Hello to all you Roxy Music fans around the globe. I'm a lucky man. I'm just back from London's Riverside Studios in Hammersmith where I was privileged to attend the first Roxy Music live performance for 18 years. There was a real air of expectancy outside the studio as the lucky few of us with tickets queued to get in. I was very pleased to meet several people who are subscribed to this list, and I thank you all for making yourselves known to me, it was my pleasure to meet you all. As we were finally admitted to the bar area outside the studio, I noticed a number of Roxy faces - Rhett Davies, Ferry producer and long-term colleague was chatting with keyboardist Colin Good - Drummer Paul Thompson was very friendly and approachable, and I was lucky enough to have a brief chat with him. Zev Katz was at the end of the bar, and fleetingly I caught sight of Bryan Ferry himself. Also in attendance were VH1 VJ's Paul King and Clare Grogan (pop stars themselves for those of us who are sadly old enough to remember 80's pop bands King and Altered Images)

Once we were admitted to the studio, (and yours truly was able to grab a great vantage point near the front!) we could sense that the magic was about to happen, and at around 8:15 Roxy duly arrived. The Great Paul Thompson received a huge welcome, which he seemed genuinely moved by, Keyboardist Colin Good and bassist Zev Katz settled into their positions, and the percussionist Julia Thornton and violinist/keyboardist Lucy Wilkins looked chic in their black outfits. Striking sultry backing singer Sarah Brown took up a position stage left, looking cool in a long silk dress, her hair in an extraordinary vertical pile on top of her head. Then another big roar came up as legendary guitarist Chris Spedding strapped on his guitar (not the Flying-V though) and adopted his customary forceful stance, a brooding presence, dressed in black teddy-boy garb.

Finally the big three arrived; Andy Mackay in a wonderful maroon suit with orange piping, Phil looking cool and relaxed in a cream suit and his gleaming red Gibson Firebird, and finally Bryan Ferry, wearing black jacket and leather trousers, white shirt and black tie - still impossibly good looking, youthful and cool - I hate that... The five songs performed were Virginia Plain, Out Of The Blue, Jealous Guy, Love Is The Drug and Do The Strand. Virginia Plain and Jealous Guy were done two and three times respectively, for a combination of technical and other reasons. Dance Away and Both Ends Burning were apparently rehearsed and considered but rejected due to shortage of time. All songs sounded excellent, but Out Of The Blue and particularly Do The Strand were triumphs, with an amazing appearance during the latter by eight girl dancers in red feathered costumes - like a Busby Berkeley movie - absolutely stunning!

Ferry was in very fine form, his stagecraft beguiling during an assured and confident performance. I noticed a good rapport developing between Spedding and Manzo, with appreciative nods between them, and there is a very strong rhythm section in Zev Katz and the star of the show, Paul Thompson, who drove the songs along with his muscular drumming. With Thommo and Spedding on board, this is a much harder, rockier Roxy than the Avalon tour band, and much closer to earlier incarnations of the group. There was the warmest and friendliest possible reception from the audience, and that was reciprocated by the band. It was a great thrill to see the guys together after all these years, and if this little taster is anything to go by, the tour will be fantastic.

And that was it, a little over an hour, short and sweet. A show like this is obviously an artificial situation, with breaks between the songs, but there was much to enjoy. The atmosphere was very jokey and friendly, with much banter between the band members and the audience, and smiles all round. The playing was good, but will improve with more rehearsal and performances, and some members were also noticeably but understandably, a little nervous. But all in all, this was a reassuring look at how this talented tour band might perform.