Review 1: - I'm grateful to 'Overpavement' for this personal review:
Last night's show at Merriwether Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD (maybe 15 miles outside of D.C.) was awesome. I'd read some of the reviews on Roxyrama, and knew that people were amazed by the shows to date, but I really was ready for a let-down, given age and time and changing tastes and everything else. But from the opening tones of 'Re-make/Re-model', it was off to the races. The only down note was that Andy's sax was mixed too far down on the opening number, so his first solo wasn't audible. But by the end of the song the mix was corrected, and he wailed. The band was *so* tight, and Bryan was so cool, I was totally impressed. This is my first time seeing them (although I did catch the 'As Time Goes By' tour -- different animal altogether), and probably my last. but I'm just grateful for this one chance.
Set list (probably not in exact order -- my notes were scratchy):
-Remake/Remodel: Totally rocked. Paul Thompson has always been Roxy Music's secret weapon, and he made this song (and the entire show) move. He deserves so much credit for making this band rock, he's just *such* a great drummer.
-Street life: one of my favourites anyway. I'm not sure that I'm not in love with Julia Thornton. A tremendous song live -Ladytron: Bryan's best vocal, I think. just a great version, and Phil's closing solo was confirmation that this band was playing its heart out and this was not just another lame reunion tour
-While My Heart Is Still Beating: Not one of my favourites, but a beautiful rendition
-Out Of The Blue: Again, not my favourite, but Lucy Wilkins' violin work was astonishing, and this song, I think, stunned the audience with its power.
-A Song For Europe, the backdrop projection was in multicoloured high-contrast video, so only blacks and whites displayed, no mid-tones (although the black or the white may have been projected as blue or green). it was especially effective for this number, when Bryan was singing the closing lines.
-My Only Love: Why not 'Mother Of Pearl'? Who knows? But this was a number that allowed audience members to hit the john or grab another drink. Nothing wrong with it, just an unusual choice in my book. At least until Sarah Brown started to add her incredible vocals to the song, which catapulted it to another level entirely.
-Oh Yeah: good choice, from 'Flesh and Blood', which I think is unjustly overlooked a lot of the time.
- Dance Away: An okay choice, the only number from 'Manifesto', which is overlooked, but probably not unjustly, although this, the title tune, and 'Spin Me Round' are all great.
- Tara: Really came alive in this show, and surprised many in the audience by being as good as it was. Andy was super-human on this.
- Both Ends Burning: The go-go girls cracked me up, even though I guess I'd read about them ahead of time. Tremendous performance across the board on this one. - Avalon: This was a crowd-pleaser and to me it showed the depth and breadth of this band on this night. I'm a long-time fan, and even I was amazed that one band could so convincingly play 'Remake/Remodel', 'Out of the Blue', 'Tara', and then 'Avalon'.
- 'Jealous guy': I wouldn't have thought that this would've been the song that sealed things for the crowd, but they just ate this up. Bryan did a great job on it, and the band was just right.
- 'Editions of Yyou': I was only disappointed that this wasn't 'Virginia Plain'. or 'Grey Lagoons'. or 'Would You Believe'. or a dozen other songs. but they rolled through this song and the crowd by now was going nuts, running to the front and dancing in the aisles.
Encores:
- Love Is The Drug: Their 'hit'. But Bryan sang it like it was new and Julia had shaken her hair down with her pony tail by this point, so I don't remember too much else.
- Do The Strand: With the Vegas showgirls dancing along, and Bryan's fabulous facial expressions projected onto the big screen ('bored with the beguine?' Fantastic).
- For Your Pleasure: An unusual, but perfect, choice as last song. the performance was special, and moving as each band member left the stage individually, until Colin Good was the only remaining member on stage (why wasn't Julia the last one? who knows...)
I'll be honest, there was one song where Chris Spedding played like lightning, and I can't remember which one it was. But every member of this band had a showcase, and every one of them nailed it precisely, including the bassist, whose work was integral, almost solo-like, on several songs, including 'Remake/Remodel'. The buzz overheard on the walk to the parking lots was that everyone was amazed at how great this band was, and how spectacular their set was (although everyone had one or two songs they wish they'd heard, and we all wish it would've lasted 15 more minutes -- 'Sentimental Fool', 'Dream Home Heartache', 'Mother Of Pearl', 'Prairie Rose', the list of songs i *wish* they'd played is pretty long). But there was no complaining about the performance, or about the music, at all. this was not the biggest crowd that will visit Merriwether Post this season, but it left the venue a very happy crowd, everyone only sorry to think we'll probably never see them again. Just a great show. If you're on the fence about seeing one of their shows (or several), believe me, it's worth a trip to a town where they're playing. The show was phenomenal.

Review 2: - I'm again grateful to Ray Mitten for this personal review:
After a 23 year wait I was seeing Roxy live for the second time in two nights. It was like two days in heaven. The crowd at Merriweather (which is located between DC and Baltimore) was not made up of hard core fans as I had encountered in Philly....it was more "Avalon" era fans in my opinion, and more a "come to be seen there" crowd. Nevertheless. Roxy did not disappoint and were amazing. There appeared to be some techinical difficulties as "South Downs" played right before the band took the stage. In Philly, "South Downs" went on for about 30 seconds, here at Merriweather it went on about 4 minutes. You could see people running behind the curtain during that time. Also there was no cocktail party sounds before "Remake Remodel"...but once the curtain opened and the band broke into it it was incredible.
The sight of Bryan Ferry at the keyboards while the band sing "CPL593H" is a highlight of my concert going experiences. The show seemed like it was shortened a bit from the night before; the instrumental passages were not as long, particularly during Chris Spedding's solo in "My Only Love" and the violin solo in "Out of the Blue". However, the band were going down well and the crowd were enthusiatic (when they weren't talking to each other.) "Both Ends Burning" was blistering (again) and Bryan was having fun with the crowd during "Editions of You". Sadly, though, he looked at the band and told them to leave the stage for the end of the concert proper without performing "Virginia Plain." It was my only disappointment in my two Roxy shows. Given that the state of Virginia (my home state) is only a few miles from Merriweather you would've thought.....
Anyway, the dancing girls were back and the encores went wonderfully. The crowd was a bit unsure what to make of "For Your Pleasure", I thought. They seemed more perplexed than the Philly crowd did with the ending. Nonetheless, a brilliant show, demonstrating that the Roxy magic works night after night.