ShareBryan Ferry On Tour at The Symphony Hall Birmingham on Wednesday 20th May 2015.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
Images taken at The Royal Concert Hall Nottingham on 28th October 2013
When Sade sung about a Smooth Operator in 1984 she must have been singing about Bryan Ferry. As this suave, original metrosexual came onto the stage of this packed Symphony Hall dressed in one of his trademark sharp suits, the crowd were immediately in raptures. If he has lost a fraction of his coolness, then it was pretty hard to see where.
To promote his latest album, Avonmore, he was backed by a brilliant ten piece band dressed all in black, including a statuesque saxophone player who looked like she had just walked off the set of a Robert Palmer video shoot.
His new single Driving Me Wild came early on, as did the outstanding Slave To Love which set the tone for the evening. Not known for his verbal interaction with his audience, Ferry looked as comfortable on stage as he did 43 years ago when he strutted his inimitable stuff as the frontman with 70’s rock band Roxy Music.
Covers, Bob Dylan’s Dream and Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right were given the Ferry treatment as he also crooned his way through Smoke Gets In Your Eyes. He treated us to some of his solo classics; Bete Noire and Midnight Train, as well as new tracks, Loop De Li and One Night Stand.
But it was the Roxy Music numbers that had this audience on their feet. Hit after hit followed as Ferry swayed through More Than This, Avalon, and Love Is The Drug. Virginia Plain was a real highlight before he ended the set with Do The Strand. An encore of Let’s Stick Together had the glitter ball spinning, whilst Jealous Guy brought to an end an evening of pure nostalgia.
Whilst perhaps forgiving him the fact that his voice may not be as strong and that his hair is now showing distinct areas of grey, this 69 year old Geordie miner’s son was still as smooth as ever.