Roxyrama Reviews Page
Roxy Music on the Road 2001
General Motors Place, Vancouver, BC, Canada - 3rd August 2001

Support Act: Rufus Wainwright - see details here
Setlist:- Re-make / Re-model, Street Life, Ladytron, While My Heart is Still Beating, Out of the Blue, A Song for Europe, My Only Love, In Every Dream Home A Heartache, Oh Yeah, Both Ends Burning, Tara, Mother Of Pearl, Avalon, Dance Away, Jealous Guy, Editions of You
Encores: Love Is The Drug, Do The Strand, For Your Pleasure
Review: - I'm grateful to John Magee for this personal review.
I was going through the UK concert ads in the back of MOJO magazine when I first saw it. I sat straight up in disbelief and read it aloud, "Roxy Music WORLD TOUR!!!" It brought back a flood of memories to me. Roxy Music had been the soundtrack to my life for many wonderful years. The lush sophistication and sensual romanticism of their music provided a dreamy background for countless erotic evenings and all-nighters. Their music was as essential as a good wine and candlelight in my romantic recipe book. So when I saw that they were back together for a world tour I immediately vowed to make the pilgrimage from Missoula, Montana where I live, to wherever they were playing. It turned out that I would have to travel to Vancouver, British Columbia if I wanted to see them. I was determined not to miss them so the tickets were bought and I was off to Canada...We found our way to the venue (no thanks to Ticketmaster and their completely backwards directions which sent us to the opposite end of town) and found our seats above the stage in the steep balcony seating. General Motors Place is a hockey arena and the balcony is so steep that you feel you are right over the band. We were happy enough with our seats and very happy to be there. It seemed somewhat surreal and we both looked at each other in dreamy disbelief that we were actually there and about to see Roxy Music!
The stage was hidden behind a huge scrim that was emblazoned with their tour logo, the double-headed mythical phoenix that rose from the ashes, and the bands name projected onto the scrim in deep blue. Satin drapes were hung from the rigging and gave the impression that some royal entity would soon emerge from behind it. The show began in grand fashion and the band was in fine form and sounded fantastic. Bryan's voice was up to speed by the second song Street Life and both Phil, Andy and Paul were as solid as ever. The additional musicians meshed well with the band and were obviously enjoying themselves. Violinist Lucy Wilkins provided some great solo breaks and additional guitarist Chris Spedding was fantastic. The old songs sounded great and didn't suffer one bit from the absence of Brian Eno, whose negative remarks in the press regarding this re-union tour I found to be both distasteful and a bit mean-spirited. But that was all forgotten as Roxy Music took flight and soared from song to song. While My Heart Is Still Beating sounded great live propulsed by Paul Thompson's drumming. A Song For Europe and My Only Love were great showcases for Bryan's voice, and In Every Dream Home A Heartache was as spooky as ever.
I have to say that the lighting and light effects were incredible and complimented the songs and the band perfectly. It's easy for lighting to become a distraction, but this was not the case. Phil ripped out a couple of wonderfully frenzied guitar solos and Both Ends Burning gave Phil and Chris a chance to shine together. The instrumental Tara featured some wonderful work by both Andy and Lucy and the swirling interlude transported the audience to some other world. Both of the female backup singers were incredible and were warmly received by the audience, especially Yannick Etienne's ethereal vocals on Avalon. The entire show confirmed and reaffirmed my respect and admiration for this band and their music. I kept on hoping that the night would never end, but when it did I was one very happy Roxy Music fan. The show was absolutely captivating from the opening lines of Re-make/Re-model to the final piano chord of For Your Pleasure....19 songs....90 minutes....One incredible evening....Don't you dare miss this one!
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