From: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org (avalon-digest) To: avalon-digest@smoe.org Subject: avalon-digest V15 #1091 Reply-To: avalon@smoe.org Sender: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk avalon-digest Wednesday, August 10 2016 Volume 15 : Number 1091 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [AVALON] Bryan Ferry at Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, Illinois, 6 August 2016 [Cruck Cottage Subject: Re: [AVALON] Bryan Ferry at Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, Illinois, 6 August 2016 Great post, Jeff s Sent from my iPhone > On 10 Aug 2016, at 01:05, "Jeff Turner" wrote: > > Bryan Ferry was once someone I only dreamed Ibd ever get to seeb&but now Ibve seen him five times (plus twice more, fronting Roxy Music). However, this was the first time at fabled Ravinia, so that added a new twist to the experience. > > Ravinia is, I suppose, the grand-daddy of the summer shed venues, having been built in the 1930s. It is lodged in the midst of a fairly high dollar value suburb just over the county line in Lake County. It is surrounded by woods, and the property itself is very wooded. So it was somewhat of a unique setting, all the more so because the cicadas set up such a cacophony that I wondered whether theybd be audible over the concert. And indeed, I could still hear them while Ferrybs opener, Laura bLPb Pergolizzi, was playing, though of course I was sitting near the back of the pavilion seating. By the time Ferry started, the cicadas had either finished singing for the evening, or were drowned out. > > I was pretty tired by the time the show started. Ibd arrived in Chicagoland at about 3:30, grabbed a quick lunch at Whole Foods, and then found (with minor difficulty) the venue parking lot. Leaving the car there, I walked about 25 minutes to the Chicago Botanic Garden, and strolled through it for about two hours. Then I hoofed it on back to Ravinia and entered the venue, following many people hauling coolers. > > Apparently picnicking on the lawn is a favorite tradition here. I think some people brought far more stuff than I would ever have thought of, and at least one couple took the Ferry elegance factor a bit too seriouslyb&they had a candelabra on their little lawn table. > > In any event, I didnbt think I felt much sense of anticipation, being tired out from walking (my iPhone app indicated that I walked 20,000 steps that day). However, when Ferrybs band finally came out and launched into bAvonmore,b a huge grin burst across my face. > > Counting himself, Ferry had a ten-piece band, so they could play very full and faithful renditions of the material. Most of them appear quite young, and are very good at what they do. When youbre nearly 71 years old, and your voice isnbt as strong as it used to be, itbs definitely a good idea to surround yourself with hot young musicians. > > My main complaint about Ferrybs voice is that it is too low in the mix. On the louder material, it is just one instrument among many, and somewhat tends to get lost. Other than that, he sounded reasonably decent for his age, though he certainly doesnbt attempt the vocal gymnastics he used to be capable of. bBeauty Queenb was restrained in that regard, and his vocals in bMore Than Thisb were transposed down at least an octave. But I definitely would not describe his voice as bknackered,b as one uncharitable poster on YouTube did. > > In any event, he had a very appreciative audience. By the time the last few songs were being performed, even people as far back as my row were standing. Security had to chastise one couple for dancing in the aisle on bAvalon; I guess it is a fire safety issue. > > The show was well paced, with a good mix of faster and slower numbers, and louder and softer ones. I think the total length was about an hour and forty minutes from beginning to end, with very little time wasted between songs or in chitchat. This allowed for a pretty generous setlist, though if I were to criticize it, Ibd say it leaned too heavily to Roxy. About two-thirds of the songs were Roxy Music songs, which I feel short-changes Ferrybs solo material. I suppose he figures that since Roxy is more or less defunct, he has to make sure its music is well-represented. But I got to see the title track from BC*te Noire, which is probably my favorite cut on that album, plus Zamba, neither of which Ibd seen Ferry perform before. So, that made me very happy. > > Another setlist oddity was the paucity of material from Avonmore. Not only was it a very well-reviewed album, but Ferrybs stated reason for releasing it was to have new material to perform live. Yet he only performed two songs, and in truncated form, no less. If you bought the 2015 live album, you know what Ibm talking about. > > I suppose itbs an open question how many more years Ferry will tour (although an artist coming up later this month at Ravinia is Tony Bennett, celebrating his 90th birthday!). For what he may have lost in vocal fluidity, I think he adequately offsets in every other department. So, I found it well worthwhile to go to this show, and I will continue to go see him whenever he performs in my area. > > Setlist: > > Avonmore > Driving Me Wild > Slave to Love > Don't Stop the Dance > Beauty Queen > Ladytron > Oh Yeah > Don't Think Twice It's Alright > Smoke Gets On Your Eyes > BC*te Noire > Zamba > Stronger Through the Years > Tara > Take a Chance With Me > Remake/Remodel > In Every Dream Home a Heartache > If There is Something > More Than This > Avalon > Love is the Drug > Virginia Plain > Let's Stick Together > bEncoreb > Jealous Guy > Do the Strand > Both Ends Burning > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ End of avalon-digest V15 #1091 ****************************** ======================================================================== For further info, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: info avalon-digest