Bryan Ferry hasn’t performed in Cleveland since 1994’s Mamouna tour, so the buzz around Playhouse Square was as big as Kate Moss’ gargantuan face (seen on the cover of Ferry’s latest album, last year’s Olympia) that lit up the screen behind the stage.
The 12-piece band included Roxy Music alumni Paul Thompson on drums and rock veteran Chris Spedding on guitar.
Another guitarist and a saxophonist balanced out the time capsule, while Ferry shifted from one keyboard to another. When he was front and center, he often played the harmonica as two dancers, four backup singers, and the imagery used onscreen made the sharply suited Englishman come off like a seasoned ringmaster of a high-class circus.
Ferry opened with “The Main Thing” and paid hefty tribute to Bob Dylan with three songs, including “All Along the Watchtower.”
“If There Is Something” from Roxy Music’s debut was very well received, as was “Casanova,” “Avalon,” and “Love Is the Drug.”
This article appears in Oct 5-11, 2011.
Wonder if he played Avalon….
Bryan Ferry did perform “Avalon” although I was not as pleased with the show as the Scene reviewer. Ferry only performed two songs from OLYMPIA and his band, while competent, did not exude the same flair or mastery of the material; there were very few surprises. Chris Spedding was excellent as usual, but Paul Thompson, powerful as he is, seemed ill suited for much of the music selected which could have benefited from a more deft hand. Tawatha Agee filled in wonderfully for the “Avalon” solo sung in the past by Yanick Etienne. Horn player Jorja Chalmers was competent, but it was visibly apparent that she could not handle the complex sax runs of Andy McKay. Guitarist Oliver Thompson had several nice solos, but lacks stage presence, he simply does his job, albeit a job well done. For all his talent, Ferry seemed to be moving through the paces, appreciative of the audience’s warm reception, but lacking the comparable energy of other visits. I had the pleasure of seeing the 2001 Roxy Reunion tour at Madison Square Garden and I saw a band energized. It may perhaps be time for Mr. Ferry to hang up his dinner jacket and concentrate on recording along with the occasional one-off performance.
God bless Bryan and the band.
“If there is something” must have been awesome. Had I known that was on the setlist I would have been there. It’s a shame Bryan Ferry isn’t playing “Heartache by numbers” on this tour as far as I know. No Mother of Pearl is tragic. That’s the song that got me hooked on Roxy Music’s MAGIC!!!