Bryan Ferry
St David’s Hall, Cardiff
Touring to May 3
For a man with a fine-art degree and famously good taste, Bryan Ferry has never been very interested in stagecraft. His concerts tend to be conventional, his patter perfunctory (‘Good to be back in Cardiff!’), his dancing endearingly dad-like. His set lists are largely predictable, with a cross-section of his career – sparky start, melancholy middle – teeing up the same old stompy finale. So why are his shows so satisfying?
It’s partly that, like your favourite restaurant, he varies the menu just enough. Signature dishes such as Avalon and Slave To Love are joined by a few specials: this time it’s Where Or When, the Rodgers & Hart gem that brings out the bruised grandeur in Ferry’s voice, and Windswept, the ballad from the Boys And Girls album that oozes off-kilter beauty, reversing into your heart and staying there.
Ferry is now the honorary president of the Sax Appreciation Society, and he takes his duties seriously
It’s partly that, at 72, he has decades of well-crafted songs to draw on, whether with Roxy Music or solo. He can leave out classics such as Do The Strand and Dance Away, plus all his Dylan covers, without resorting to filler. Even the lesser-spotted album tracks – Zamba from Bête Noire, Stronger Through The Years from Manifesto – pack a personality.
It’s partly that he doesn’t see his old stuff as sacrosanct. The chugging More Than This turns into a torch song, the breezy Oh Yeah acquires a soulful violin, the spectral Zamba gets a Spanish guitar, and the weepy Jealous Guy comes with clicky percussion, drying up some of its Eighties lushness.
And it’s partly that Ferry loves a good session musician. This nine-strong band contains only one old stager, Chris Spedding, deftly doubling on rhythm and lead guitar, while there’s newish blood on piano (Christian Gulino), drums (Luke Bullen) and violin (Marina Moore). But the award for best supporting player goes to Jorja Chalmers, the young Australian mum on a mission to make the saxophone sexy.
With David Bowie and George Michael gone, Ferry is now the honorary president of the Sax Appreciation Society, and he takes his duties seriously, handing Chalmers several solos. The only musician to get dressed up – even Ferry himself is going smart casual – she’s come to the party as a cat burglar with a shoe fetish. More than just a slinky figure, she can go from assertive to elegiac in the same breath, which pretty much covers Ferry’s whole oeuvre.
The finale does its stuff with a crunching Love Is The Drug, a bubbling Virginia Plain and a storming Let’s Stick Together. After 90 minutes and 23 songs – 15 from Roxy, including the first three tracks from their still audacious debut – Ferry slips into the night, leaving you wanting more.
bryanferry.com
Lissie
Omeara, London
Rating: 
A packed cellar, a pool of violet light, a big voice and a blonde mane: the minute you see Lissie on stage, you know she’s a star. And this may be the last time she plays a tiny venue. Her fourth album, Castles, has just given her a first taste of the UK Top Ten, and her next London date is at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, six times the size of Omeara.
A packed cellar, a pool of violet light, a big voice and a blonde mane: the minute you see Lissie on stage, you know she’s a star
As a singer, she has it all – power and vulnerability, timing and charm
Born in Illinois, the daughter of an American doctor and a Swedish interior designer, Lissie Maurus seems a very grounded sort of goddess. She lives on a farm in Iowa, and one of her new songs is called Sand, because she recently spent two days shovelling it. Her band is quietly radical, with a woman either side of her and two men slaving away in the shadows.
Her music, which began as folk-rock, is heading for the pop mainstream, with mixed results. As a singer, she has it all – power and vulnerability, timing and charm. As a songwriter, she is less certain, with a weakness for a shouty chorus and a fussy arrangement. When the backing is just piano or rhythm guitar, her voice glows. Can someone get her a copy of that book about decluttering?
Tim de Lisle
Lissie plays Cornbury Festival, July 15, and Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, October 3
Roy Orbison In Dreams: The Hologram UK Tour
Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
On tour until Fri
Rating:
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ says the PA, ‘we would like to inform you that there is strictly no filming, audio recording or photography on any device at tonight’s concert.’ Which is a bit rich, given that the singer’s entire performance has been pieced together from film and audio. Roy Orbison, who dropped dead in 1988 at the age of 52, is back as a hologram.
Roy Orbison, who dropped dead in 1988 at the age of 52, is back as a hologram
Like a visit to Madame Tussaud’s, it’s sinister but effective. Orbison always did have an unearthly aspect. His astonishing three-octave voice was sent to give us the shivers, and it would be a stony spine that didn’t tingle when the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra launches into In Dreams or It’s Over.
The crowd react much as normal, clapping along and chuntering when the hologram leaves the stage. They may feel short-changed that the show contains only 40 minutes of music. But even holograms need their beauty sleep.
Tim de Lisle
rpo.co.uk
Album reviews
Sting & Shaggy
44/876
Polydor, out Fri
It might sound like a late April Fool, but Sting and Shaggy really have made an album together. What does it sound like? Sleek, cheery island pop, with a Police-sounding love letter to America (Dreaming In The USA) amid the balmy grooves.
Sleek, cheery island pop, with a Police-sounding love letter to America
The Who
Live At The Fillmore East UMC, out Fri
The famous second show from their first US tour, fuelled by Townshend’s jet-engine guitar, Moon’s hooligan drumming and who knows what else. For highlights, see a mighty I Can’t Explain and a 32-minute My Generation.
The famous second show from their first US tour, fuelled by Townshend’s jet-engine guitar, Moon’s hooligan drumming and who knows what else
Alison Moyet
The Other Live Collection
Cooking Vinyl Out Fri
Moyet has explored an electronic direction on her last two records. This live album swerves most of the Eighties hits in favour of imperious, chilly recent material, while applying similar shadings to a handful of older songs.
This live album swerves most of the Eighties hits in favour of imperious, chilly recent material
By Adam Woods