From: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org (avalon-digest) To: avalon-digest@smoe.org Subject: avalon-digest V7 #188 Reply-To: avalon@smoe.org Sender: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk avalon-digest Monday, June 3 2002 Volume 07 : Number 188 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [AVALON] Re: Bryan at #189 [Scotty ] [AVALON] Simple Minds ["Jimbo" ] [AVALON] another gentle plea [Colleen Matan ] [AVALON] Review from the Scotsman ["M" ] [AVALON] Review from The Guardian ["M" ] Re: [AVALON] Bryan at # 189 ["Grant Goggans" ] [AVALON] Re :Illegally Handsome [KRNCHSE@AOL.COM] [AVALON] Edinburgh review ["Douglas Robertson" ] [AVALON] Avalon meet-up webpage [roxylia@freemail.it] [AVALON] Edinburgh reviews and pics ["David Firmin" ] [AVALON] Edinburgh [OBrienFerry@AOL.COM] [AVALON] Question ["Glenn Svendsen" ] Re: [AVALON] Re: Tour of Frantic [Colleen Matan ] Re: [AVALON] Bryan at # 189 [Daniel Atterbom ] Fw: [AVALON] Avalon meet-up webpage ["Han Snijders" ] [AVALON] Edinburgh [Jane Fraser ] [AVALON] Walk A Mile In Alan's Shoes (1) [Johnny Reece Subject: [AVALON] Re: Bryan at #189 I would have to agree Pete, particularly with what's happened here in Australia.....a big, fat nothing! In Melbourne, there has been not one review, not one song heard on the radio - absolutely zilch. I have a friend in the radio industry who advised me yesterday that EMI/Virgin had not even serviced the 'Frantic' CD to radio as yet. Maybe there's a bigger picture here, but I'm not seeing it. Perhaps they're waiting for the announcement of tour dates so that radio can be promoting the album in the lead-up time. Somehow, I very much doubt it. It really is a shame, because as we all know, it's a GREAT album! As a matter of interest, has anyone elsewhere in Australia read or heard anything about Frantic? Cheers for now, Scotty Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 10:54:05 +0200 From: "Jimbo" Subject: [AVALON] Simple Minds There is a live show in Amsterdam tonight. You can see it at the following adress: http://www.heinekenmusichall.nl/home.html Go to webcasts it's starting at 21.00. jim. ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 06:38:02 -0400 (EDT) From: Colleen Matan Subject: [AVALON] another gentle plea Folks, with list traffic high and about to get higher as the festival circuit gets underway, may I please once again ask that we try to stick to the topic at hand? I understand that thread drift can set in, but may I please ask that we try not to start topics without Roxy/Ferry content? If you feel as if you must indicate in your message header that the content is off-topic for Avalon, perhaps your message would be better sent to one of the hundreds, of not thousands, of other mailing lists/bulletin boards/webpages out there, or even sent via private email only to interested parties. One of the great things about Avalon is that it has retained its focus after so many years. Let's work together to keep it that way. Thanks. Colleen ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 06:37:33 -0400 From: "M" Subject: [AVALON] Review from the Scotsman http://news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=598332002 Live Reviews: Bryan Ferry ROCK & POP Bryan Ferry **** Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh THE annual civilised summer bash in Princes Street Gardens is usually the picnic on the lawn to the Edinburgh Castle concert's rammy on the ramparts. But this year, the wine carryouts and additional alcoholic incentives provided by sponsors Glenkinchie had taken effect early on, so that as soon as the maestro hit the stage, looking illegally handsome as usual, there was a dash for the footlights. Refreshingly for such a big event, there was no killjoy policy of herding the excitable masses back to their seats, meaning the likes of actor Kevin McKidd and singer/broadcaster Richard Jobson were permitted to goon about along with the glamorous grannies attempting to touch the hem of their idol' s garments. Even with a new album to promote, Ferry leaned more heavily on Roxy Music material than his solo successes. The set was the better for the bias, as recent single Goddess of Love was exposed as a pastiche of Avalon-era Roxy, while the snoozy feel-the-1980s Slave To Love was shown up by comparison with the smooth, superior Dance Away. Although the dreary Oh Yeah (On The Radio) was as mystifyingly popular as ever, Jealous Guy turned into quite a powerhouse, for such a whiny, lachrymose song. Ferry's fellow hosts at the nostalgia party included Chris Spedding on guitar, Roxy Music's Paul Thompson on drums and backing singers/dancers who looked like they could have stepped off an early Roxy album sleeve. Both Ends Burning was the cue for the latter to try out some fervid cheerleading moves and, in a reheat of the Roxy reunion tour, they donned fuchsia feathered creations for Virginia Plain and Do the Strand, two songs which could pep up any occasion with their singular verve. Coupled with the free whisky and fireworks, they were positively dynamite. ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 06:39:04 -0400 From: "M" Subject: [AVALON] Review from The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,3604,726834,00.html Bryan Ferry (4 out of 5 stars) Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh Elisabeth Mahoney Monday June 3, 2002 The beginning of Edinburgh's Golden Jubilee celebrations was marked by a gig from someone whose longevity of career is also teetering towards remarkable. The key elements of Bryan Ferry's success in the Roxy Music and early solo years - cool demeanour, cool songs, suave good looks - are all still alive and well. Seemingly rejuvenated by Roxy Music's reunion tour last year, Ferry is now on his best form in years, both on his well-received new album, Frantic, and live. The Edinburgh audience was also on good form. They left their picnic baskets and boxes of wine on the lawn to rush down to the stage at the first few bars of It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, one of two Dylan covers on Frantic. Maybe it was the balmy evening, the prospect of a double bank-holiday or simply regal fervour, but nobody was going to get this crowd to sit down again. Inches away from them, Ferry obliged with some touching of hands (being cool, he tried to do a groovy slapping of hands), and sweet bewilderment as five women in turn scrambled onto the stage for a kiss. The set showcased the new album before slipping into a second half of upbeat, celebratory numbers from his back catalogue. This brought thunderous versions of Both Ends Burning, A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall and, as a final encore, Do the Strand, complete with dancing girls in cerise feather headgear. As always, Ferry seems to have markedly different criteria for selecting the men and women on stage with him. The women (on keyboards, percussion, backing vocals and, um, foxy dancing in white hotpants) are all much younger and more beautiful than him; the men are not. What they (Paul Thompson, Chris Spedding and Colin Good) bring, however is an impressively tight sound, especially on the big Roxy numbers. Ferry clearly relishes every moment of being on stage. He grins to himself at some lyrics, as if remembering how good they are, and shimmies skilfully, weaving claps into his still convincingly avant-garde moves. It is only late on that his cool aura threatens to melt. Giddy with the thrill of it all, he keeps raising his arms in a triumphant arc above his head, looking like Larry Grayson about to embark on a spot of Scottish Country dancing. But the crowd love him all the more for risking looking silly, just for a frantic moment. 7 At Crathes Castle, Aberdeenshire (01224 620011) on June 29, then touring . [demime 0.97c removed an attachment of type image/gif which had a name of 4stars.gif] ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 07:20:09 -0400 From: "Grant Goggans" Subject: Re: [AVALON] Bryan at # 189 >Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2002 07:38:26 -0700 >From: "PeteK" >Subject: [AVALON] Bryan at # 189 > >I wonder how many units an artist would sell to chart in at #189. I think >Colleen's 3 purchases must represent about a 1/10th of Bryan's sales here >in >the U.S... Anecdotal evidence only: I have read that on an average week, the lowest charting album on the top 200 has sold around 6000 copies that week. If that, in Bry's case, translates to 6500 or 7000 copies of Frantic in one week, then that's still reason for the US distributor to be moderately pleased, considering the number of name Virgin artists -- Manic Street Preachers come to mind -- who have never made the top 200 at all. - --Grant _________________________________________________________________ Join the worlds largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 08:34:26 EDT From: KRNCHSE@AOL.COM Subject: [AVALON] Re :Illegally Handsome What a beautiful line to wake up to this morning,and the picture in my mind of Richard Jobson cavorting below the stage,fuelled by a healthy drop of the local juice. 'Coupled with the free whisky and fireworks, they were positively dynamite.' Is this why we haven't heard from our roving N.London reporter in recent days? Reecey..................Reecey......Where are you........ Regards, DM Well I, m drunk today................. ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 13:53:45 +0100 From: "Douglas Robertson" Subject: [AVALON] Edinburgh review Hi All Fantastic night (and Day) a few beers with fellow Avalonians pre gig. A stroll along Princess st to the Gardens, Block c Row c, to far to the right of the stage, (rush required) Made it right to the front, leaning on the stage right at Bryans feet in front of Spedo. Diane got there to with Chris Cassidy and Wife (sorry useless with names) right behind us. Bryan at his best, Laughing and very animated, seemed to enjoy himself, Except for the fifth stage jumper who ran up behind and grabbed him, gave our Bry a bit of a fright ( it was ok the first one or two but thereafter got a bit annoying) The great Paul Thomson, was in fantastic form but was to far back in a cave like stage ?. Not quit his usual bubbly self , Got the best cheer of the night (as usual). and still beat the Fireworks at the end ?. Chris Spedding was immaculate, the solo stuff was great, and really works well with Bryan, Lucy and Julia are real Goddesses, Fantastic solos from Lucy and Julia really gets into it, both were in top form and seemed lo enjoy it, nice to see Lucy of her crutches and looking Good. Colin was far better than good ? and his duets with Bryan were super, Mick and Mark, done well with Mick probably the better of the two, fitted in but not quit as good on the Roxy stuff ? still good though. Sarah was her usual fantastic self and the backing vocalists ( when not required to dance) Gave it there all. Who was on sax and harmonica etc. I did not recognise him (sorry) I would have preferred Bryan to do more of his own Harmonica but it seemed okay, But sadly on some of the Roxy stuff, Virginia Plain and Jealous Guy, no one can Play like Andy Mackay. Overall it was superb and cant wait till Oct. After the show of to the Pub. Therese drinking funny pink things, Reecey wearing funny shoes, of to McDonalds, Therese tummy rumblings could have drowned out the GPT. needed food. but got a McDonalds instead, The rush did not work we had to queue ?. Jocelyn was tiring, it was only about 2.30. we all said our farewells, Chris and Mrs Chris (sorry) headed of to continue there second honeymoon, Reece heading of to the O'Brien ranch and Chris Rama went to find Carlisle, Thanks to Raymond I scrounged a lift home. Fantastic day., roll on Oct, Sat night weather was super, back to normal Scottish rain today. See Ya Alan ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 08:53:40 -0500 (CDT) From: MarlanaK@webtv.net (M.M.K.) Subject: [AVALON] Re: Tour of Frantic Thanks for you who are whetting our appetites for what is to come to us (we Hope) in US. I saw where the rehearsals for the Jubilee were going on & a fire happened. Supposedly alls well & the show gets underway today. I did see that Sat. night on VHI, thats June 9th. It will be aired so we here will get to witness it. Marlana...................................................... ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 14:05:52 +0000 From: "Tracy Connell" Subject: [AVALON] Edinburgh Hi all, Just a quick summary of the Edinburgh Concert... After painfully being forced to listen to the support band (not intending to offend anyone who liked them - just not my cup of tea at all!!) we waited while the stage was set up for Bryan. Finally at around 9.30 he bounced onto the stage - straight into Baby Blue - wonderful. Especially good as we had managed to squeeze in at the front of the stage. Despite a couple of people annoyingly trying to push through I still managed to enjoy it. Bryan looked great in his dark grey shiney suit (which one of the newspapers mistakenly said was leather). After a few more songs (don't ask me which ones 'cos I can never remember the order of songs at a concert) the band went off for a couple of minutes and Chris Spedding was lucky to stay on his feet after he tripped on a wire crossing the stage. My highlight was Slave to Love. That song always gets me and seeing Bryan sing it live - I could have stayed there forever!! Guess that sounds a bit sad? Anyway, Dance Away was great too - another of my favourites. Out of the Blue - wonderful as always. Jealous guy and Love is the Drug in there too as always. It was a mixture of a bit of Frantic and some greatest hits. I suspect the list will change later in the year. Then towards the end a girl decided to jump up on stage and grab Bryan while he was playing the harmonica. She grabbed him and kissed him - meanwhile Bryan carried on playing! She was taken away by security. That was funny and Bryan himself was laughing, but then when 5 other girls decided to follow suit it got boring and wasn't funny anymore. I've no idea what Bryan thought. I think security was a bit lax to let it happen so many times. Anyway, despite that I think we all had a good time and Bryan was in excellent voice. He finished on Do The Strand. It was good to meet up with other Avalonians again - John O'Brien and family, Reecey, Jocelyn and Chris. Also meeting Alan (not Douglas!) and John (JFRoxy). Thanks to Tracy Elliott for coming along with me and for being my navigator to Edinburgh! Sorry if I've missed anyone. A great concert and a great weekend! Cheers! Tracy :-) visit my website: http://www.jamesmason.ic24.net _________________________________________________________________ Join the worlds largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: 3 Jun 2002 14:37:37 -0000 From: roxylia@freemail.it Subject: [AVALON] Avalon meet-up webpage Dear list members, I still don't understand if you prefer using Yahoogroups for a meet-up webpage,or if I shall do it. Anyway, as I volunteered, I'm still at disposal. Anyone wanting to be listed,please email me off-list and let me know which date or dates you'll be at. I'll update the page regularly. Regards, Cecilia ~~~~~~~~~~ But marriages made in heaven Can they survive in this life? - ----------------------------------------------------- Compra e vendi su eBay: registrati gratis! http://www.ebay.it/registrazione.html messaggio inviato con Freemail by www.superEva.it - ----------------------------------------------------- ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 08:08:41 -0700 From: "David Firmin" Subject: [AVALON] Edinburgh reviews and pics Miscellaneous reviews and pics uploaded here: http://pictures.care2.com/view/1/470752466 Too many to keep up with :( David ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 12:08:01 -0400 From: OBrienFerry@AOL.COM Subject: [AVALON] Edinburgh What a difference a week made to Ferry & the band. Saturday was so much tighter and rehearsed than the 2 warm ups in Denmark a week earlier. Ferry certainly was 'up' for this gig. That was helped by the 'usual suspects' making their way to the front to give Ferry the springboard for a great performance. After shelving out well over #100 to take my family to see Bryan for the first time in seats well off to the side with a poor view, it was great to see those in the good seats who were there only because they got freebies from promotors etc to be upstaged by the fans who inticed Ferry to give his best. Before the show began, I was worried that the security would not allow people to stand anywhere other than their own seat area. If that had been the case we would have had to depend on 6 rows of half interested Councilors, sponsors employees etc and their even less interested spouse's to make the show happen for Bryan. What a damp squib that would have been. I stayed in my seat as I didn't want my children to get cought up in the rush. The fact people left their seats in front and around me meant my nippers could stand on their seat and get a better view. I had a job in convincing the O'Brien juniors to go to see Mr Ferry (though a pre gig deal had been struck with my daughter about an S Club 7 show). They loved the show and sung and danced on their seats to every song. We even practiced the 'Sign Of The Times' hand clap in the car on the way there. My daughter was so thrilled to meet Lucy Wilkins and is now asking for a violin for her Christmas. This high profile show will have done Mr Ferry no harm at all. He played a hit filled set that suited the majority of the crowd. The pre and post gig banter was its usual high standard. My sister came to the show with me so she could take the we'ans home and let myself and Mrs O'B. stay in town until the wee small hours. It was great to be back in Edinburgh and great to see so many well known faces making the journey up to one of Scotlands finest places. John O'Brien N.W. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall Edinburgh ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 18:11:47 +0200 From: "Glenn Svendsen" Subject: [AVALON] Question I need help!!! Can someone please tell me when bryan is to appear live on radio???? Best regards from Glenn Please mail me off-list!!!! ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 12:49:56 -0400 (EDT) From: Colleen Matan Subject: Re: [AVALON] Re: Tour of Frantic On Mon, 3 Jun 2002, M.M.K. wrote: > Thanks for you who are whetting our appetites for what is to come to us > (we Hope) in US. I saw where the rehearsals for the Jubilee were going > on & a fire happened. Supposedly alls well & the show gets underway > today. I did see that Sat. night on VHI, thats June 9th. It will be > aired so we here will get to witness it. Yes but I'm not sure that Mr. Ferry is part of that show--wasn't his participation in the Jubilee limited to Scotland this weekend? Colleen ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 19:32:44 +0200 From: Daniel Atterbom Subject: Re: [AVALON] Bryan at # 189 At 07.20 -0400 2-06-03, Grant Goggans wrote: >Anecdotal evidence only: I have read that on an average week, the lowest >charting album on the top 200 has sold around 6000 copies that week. > >If that, in Bry's case, translates to 6500 or 7000 copies of Frantic in one >week, then that's still reason for the US distributor to be moderately >pleased, considering the number of name Virgin artists -- Manic Street >Preachers come to mind -- who have never made the top 200 at all. I spoke to my contact at Virgin Sweden and he said that Frantic made top ten in Sweden and that it was the third best showing yet of a Ferry solo album. Frantic is now at # 60 which means that it shifts around 50 copies a week, a gold disc being 30,000 copies in Sweden. Ferry has not reached even silver. Daniel ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 18:54:51 +0200 From: "Han Snijders" Subject: Fw: [AVALON] Avalon meet-up webpage I think the website is the best solution! Just do it. We've seen that it work that way. A much better option than the yahoo group. Thanks anyway Han - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: <> Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 4:37 PM Subject: [AVALON] Avalon meet-up webpage > Dear list members, I still don't understand if you prefer using Yahoogroups for a meet-up webpage,or if I shall do it. > Anyway, as I volunteered, I'm still at disposal. > > Anyone wanting to be listed,please email me off-list and let me know which date or dates you'll be at. > > I'll update the page regularly. > > Regards, > > > > Cecilia > ~~~~~~~~~~ > But marriages made in heaven > Can they survive in this life? > ----------------------------------------------------- > Compra e vendi su eBay: registrati gratis! > http://www.ebay.it/registrazione.html > > messaggio inviato con Freemail by www.superEva.it > ----------------------------------------------------- > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > The subliminable footer says: > To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: > unsubscribe avalon ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 22:45:27 +0000 From: "Therese O'Donnell" Subject: Re: [AVALON] Edinburgh Dear All Well here is my reviewette offering of Sat night. Much angst had gone into trying to rationalise my republican principles with a jubilee celebration .. Avalonian pals had tried to talk to me at TOTP2 'You know it's just an excuse for a party', 'It doesn't mean anything' *Sigh* All well intended but my little Lefty heart hung heavy - what could I do? How could I make it ok? I couldn't - I then toddled along to see the illegally handsome man himself perform on TOTP2 and thought 'my conscience is clear'. You don't need to know how I did it but let me tell you that I took all of my conscience-clearing tips from Roy Keane (those who don't understand football won't understand i.e. they don't understand any world which I inhabit). Quite frankly after watching a large number of committed Socialists tonight on the jubilee party I doubt I'll be first against the wall when the revolution comes - I suit berets anyway. What was I talking about the concert oh yes. We all scrambled for the mission in the Old Scotsman newspaper offices now parading as a bar with so many different styles that quite frankly you'd be so distracted you're more likely to walk into a style than out with one. Alan Robertson and delightful offspring, Traceys Connell and Elliot and my little posse of Raymond (bruv), Diane and myself were first in attendance. AR had had little 'Avalonian on tour' badges made with an amazing copy of the 'Frantic' cover - top man Al. I often wish I could go back and do my first day at primary school with a bit more style than I did in 1974. I also had the pleasure of acquainting myself with Jane Fraser and partner Alistair. He made the mistake of asking me about working in higher education. Three hours later with a copy of the Lecturers' union manifesto shoved into his hand he was helped into an ambulance with a bleeding ear. And so we make it to the beautiful location of Princes Street Gardens directly below the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle. For a Glaswegian to be flattering about Edinburgh is hard going so bear with me - I'm doing my best. After hearing some of the Horse set (which I actually quite enjoyed) we were ready for the main event. Raymond who was sitting higher up than my little group said he wondered if we could see over the little side screens hiding the band's entrance - his thought was instantly answered when he saw our arms flail up and clap and wave about. He didn't realise that those midgies are a right nuisance. And so they took to the stage. You've had a lot of detail from other reviews - suffice it to say a tight and orgnanised performance. I thought that 'Can't Let Go' and 'Fool for Love' were great but for me 'Hard Rain' was the absolute STANDOUT. I have never seen it performed with such total drive and energy. It was just FAB. You've heard about the ladeeeez who stormed the stage in a quintet pincer movement. As BF said you can be a rock star in a homburg and leather shoes and apparently now you can apologise at the same time. The Ferryman acquitted himself with a truly gentlemanly manner - 'oh sorry' he said as one lady went hurtling back into the audience. Initially I had thought the crowd was going to be dead - 'yeah' I kept saying ' like everything else it would have been so much better if it had been in Glasgow'. Well I was well and truly silenced, the crowd jumped as one and danced away and nary a complaint of 'Sit Down' was heard. Ok so 'Oh Yeah' and 'Jealous Guy' were big favourites for you but at least you didn't talk through other great songs as did other audiences last year. Well done you lot. Darkness fell and we veered towards the end. Dancing girls in cerise showgirl outfits sashayed across the stage. I said to Reecey 'weren't the outfits red last year?' 'it's just the lighting he said' - I looked at the Glenkinchie (sponsors) bottle in my hand and sweated a little. Fireworks went off in spectacular style. They went over the ramparts 'a little insensitive' I commented. With one final burst of violet and gold it was all over - I looked at the Glenkinchie bottle in my hand and vowed never to drink again. After the gig we all adjourned to The Dome in George St - a little plug here - - if you're in Edinburgh, visit it - v. deco, v. Roxy/Ferry. At this juncture me and Raymond met Chris Cassidy (penner of many a great posting) and his delightful wife - if you ever want to meet the archetypal Roxy couple, contact these two. A glamorous pairing indeed. But aren't we missing people - where are Reecey and Jocelyn and her pals? And Alan why are you not wearing shoes? A doorman had said to Reecey that his shoes were too avant-garde and uber-trendy and made the Dome look like a dump by comparison. He owed it to other patrons not to embarrass them into feeling shabby and could not allow him inside in his current state of dress. Then Mistress Fiske had a brainwave. AR didn't know what had happened to him but he had suddenly been divested of his chic-but-not-too-chic for the doorman shoes. And Reecey appeared in avec new shoes. He kept them on all night and in the car on the way home Alan commented that he was pleased he now had slightly more comfortable shoes that would allow his tootsies more room in future. Back to the Dome, having got over my vow of earlier in the evening I decided to have a Roxyish drink and a pinkish cosmopolitan appeared - v. first album. I then suggested drinking a drink for every album. For FYP it would have to be absinthe. People moved away from me and a bar person was heard crying when ordered by his boss to serve me. Following the exertions of the evening we all needed food - I don't know what Alan's talking about re the Golden M - of course it wasn't. It wasn't. Honest. Would I lie? It was a struggle to get up for the Sweden game the next day I'll tell ya. But of course, like every other Scot I struggled up manfully. Trez _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 04 Jun 2002 01:21:37 +0100 From: Jane Fraser Subject: [AVALON] Edinburgh I won't attempt a proper review as so many are better qualified than I, but I will pass on the (almost) highlight of our day. Turning up at Heathrow airport in good time for our flight on Saturday morning I immediately spotted Chris Spedding sitting near the check-in desk reading a very high-brow looking book and resisted the urge to go up and babble at him. We then wandered through to the departure lounge and found a seat. Glancing round I saw someone who looked a bit like Colin Good but thought I was hallucinating until I also noticed a Lucy Wilkins look-alike. Very strange I thought, I'm obviously obsessed and just imagining things, until I began to realise the entire band, apart from TGPT, was there. Well, this obviously merited a quick visit to the book shop for a closer look. I thought to myself, there's someone missing - the man himself, but he didn't appear so I guessed he was either already on the plane or would be whisked on at the last minute. The flight was called and we joined the queue but just before we handed over our tickets I glanced round and there HE was. Well, obviously this necessitated a quick return to some seats and a pretend fumble through the handbag for the boarding passes. Sorry - so uncool I know, but I've never seen him in "real life" before and it was not an opportunity to be missed. He was wearing jeans, which I have to say did nothing for his over-thin legs (sorry), a dark navy cord jacket and a light blue shirt. Having spun out the ticket search for as long as possible we boarded the plane to find ourselves seated in the middle of the band. Bryan swept on last and was up front in business class. We arrived in Edinburgh, picked up the hire car and set off for the city centre when a white bus passed us filled with familiar faces and we followed them all the way in. They went straight to Princes St Gardens for the sound check, and we found our hotel and went straight to the bar for a much-needed drink. Great to meet old and new friends in the Scotsman beforehand, then on to Princes St Gardens. Arrived half way through the support act - liked her voice but I was in no mood to actually listen to her (sorry Horse). Our seats were to one side on the aisle about 6 rows back and I don't know exactly how this happened but I gave my poor long-suffering husband an apologetic glance and hit centre stage, front row almost before Baby Blue had started and didn't move an inch from then on, despite the pushing and shoving all around me. That crowd was WILD, the screaming was deafening and what they were shouting at Bryan was almost obscene. Exuberant is putting it mildly. Great night, just sorry we didn't make it to the pub afterwards - next time.... Jane ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 17:32:36 -0700 (PDT) From: Johnny Reece Subject: [AVALON] Walk A Mile In Alan's Shoes (1) Bryan Ferry at Edinburgh... 1st June 2002... Truckin' by the railway station, I'm on the road again. Just a week after Denmark, and the clans were beginning to gather at Edinburgh. I wanted to make the most of this one, as it'd be a good six weeks or so until I attended another Bryan Ferry soiree. Left a day early, and headed for my hometown of Glasgow, which is somewhere, I'm ashamed to say, I haven't spent more than just a handful of days in the past 20 years or so - and even then, they were fleeting visits for gigs (yeah, guess who ?). Much wasting precious time, going round the old haunts - - you know, house I grew up in, round the old area blah blah. Evening beckoned, and time to meet up with the O'Brien Clan, somewhere outside Glasgow. Much pub debate followed on the whys and wherefores of Frantic, Denmark, Roxy Tour vs. Ferry Tour etc, and after a schooner or two of JDs were sunk, it was time to rest the weary (and very spinning) head for an oh so short time. Up early Saturday morning, (too bloody early for my liking) and off to the SECC to queue, to attempt to claim good seats for the forthcoming October gig in Glasgow. The hardest part was that the coffee bar, just yards away, didn't open till 9.30, and we'd been there since 8.15. Going without coffee at that time of day for that length of time, is something no human being should be forced to endure (especially with a 'JD night' previously, naturally). That done and dusted, it was a carful of auditionees for the handclap parts of Sign Of The Times, that raced off towards Edinburgh. Sometime after 5pm, we descended upon the Bar in the Scotsman Hotel, to be met by more of the usual suspects. I'm bound to forget someone of course, but in attendance were definitely Jocelyn, Lindsay, Katesiren, the two Tracys, Alan & daughter, Chris T, Therese, Raymond, Jane and Alistair, oh, and millions of others. There's too damn many of you ! Taking our places in the wonderful setting below Edinburgh Castle was a real buzz. This was going to be something special. Caught the last half hour or so of 'Horse', the support act, who was ok, but struggled to convince the Ferry audience. After all, there was only one person they wanted to see. I did worry that the 'stiffs' in the first few rows may mean that a stage front full of the usual suspects may be out of the question, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Cometh the hour, cometh the man, and an extended bassline intro now to Baby Blue (it had to happen) to enable Bry to perfect further the languid stroll on stage, and we were off. All hell broke loose down the front, as most of Edinburgh (and, probably other places too) poured themselves stagefront. Great atmosphere. The Band sounded so tight, a step further on even than the great performance they'd given at Jelling the previous weekend. Sign Of The Times prompted a great cheer, like an old friend who'd simply been away too, too long. A powerful Can't Let Go was followed by Goddess Of Love - glad to see that was back in, I think it really works in a live setting. Ja Nun Hons Pris into Fool For Love, a track that seems to just get better and better, live. This is a real showcase for Spedding, and he makes the most of it. I'm so glad he's in the Band. The usual mystifying cheer for Oh Yeah (sorry, it would be an understatement to say it's not one of my faves) but then back on the right track for Out Of The Blue. No need to tell you how deafening the cheer at the end of the solo was... The mood calmed, for Don't Think Twice It's Alright, with many of the audience happy to sing along on this one. (continued...) Reecey... Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 17:34:14 -0700 (PDT) From: Johnny Reece Subject: [AVALON] Walk A Mile In Alan's Shoes (2) ... Then on to a real highlight. Both Ends Burning exploded into life, and I was so happy to see Katie and Anna a-la Roxy tour, at the back of the stage, hot-panted (is that a word ?) for the 60s dance. No blonde wigs this time, but it brought a real cheer (well, from me anyway). What was the word to describe this one ? Blistering. Only Thommo can do this, every other drummer eat your damn heart out. Tara was next, sorry, but this was a complete mess. It hasn't worked on the 3 occasions so far - how much longer will they give it ? Ian Dixons first attempt and all that - but Lucy and Ian are miles apart on stage, and they cannot possibly gel or follow each other, after all, Tara, in a live setting, is all about improvisation. You need Mackay for Tara. Nuff said. Hope it works better with time ! Band introductions up next, Thommo taking the honours, as ever, for the loudest cheer, "He's a canny lad" remarked our Bry, and you couldn't help but agree. What would this Tour, and indeed, the Roxy Tour, have been without him ? Doesn't bear thinking about. Stand-out track of the night up next, as Hard Rain blasted into the night. This seems to get stronger and stronger, so Bryan, dust off those other verses and do the whole damn shebang, eh ? Into hitsville again next, Slave To Love, Kiss And Tell, Dance Away (gotta sort that ending out) and Jealous Guy, with a thousand new whistlers for good measure. Let's Stick Together of course, many going into raptures - I think a lot of people were waiting for this one. Big surprise up next, very happy that Virginia Plain was added. I spied the 'girls in plumage' getting ready, and a few memories of last year came flooding back for Love Is The Drug, and Do The Strand. I know the dancers aren't everyones cup of tea, but I genuinely think they add to the proceedings, especially on the last two numbers. It's not tacky, when it so easily could have been - there's a certain Roxy/Ferry class to it, know what I mean ? No-one else would get away with it. Bryan coped manfully with being attacked mercilessly by half a dozen stage invaders, even apologising for it mid-song, but he never missed a line. (continued...) Reecey... Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com ___________________________________________________________________________ The subliminable footer says: To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ End of avalon-digest V7 #188 **************************** ======================================================================== For further info, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: info avalon-digest