Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry
Posted: 15 Dec 2011
Bryan Ferry
Shepherds Bush O2 Academy
14 December 2011
Google the words ‘Bryan Ferry’ and you’re assaulted from all directions by the word ‘cool’. It’s the adjective that was grafted to his name when he first slinked onto the music scene with Roxy Music in the 1970s and it’s stuck ever since.
So you don’t need me to say it (and I won’t) – but I will marvel at how he’s survived at the top of his tree for 40 years without ever seeming as if he’s trading on past glories. Like his fellow North-Easterners Sting, Mark Knopfler and Paul Rodgers he can trawl through his back catalogue and deliver covers and new material with equal verve.
He was in fine form at the O2 Academy in London’s Shepherds Bush, backed by a fine band including ace guitarist Chris Spedding (Motorbikin’) and, on drums, the great Paul Thompson, a fellow Geordie who has been with him (on and off) since 1971.
Crowded in the standing area of the sold-out gig – and not being over six feet tall – I struggled to see much of what was happening on stage (although there were two gyrating dancing girls in sequins, so Ferry’s taste for in-your-face glamour clearly remains intact) so it was just as well that the music was spell-binding enough in its own right.
Stand-out tracks for me included The Main Thing which opened the set, If There Is Something from the first Roxy album, Let’s Stick Together, Oh Yeah, My Only Love, Jealous Guy (respect to the late John Lennon, but Ferry rocks this one better) and Love Is the Drug. Encores included the great Stax number Hold On, I’m Coming.
As with Paul Rodgers at Hammersmith Appollo not long ago, Ferry looked utterly at home and seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself. His distinctive vocals were as strong as ever, his movement was languid and graceful and the newly-awarded CBE commanded his audience as masterfully as ever. I’m not going to say the word. But he is, isn’t he?
Anne Graham
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