such as 'Avalon' and 'More Than This', which are seen as commercial love songs written 'by that man who used to go out with Jerry Hall'. Anyone who expected that band to arrive at this gig would be sorely disappointed.

Something has driven Bryan and the boys to hark back to their early experimental back catalogue. Perhaps it was recent meetings with former Roxy keyboard player Brian Eno, the man who gave their first two albums their avant garde edge.

The first half an hour of the show opts to neglect their pop hits, even the early ones. Instead, Roxy remind us why they are considered one of rock's great pioneers and one of the most influential bands to have ever strung a guitar. They play successive album tracks, in excess of five minutes in length, that display the sheer uncompromising song writing talent this band once possessed. They power from the majesty of 'In Every Dreamhome a Heartache' - probably the only paean of love to an inflatable sex toy - to the Cabaret pomp of 'Bittersweet', to the elegance of 'If There Is Something', including the immortal lines: 'I would put roses round our door, sit in the garden, growing potatoes by the score,'� an expression of love only Ferry could pull off with a straight face.

But of all the venues to attempt such a self-rediscovery, is the 20,000-seater O2 London the right place to do so? A mixed crowd of 40 and 50 something's, some who will have seen these songs played first time round, and some who simply own a throw-away 'best of' compilation, sit alongside 20 year-olds who have fallen in love with Roxy years after their hey-day. Some sit there opened mouthed at being treated to this material, but not all are appreciative. The atmosphere is at times muted and the crowd sit still ­'" these are not foot-tapping sing-a-longs after all. But when the opening chords of 'Same Old Scene', now one of the band's best known songs thanks to BBC drama Ashes to Ashes, ring out across the vast arena, even the secretaries in the back rows are on their feet. For a large bulk of the crowd, this is what they came for. The final third of the set features hit after hit, but still erring on the side of the early albums. 'Love Is The Drug', 'Do The Strand' and 'Virginia Plain' are all here, yet 'Angel Eyes', 'More Than This' and 'Dance Away' are conspicuous by their absence.

It is refreshing to see a band at this stage of their career willing to challenge an audience, especially in an arena built on bricks of overt commercialism. Why, or whether they achieved anything in doing this, remains open to debate.