From: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org (avalon-digest) To: avalon-digest@smoe.org Subject: avalon-digest V5 #249 Reply-To: avalon@smoe.org Sender: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk avalon-digest Monday, July 3 2000 Volume 05 : Number 249 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [AVALON] Elton Hall - review (2) ["Johnny Reece" ] Re: [AVALON] Elton Hall - review (2) [KB Porter ] Re: [AVALON] Leaving on a jet Plane ["Robert Whiteford" ] [AVALON] Re: London - 4 July ["Richard Swift" ] [AVALON] Tuesday 4 July... ["Johnny Reece" ] Re: [AVALON] Uncontroversial ["Martin Stockman" Subject: [AVALON] Elton Hall - review (2) Part 2... The Girls appeared first, and much to my relief (alright then, unbridled joy) - Julia was there. She had originally been booked to do a Classical Gig in London same evening, but obviously thought the Bry Gig was a far better option. How right she was ! The usual beginning - Julia, Quartet, Band. Then our Man appeared - straight into TWYLT... Great atmosphere, the entire Band yelping, grinning, having a great time. They really are enjoying these Gigs. Set list much the same as at Petworth and Tatton, though 'September Song' dropped from the second part (a correct choice I think, as it really was 'hitsville' in part 2) and 'The Only Face' returned. I'm pretty sure that was only dropped from the previous night due to time restrictions, after all they did start some 20 mins late at Tatton. 'Avalon' still dropped, for the moment. 'Bitter Sweet' was moved back to the second part of the set. The White Tux now made its customary appearance, to begin part 2, which also saw the heavens open. Nobody cared. Dancing and singing in the rain, to 'Slave' and a powerful and rapturously received 'Street Life'. An absolutely stomping 'Hard Rain' - this really, really works with this Band, and I'm so glad it has been added. Get those lyric sheets out Bry - we need the full version. This was perhaps the best sound I'd heard of the 3 outdoor Gigs so far too. Bry was clearly enjoying himself, camping it up with the crowd at stage front. I swear he picked out Debs from Chatanooga at one point, and I'm sure all of us down the front seem to be recognised at times - I should think so too ! If he/they don't recognise us all now, they never will. We had our Shades ready, right on cue, as they launched into V. Plain - brilliant. For anyone coming to the other Gigs - if you're coming down the front - bring your Shades for this number - it's now Avalonian law to do this. They won't let you in without them. And - the return of a blistering Do The Strand... An amazing Gig, and for me, the best of the 3 outdoor ones so far, made doubly enjoyable, every time, by the Avalonia comraderie. At the close - no fireworks ! I guess the claim will be that the rain dampened them out - but what price another theory - sabotage by Nils, savagely intent on doing the Strand with the rest of us this time ? And who could blame him. A nice leisurely drive home, reliving it all, courtesy of the BBC recording of Golders Green blaring out in the Car. A quick stop at a transport cafe for coffee, where Enrico & Zev appeared briefly, looking for some post gig sustinance. If you haven't been to one of these Gigs yet , I urge you to try, no matter the distance. If Debs can travel about 3000 miles to be here, hey, it shows it can be done. I assure you, you miss these treats at your peril... Reecey... ___________________________________________________________________________ Come to Las Vegas and hear the indestructible tagline sing selections from "The Jazz Singer" ! To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Jul 2000 12:41:45 +0100 From: "Johnny Reece" Subject: [AVALON] Elton Hall - review (1) We set off ridiculously early, after a massive 2 hours sleep following Tatton the previous night, - myself, Paul and Debs (Doll 819) who'd made the not-so-short hop over from Chatanooga. Picked up Ivor on the way, 'Thrill' Box on the car stereo, and we were off and running. Arrived at Elton at 4.30, crazily early, though in retrospect not so as they'd already opened the gates. Major disadvantage in this - as a load of people had already staked their spot - and their nasty little tables, for the most part, were parked right up against the barriers. We went straight down the front, to be greeted by a most devastatingly English summertime disease, called Tupperware Hell. Staked a spot though, inches from the front, and the usual suspects began to arrive, Mr. Turner & Mr. Shearer amonst the earliest arrivals. Nice to meet SteveSirenShangri-las, and Sue, at long last. There were 2 main 'pre-gig' highlights, of special note : 1) The large rug laid out next to us, mysteriously empty for a while, was in fact family & friends of Nils, guitarist, a fine bunch of very friendly people, and as Ivor noted earlier, Nils himself gave us the lowdown of the fireworks 'mistake' of the previous night, as he described a bunch of still 'adrenalined up' musicians backstage at that point, ready to do the Strand, suddenly thinking... 'Eh' ?... Good to hear the correct story of events, as it did seem rather strange at the time. 2) The other highlight (selfish one, this) was when I realised my whining, bleating, moaning and hinting of the previous weeks had suddenly come to fruition as a wildly grinning Ivor appeared with a fine set of ice-creams for all, and presented me with a '99 with raspberry sauce' with the comment "maybe this'll shut you up now". He was right. Jocelyn and Christine strolled in, a-la Shades, festooned with Champers, strawberries etc... A long, long wait ensued. A 'mini-set' once again with Nils, Enrico etc (this time referring to themselves as The Rhythm Devils, and not 'The Roxy Rhythm Devils' as at Tatton), then a Band whose name I can't remember, though the lead singer, name of Monica (remembered that !) was rather stunning. Unfortunately, it was easy-brazilia type muzak, you know the kind, that people really like when they're drunk. At 9pm, a sudden few movements in the crowd, and in something around 0.0004 seconds, with a deft leap, jump, jink and body swerve a-la Bestie in 67', (oh alright then Jocelyn, a bit like Jackie Milburn too) - myself, Jocelyn and Christine found ourselves pinned up against the barrier close to stage centre. The sudden movements in the crowd all along the front did not amuse the deck-chaired trolls to my right, who muttered loudly about "I haven't been sitting here for 5 hours to have people dancing and singing around me". This always amazes me, as there are a lot of people who genuinely think they will sit there in their little chairs with Bry not a paper plates throw away, and be entertained for an evening whilst they chomp their mandarin oranges with evaporated milk in a startlingly ugly fashion. We'd staked our place though, along with many, many others, and the fun was about to really begin... (Continued...) ___________________________________________________________________________ Come to Las Vegas and hear the indestructible tagline sing selections from "The Jazz Singer" ! To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Jul 2000 14:58:19 +0100 From: "Chris Turner" Subject: [AVALON] Uncontroversial Hello All, Ask the Empresse of the night, How the hand which guides her sphear, Constant in unconstant light, Taught the waves her yoke to bear, And did thus by loving force Curb or tame the rude seas course. But enough of the metaphysical poetry.... ...yesterday morning I received an advance copy of Slave To Love, Ferry's new compilation, due out in 10 days time. As we knew the only new track is Craig Armstrong's 'This Love' To my ears, this interpretation is a return by Ferry to Avalon / Boys and Girls era arrangements, much less heavily produced than the later Horoscope / Mamouna-era stuff. The song is a well-chosen vehicle for Ferry's interpretation. The backdrop is electronic, rather than acoustic, apart from a violin insert, and has a subtle heartbeat running throughout it. I was reminded of 'To Turn You On' as a touchstone. As ever the echoey delicate vocals are immaculately phrased, a beautiful song, beautifully sung. The fade out has a women mumbling in French a la I'm In The Mood For Love, but it's so low in the mix I can't make any of it out (I hope this device doesn't become an overused metaphor, like this whistling.) I wonder how good a signpost this is for future artistic direction? A useful addition to the Ferry canon, but I'm not sure it's worth buying an entire album of familiar material for. I have updated www.roxyrama.com with the lyrics. Cheers Chris ___________________________________________________________________________ Come to Las Vegas and hear the indestructible tagline sing selections from "The Jazz Singer" ! To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 Jul 2000 10:03:07 -0400 From: KB Porter Subject: Re: [AVALON] Elton Hall - review (2) Reecey, should you ever give up your day job, Bryan Ferry should hire you on as publicist. You write very entertaining and easy to read reviews - the events nearly come to life! Thank you for the great reads. Indeed, thanks to all who write about the gigs and surrounding events as they are very much appreciated. Vicariously living through reviews, KBP (who would cross the waters to party at Howard Castle had my spouse been willing. What price - marital harmony! Constant give and take...) ___________________________________________________________________________ Come to Las Vegas and hear the indestructible tagline sing selections from "The Jazz Singer" ! To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Jul 2000 15:56:00 +0100 From: "Robert Whiteford" Subject: Re: [AVALON] Leaving on a jet Plane KBP, What price indeed? Do you think it has been easy for me to persuade Sue to go to RAH, Petworth and now York ?! Do you think Richard Swift wanted to go to a Cliff Richard concert with his wife? Fly into Gatwick & up the motorway - bet it's quite inexpensive and as Mr Reece points out you will not regret it. I hear if you speak to Martin Stockman you don't even need a ticket. To be honest I would have a dilema if Ferry's last gig of the tour was in the USA - but York is a nice place - you'll both like it - see the maestro in full flow. By the way Laura Shadbolt I am sorry about your family problems but full marks to you for liking the cool ruler at age 16. How did you come across him ? Rob KBP (who would cross the waters to party at Howard Castle had > my spouse been willing. What price - marital harmony! Constant give > and take...) ___________________________________________________________________________ Come to Las Vegas and hear the indestructible tagline sing selections from "The Jazz Singer" ! To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Jul 2000 16:59:22 +0100 From: "Rob Edwards" Subject: [AVALON] The Early Years Apologies if this has been on the list before (I don't remember it, but that could be the drink!). I have an advance copy of Roxy Music - The Early Years. I put it on at work and a number of my collegues said "oh, here comes Magic FM" (an AOR radio station in the UK). "STOP" I said, "Listen and learn" The track listing is as follows - 1.Re-Make / Re-Model 2.Ladytron 3.If There is Something 4.2HB 5.Chance Meeting 6.Virginia Plain 7.Pyjamarama 8.Do the Strand 9.Beauty Queen 10. Editions of You 11. In Every Dream Home a Heartache 12. The Bogus Man 13. Street Life 14. A Song for Europe 15. Mother of Pearl 16. Sunset ___________________________________________________________________________ Come to Las Vegas and hear the indestructible tagline sing selections from "The Jazz Singer" ! To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jul 2000 21:24:05 +0100 From: "Richard Swift" Subject: [AVALON] Re: London - 4 July Can someone remind me about the arrangements for the mini get together in London this Tuesday? Thanks, Richard ___________________________________________________________________________ Come to Las Vegas and hear the indestructible tagline sing selections from "The Jazz Singer" ! To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Jul 2000 22:15:03 +0100 From: "Johnny Reece" Subject: [AVALON] Tuesday 4 July... Looks like 'The Dog and Duck', Frith St, between 7 and 7.30 pm for the little Avalonia get together on Tuesday... ___________________________________________________________________________ Come to Las Vegas and hear the indestructible tagline sing selections from "The Jazz Singer" ! To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Jul 2000 08:55:09 +0100 From: "Martin Stockman" Subject: Re: [AVALON] Uncontroversial - ---------- >From: "Chris Turner" Says of This Love .. > A useful addition to the Ferry canon, but I'm not sure it's worth buying an > entire album of familiar material for. What kind of madness is this Chris ? True Avalonions are treating this album as a great new single with fifteen bonus tracks. Just like we did with the Lady Di and Noel Coward tributes. Put that soap back in your mouth Sir Ferryman ! ___________________________________________________________________________ Come to Las Vegas and hear the indestructible tagline sing selections from "The Jazz Singer" ! To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ End of avalon-digest V5 #249 **************************** ======================================================================== For further info, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: info avalon-digest