Review: - I'm grateful to Roxyrama contributor Jay Emerson for this personal review.
My eighteen-year wait ended with a four-hour train ride to Toronto. The ACC was cordoned off in half, creating a small venue atmosphere. (I would guess the crowd at 13,000 - three tiers.) Support act Rufus Wainwright played a soulful, harmonic seven song set to warm up the crowd. Accompanied by his sister Martha and a strong classical bass, Rufus moved from the keyboards to the front of the stage with his acoustic and performed a song written by his famous father, Laudon the third. Most were too busy socializing to pay much attention to the remainder of his performance. A very talented young man who unfortunately received his loudest ovation when he said, "Wow, you guys are going to see Roxy Musicyou must be really excited."
A beige curtain emblazoned with the Roxy World Tour logo hung behind three microphones as the lights went dark. The curtain swung open to Re-make/Re-model blasting the rafters. Bryan was all smiles, dressed in familiar black leather pants and black coat; (white and silver coats appear throughout the showit's great.) Phil and Andrew McKay are dressed in thigh-length coats, Phil in beige, Andy in sig blue with red tie. Spectacular. The band sounded fantastic - tight. Like they've been in the garage the past twenty years or so playing for the hell of it. "A song for Europe" raised gooseflesh on my arms and Andy's Sax almost made me cry. Lucy Wilkins violin work was utterly amazing and Phil got another set of gooseflesh out of me with his solo on "Both Ends Burning." And I don't think Paul Thompson missed anything all evening. It was worth the wait.
Tragically, Roxy legend "Mother of Pearl" was left on the other side of the Atlantic. (As well as personal favs, "If There is Something" and, "In Every Dream Home a Heartache.""Dance Away"???) I know I'm pickingI'm sorry. (Better than no Roxy at allright? The concert was superb - and fortunately I have tickets for the show in Michigan, maybe they'll drag one of these along with them.) Red-feathered showgirls graced the stage for "Love is the Drug" and "Do the Strand" brought the entire crowd to their feet. The band finished "For Your Pleasure," then left the stage one by one, accepting accolades from the crowd with bows and waves and blown kisses. A perfect ending. Only ten more days until I get to do it all again.

Review 2: - I'm grateful to Don Hood for this personal review.

For my friend Julie and I, the Toronto concert was jaw dropping in terms of its power and energy. We were basically pinned to our seats from the first cacophonous swell of Re-make/Re-Model. I'd never seen any band open a show with that much drive and energy. The temerity to open the show with a song you'd recorded as young whippersnappers and to absolutely nail it to the floor... For the duration, we didn't talk much; we'd just turn to each other, with wide eyed looks that said, '!!!!!!!!!!!!!'.
Quibbles with Toronto press on the show - very Ferry-centric; I didn't feel he was having an especially strong night. His vocals on 'Street Life' were pretty weak; after that they started to mix him a little more quietly which served the show well - a spotty sound mix; I actually thought the mix was the best I'd ever heard inside that type of venue - cliched lighting design; what do I know? The last big stadium show I'd seen was the 'Jacksons' in 1978! I thought the lighting was beautiful. - reserved crowd; Toronto audiences are notoriously reserved. I thought the crowd was both wildly enthusiastic (by Toronto standards) and also as diverse a one as I've ever seen. As well, they knew the entire catalogue. I'd had some trepidation going in that they'd sit on their hands until the 'Avalon' material. Boston was the next evening and the review in the Boston Globe was much more on the mark for the show I saw. For example: '...This was heady rock 'n' roll without pointless solos, ensemble rock 'n' roll with a point. Ferry is one of rock's most commanding vocalists, but a fair part of the enjoyment came during the instrumental mesh when Ferry would step back (or move to piano) and the gears of the band would lock in...'
Again, I can't express how much fun it was to see: the energy, the 'gleefulness', the uniqueness, the wildly diverse music styles, the way the power and drive of the show were ratcheted up incrementally throughout the course of the evening...it induced a kind of giddy afterglow that's still with me. As a man once said, '...their crazy music drives you insane-this way...'