October 5th, 2011 
Bryan Ferry, the first rock ‘n roller modelizer (a guy who only dates models) put on a slick and stylish show Monday night at Bethesda’s Strathmore. Ferry is looking fine, trim, and stylish at the young age of 66. He was backed by four back-up singers (3 women (2 in gold lame dresses), and one male). His band was fantastic and consisted of a keyboardist, drummer (complete with supermodel Kate Moss’ face on the drum set), two guitarists, and a lovely brunette playing the saxophone, which Ferry tends to be fond of in his music videos a la his song “Don’t Stop the Dance,” I say tongue in cheek. She is also a very talented musician. In addition there were two super model type women with red hair dancing back of the stage which actually stole my attention from the musicians quite a bit, just like a TV does when on, but one could tell they were trained and very good dancers. On the big screen behind the musicians were videos from his music videos, old movies, models, and groovy subject matter to accompany the amazing music of Bryan Ferry and his former band Roxy Music. Ferry is out promoting his latest album Olympia which features Kate Moss on the cover.
The Suave Bryan Ferry (Photo Credit: Marlene Hall)
Ferry put on a two set show. It was an almost sold-out crowd who was loving every minute of Ferry’s performance. After almost every song, the crowd stood to applaud him. The crowd even applauded and stood when he came to the stage and stood for most of the first song. I have never quite seen that before. I still can’t get over how great Ferry looks.. I mean damn! One of his songs gave me chills as the saxophonist wailed.. was really beautiful. Ferry also played several of his hits including my favorite Kiss and Tell which is supposedly about his long ago ex-Jerry Hall.
My only complaint was when Ferry went to go sit at the keyboards which were away from the front stage and he was sort of hidden away.. not sure why the keyboards weren’t just in front of the stage. It was like the lead singer disappeared!
This was a fantastic show put on by an amazing showman with such longevity that it blows the mind. I mean, this man was given the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the Royal Kingdom.
Bryan Ferry delivers and it is so awesome he is still touring as this was my first time to see him, so thanks for that Mr. Ferry!
Opening for Ferry was the Phenomenal Handclap Band from NYC. They are very phenomenally good. They are a cross between the Grateful Dead (only because one of the guitarists has a full beard and looks like Jerry Garcia), The Doors with their incessant keyboard playing, disco, and the Dandy Warhols/ Brian Jonestown Massacre for their psychedelic sound. Their music is so enjoyable that one person yelled during a lull between songs, “That was awesome!!” The keyboardist bashfully replied, “Thanks!” The band consists of a drummer, keyboardist, bassist, guitarist and lead guitarist. It was cool seeing a female singer and female bassist too!
Phenomenal Handclap Band (Photo Credit: Marlene Hall)
