Roxyrama
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Roxy Music on the Road 2001
Chronicle Pavilion@Concord, Concord, CA, USA - 5th 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 Tom Havens for this personal review. The Chronicle Pavillion is a beautiful facility atop the rolling hills of San Francisco's east bay. It had been a very hot day but a cool evening breeze was just starting to make the night perfect which seemed perfectly scripted for this huge event. Anyone who knew anything about pop music and culture was going to be at this show. Outside of perhaps the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith Group, or, a more modern U-2 was there ever a band to be this good and have such a wide influence in rock' roll...why aren't they held in higher esteem in America?! Although my expectations were very high and goose bump level of similar proportions, once I heard the opening piano bars of Re-Make, Re-Model, I knew this would be an incredible night. They did not disappoint. Ladytron, my personal favorite was 3 minutes of controlled confusion and powerful drumming by TGPT...and Manzenera's guitar frenzy at the end of that song opened the crowds eyes and proved this was not in any shape or form a one-man band! Although the opening three tracks were unfamiliar to many, the entire crowd was now relaxed and into the music! As previously reviewed, the intensity of the electric violin solo by Lucy Wilkins at the end of Out of the Blue was extraordinary as was her duet with Andy Mackay on TARA...these were two very special moments on a gorgeous night in San Francisco. Thank you Brian for including In Every Dream Home and Mother of Pearl!! Although I really would have liked to have heard If There was Somethingand especially Virginia Plain, these classics were great and were "core Roxy" classics! Although Avalon and Dance Awayt got all of the crowd to its feet, I actually thought the delivery by the band was pretty lifeless. I had seen the Manifesto tour in Boston and High Road tour in Chicago and saw both songs delivered at a much higher level. I did find it funny that one of their encore songs and one of my least favorite tracks, Love is the Drug, was great! Andy's saxophone was hot all night very nicely filled in the Ferry disco chants to this song...very cool! However, there was to be no duckwalking on Editions of You (those 50 year old bones!) but that amazing song from perhaps their best album, got the crowd dancing with its frenzied pace, drums pounding, horns blowing and guitar sizzlin'...name me one other band that combines all these elements with the addition of an incredible lead vocal act and I'll be their next fan! Their final tune, For Your Pleasure, was mesmorizing. I was surprised that very few fans departed as the band, in a very stylish manner bid farewell. As each member departed I sadly waved goodbye with one hand to each one...so much of my past musical enjoyment, I didn't want it to end but knew I'd seen my final performance of one of the greatest rock bands ever, who went out on top, exactly the way they came in...the way those who really know rockn' roll music will always remember. |
| External Reviews: - Neva Chonin in the San Francisco Chronicle here Tony Hicks in the Contra Costa Times here Jim Harrington of Live Daily here |