For Your Very Real Pleasure - Roxy Music
by Ray Fox-Cumming
Record Mirror and Disc, 18th October 1975
The early part of Roxy's British tour has been a succession of 'welcome homes' for members of the band. In Liverpool, bassist Johnny Gustafson was the local lad getting the especially glad eye. Then in Glasgow it was Andy Mackay's turn. "Gud tae be home agin, eh Andy?" smiled the local press. "Yes, indeed," mumbled Andy, not liking to admit that he was one of the London Mackays with not a cell of Scottish blood coursing through his veins. "He'd never even been to Scotland before he joined Roxy," laughed his wife. Nevertheless, agreed all, Scotland was very much Andy's show. At the next stop on the tour, Newcastle, Roxy were able to boast three returning heroes - Bryan Ferry, Eddie Jobson and Paul Thompson, though Ferry isn't strictly a native of Newcastle, having
grown up in Washington some miles away. "I did live here for four years though and went to university here. Before that when we went into town to shop, it was always Newcastle, not Durham or Sunderland." If, at the Newcastle City Hall show on Sunday, the audience knew they were watching three of their own men, they didn't show it. If Roxy wanted a heroes' welcome, they were going to have to earn it - and earn it they were certainly going to, but not before the Sadistic Mika Band had had a shot at warming the place up first. Orientals These infinitely scrutable Orientals have a lot going for them visually. The lead male singer, strikingly clad, is probably the tallest Japanese guy most Britons have ever clapped eyes on, Mika herself is ravishingly attractive, her presentation quite unlike that of any other female rock singer, and the bass player has the kind of looks that get pinned-up on bedroom walls. Instrumentally too, they are remarkable. Perhaps their greatest assets being their drummer and the bassist, whom we all gawped at incredulously when he began to play flamenco style! The band will undoubtedly be a big success here eventually, but at the moment their set is all topsy-turvy with all the numbers that should be at the start crammed in at the end. Their vocals also leave a lot to be desired at times and the harmonies often took ages cranking up painfully before finally meeting and sounding for a few moments marvellous. The applause at the end of the Mika Band's set must have been heartening for them. Support bands don't always succeed in getting such a polite, attentive hearing. After the interval when Roxy came on, all eyes at first turned to the two girl singer / dancers who've joined the line-up. They looked fantastic in their blue WRAF-style uniforms, designed for them by Anthony Price, who does Ferry's outfits. They even had regulation gloves tucked under their epaulettes - great. Throughout the evening, the girls' vocal contribution was mixed down to a useful and sensibly unobtrusive level and their energetic movements never let up, which is some feat since they are corseted alarmingly to make the best of the costumes. Once they'd had a look at the girls, all the Ferry look-a likes in the audience were anxiously awaiting the appearance of their man to see they'd got the garb right. Those who were near spot-on lost no time in tucking their ties into their shirts when they saw that was how Bryan wore his. Ferry's garb is a development of the military-style outfit he wore on the last tour, comprising pale khaki GI-type shirt (long sleeves rolled up, not short ones boys), black tie (tucked in above the third button), patches on shirt, khaki webbing belt at waist and khaki trousers ( slightly darker than shirt). Confident Ferry's stage persona has developed enormously since we last saw him on tour here. The hesitancy and self consciousness have gone and he's got his whole lumbering soldier image off to a T. As he strikes one of his favourite poses, back to the audience and facing the drums, he looks just like one of Tom Of Finland's archetypal studs. Musically the show was superb, without doubt the best Roxy gig I've ever seen. They played a lot of material from the new album Siren (due out within a fortnight), but never too much at a stretch. Of the new numbers, the two that stood out most on first hearing were the set's opener, My Sentimental Fool, and She Sells. Everyone got a chance to show off their talents: Andy Mackay and Phil Manzanera each did a number from their solo albums and both offerings were highlights of the evening and Ferry gave us The In Crowd and A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall from his solo LPs. One surprise of the evening was the inclusion of For Your Pleasure, which Roxy have never played on any previous tour. It's hard to understand why they've left it out so long, because the version they played knocked spots off the recorded one and proved to be the song most people were singing as they went out. Apart from on Virginia Plain, which fell to bits slightly in the middle, the playing was nigh on faultless throughout and the sound was good enough for us to enjoy their work unimpaired. Eddie Jobson's viola and Andy Mackay's sax sounded particularly impressive. All round, it was a powerful performance, affirming my own view that Roxy are THE British band of the seventies. When, towards the end of the set, Ferry asked rather diffidently: "Roxy rule OK?", not a soul in the place put in a negative answer.
