Need weekend plans?
The best events in the city, delivered to your inbox
- This event has passed. Check out other things to do instead.
Get ready for the return of Roxy Music
The Brit band's reunion tour comes to TD Garden on Sept. 17.
The only disappointing piece of news about the upcoming Roxy Music reunion tour, in celebration of 50th anniversary of the debut album by the Brit art-rock band, is that founding member Brian Eno, never fond of life on the road, will not be taking part in it. But longtime fans should still be thrilled that the four other musicians from the group’s best-known lineup – Bryan Ferry (vocals, keyboard), Andy Mackay (reeds), Phil Manzanera (guitar), and Paul Thompson (drums) – are all onboard for the nine-stop visit to the U.S. They hit the TD Garden on Sept. 17.
Advertisement:
Regarded as kind of an anomaly over the length of their eight-album career, Roxy went in many unexpected directions, often all at once. They could rock out in grand electric guitar tradition; their melodic tunes might be led by piano instrumentation; Mackay’s saxophone and oboe work would lean in jazz territory; Ferry – a former antiques restorer – added a soulful, debonaire, lounge singer edge; and Eno used the studio and the stage as a test lab for experimentation in electronic sounds. Yes, they were a pop band, but they weren’t shy about also mixing a bit of fine art along with an avant-garde sensibility. A long-ago article in GQ labeled them as “a gust of irreverent, idiosyncratic, existentialist fresh air.”
Because they’ve always been acknowledged as a source of surprise – meaning one never knew what they would do next – and because this will mark the first time all of these guys have played together on a stage since their 2011 tour, there’s no telling what will be on the set list. But a good guess is the songs that got the most radio play, and helped sell the most albums, will make the cut.
Advertisement:
So, expect to hear Roxy’s only charted hit – the funky “Love Is the Drug” (1976) – but don’t be surprised if they decide to show off their range in sound and style with the slow and steamy “Avalon” and the upbeat “Do the Strand” which, as fans will recall, is the song they often used to close their show with, sending the crowd off on a high note.
Be civil. Be kind.
Read our full community guidelines.