Roxyrama
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Roxy Music on the Road 2001
| Support Act: Finnish band Emmi - 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, Avalon, Dance Away, Jealous Guy, Editions Of You, Virginia Plain Encores: Love Is The Drug, Do The Strand, For Your Pleasure |
| Review: - I'm grateful to Irena S from Latvia for this personal
review. Although the Roxy Music concert in Hamburg had been on my schedule since March this year (when I first saw the info on ROXYRAMA page), the notorious events of September 11 undermined all my plans. I had my ticket (the best available - row 9) booked via the Internet already in April, my English friend Martin did it for me and we arranged to meet in Hamburg where he would come with the tics. So the days before the Germany gigs we both were following the events with much attention and doubt, too, but the ticket agency`s homepage said nothing and neither did Roxy Music homepages. So, still worried about the flights possibly having been cancelled and the band being unable to come to Germany, I left for Hamburg which is 1500 km from the city at the Baltic Sea where I live. The first news at the hotel in Hamburg where I was supposed to stay almost killed me - Martin`s flight had been cancelled and he was unable to come to Hamburg. Another flight next morning for reasons hitherto unknown took off some two hours earlier, so there was no chance left for Martin to come. Now he and (most important!) the tickets were in London, but I was in Hamburg! Nevertheless I decided to do whatever is possible to get into the concert, at least to be allowed to stand at the back of the "Sporthalle" and hear them live. If I had gone to Russia, I would most probably try to offer the money (which I was supposed to pay Martin for my ticket) to the security guys. (By the way, later I learned that Roxy Music were the most "expensive" band touring through Germany at the moment, and still they played to a packed house!) So I set off for the Hamburg Sporthalle a couple of hours before the concert. In an underground station I spot a ROXY poster saying that the concert is to take place "um 20.00 Uhr". I take a photo of it, thinking that at least I`ll have this as a keep-sake if I don`t get to hear and see them playing... On my way to the place of the concert a girl stops me and asks me in German with a Russian accent where the Sporthalle is. I tell her I don`t speak German but can explain it in English or Russian. She`s surprised and so is her boyfriend, they have thought I was a local. I notice the girl is holding a flower and ask her if they`re going to the Roxy Music gig, too. They are, and now it`s my turn to be surprised - it`s the first time I`ve seen Roxy Music fans. It turns out that they`re Russians and they`ve come from Hannover to hear Roxy Music live. I`m more than delighted - everybody everywhere loves Roxy Music! I`ve been waiting for so long to meet those people who are, like me, attracted by this very special band and its leader - "the radical song stylist", "the silver prince of the glam-rock", "the role model of a whole generation" with the unique voice - Bryan Ferry. Sorry, I got carried away a bit... So we go on together. At the Sporthalle our ways should part, because the Hannover guys have their tics and can go inside. Having suggested that I write "Need a ticket" on a large piece of paper, they are ready to go in. I spot two lads flapping a couple of tickets, but they say these are for themselves and point at the other entrace - there`s a kiosk where tickets are on sale. I just can`t believe my eyes - the Internet ticket agency said there were no tickets available already in April (or only the remotest seats...). Anyway, I happily buy a standing seat and go inside. I find my new friends and we occupy the best place possible - right next to the stage, only some 1,5 metres from it!! It`s far better than I have EVER dared to imagine... It`s about an hour left, and I`m a bit worried about the embarrassing half-empty rows. The thought of the famous and brilliant band playing to just a few German fans hurts and bothers me so much... But during the next half an hour people eager to listen to Roxy Music keep coming, heaps of them... The audience consists mainly of 30-50 y.o. fans. A German lady, obviously a "veteran" fan, is looking through the Roxy Music Tour Book. I`m a bit surprised about the price, but she just smiles at me and says: "Ein Fan ist ein Fan!" ("A fan is a fan!") Finally the concert starts, but it`s not Roxy Music on the stage yet, but the supporting group from Finland - Emmi and her band. Their playing is nice, but I`m just wondering why Roxy Music would need a "supporting group". As if they couldn`t do without any "supporting"? That`s not only my naive speculation - the audience obviously gets impatient, too. After almost an hour of a nice Finnish teenager music there are great preparation works - the stage technicians are checking the lights and the mics. Some from the crowd even start whistling impatiently. At last, all the preparation is finished, the lights go down and so does the background murmur, and the concert opens - with the grand accords of "Re-make/Re-model". I`m searching for Ferry, but can`t spot him on the stage! With all the worries and excitement I`ve completely forgotten the trick I had read about in the reviews - that Ferry is seated on the left at the synthesizer. But at first I can only see lots of obscure man silhouettes on the stage; and then I spot him, and there he comes to the front! From this moment on my eyes remain fixed mainly on him. The only trouble is that my mind refuses to believe that it`s the same Bryan Ferry on the stage whose songs I`ve been listening to all the time, the very musician about whom I`ve written an essay and delivered a presentation in British Cultural Studies at university. I try to convince myself, recall his biography and what not, but it isn`t working. Still isn`t... I think I should need a second time to have a look at him and all the rest of this legendary band. Following his every movement, I even forget to clap my hands after each song! Other fans have also entered a state of "trance" - some are grooving right next to the stage, obviously far away on some Roxy Planet in their meditation. Just about the middle of the show a piece of women lingerie (namely, a bra) is thrown on the stage. I suppose it`s just a reflection of the good old early Roxy Music concerts; maybe the fans are getting older and can`t afford (or do they just hesitate?) doing such things? As a matter of fact, this incident is totally ignored by Ferry and all the others, whereas the rose thrown by the Hannover girl is kindly accepted, and Ferry`s even playing a gallant cavalier while taking the rose to its place at the drums! Actually, Ferry is acting and playing all the time - clapping his hands, waving to the audience, pretending to be playing guitar, finally - biting his lower lip and even standing on one leg. This is actually something I haven`t been expecting, do you know what I mean? Anyway, it makes the whole event even more interesting and lovely. Only it`s a pity that the rose from the Russian girl was the only flower which the great band was granted with during this gig. As for me, I didn`t buy any flowers for reasons quite understandable - I would die if I were to throw them out in case I didn`t get into the concert. Every member of the band has his/her own solo part in the show. After each part they are given a grand ovation. For example, "Out of the Blue" ends in a marvellous violin tempest by Lucy Wilkins. Not to mention the back-vocalists and the dancers who contribute to the greatness of the show. It`s a good job Klaus has provided the setlist, because I was really under a spell during the concert and wouldn`t be able to name all the songs they played. All got mixed up in my head. But not on the stage, though - they did it perfectly, I think, and after all what could go wrong if a band has played already more than 40 times in 4 months` time! After "Virginia Plain" they all left the stage, but the audience gave a great ovation and they came back and sang three more songs. And then they left the stage - Ferry, then Mackay and Manzanera (having thrown his plectra(?) into the over-excited public), then all the other great artists. The last to stay was Colin Good on piano. When he stopped playing and, having bowed, went away, it became so silent and also painfully clear that they wouldn`t come back any more. Whether to understand it in the absolute sense - well, time will show, a Latvian proverb says that "it`s the Hope that dies the last". Let`s keep our fingers crossed... P.S. On September 25 our lecturer at university said: "Tomorrow is a special day." "Yes, indeed!" said I to myself. "It`s the European Day of Languages." "Oh..." said I. The party`s over... Welcome back to the real life! As for me, I`ll never forget the Hamburg gig where I first (and last?!! I still can`t believe it...) saw and heard the great Roxy Music. |
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