Bryan Ferry's first Pittsburgh show in 38 years was going beautifully — until it wasn’t.
Twenty-one songs into the set and four songs from the end of the show at Heinz Hall Saturday night, a technical glitch brought the 71-year-old British singer's U.S. tour to a premature finish.
The band was in the middle of the Roxy Music rocker "Virginia Plain," with the crowd on its feet, when the sound coming from the stage suddenly became nothing but a harsh buzz. The 10-piece band pressed on, seemingly unaware of the problem.
They walked off after the song, with the house lights still down and the stage lights up. After a five or 10-minute delay, with some fans chanting “Bryan! Bryan!,” violinist Marina Moore stepped out to bide time with a brief recital. Fans shushed each other to hear it. After a shorter delay, Ferry re-emerged with a mike to utter something that was inaudible, but his wave goodbye sent the message.
A Heinz Hall manager said the band's soundboard "was fried.”
Prior to the glitch, the elegant Ferry and his versatile band — covering the realm from glam-rock to his sophisticated, cocktail New Wave — played a stellar show that included such classics as "Slave to Love," "More than This" and "Love is the Drug," as well as deeper cuts like "Beauty Queen," "Ladytron" and "Stronger Through the Years" and a gorgeous, jazzy reinvention of Neil Young's "Like a Hurricane." Another standout was “In Every Dream Home a Heartache,” an unsettling art-rock piece from the Roxy Music catalog about suburban discontent.
Ferry was in fine, velvety voice, though naturally lacking some of the range he had in its prime. His soulful background singers covered some of those high notes. The true show-stealer was Australian saxophonist Jorja Chalmers, who looked and sounded like she stepped out of a film noir, playing with a moody grace suited to the delicacy of his music. Some of her finest playing came with Ferry offstage and four of the band members taking on the ambient instrumental “Tara.”
British guitar legend Chris Spedding was a rather low-key presence, taking a gritty solo on “Hurricane,” but handing most of the flashy leads to young Danish gun Jacob Quistgaard.
What did we miss? According to the set list, Ferry had three songs left: the old blues rave-up “Let's Stick Together,” his classic take on John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy,” and Roxy Music’s “Editions of You.”
As the song goes ... “more than this, you know there is nothing.”
Unlike the Lauryn Hill show in January, when she didn’t take the stage until 11:20 p.m., there was no clamor for refunds on the way out.
Scott Mervis: smervis@post-gazette.com.
BRYAN FERRY SETLIST
The Main Thing (Roxy Music song)
Slave to Love
Ladytron (Roxy Music song)
Out of the Blue (Roxy Music song)
Beauty Queen (Roxy Music song)
Bitter-Sweet (Roxy Music)
A Waste Land/Windswept
Bête Noire
Zamba
Stronger Through the Years (Roxy Music song)
Like a Hurricane (Neil Young cover)
Tara (instrumental)
Take a Chance with Me (Roxy Music song)
Re-Make/Re-Model (Roxy Music song)
In Every Dream Home a Heartache (Roxy Music song)
If There Is Something (Roxy Music song)
More Than This (Roxy Music song)
Avalon (Roxy Music song)
Love Is the Drug (Roxy Music song)
Virginia Plain (Roxy Music song)
NOT PLAYED
Let's Stick Together (Wilbert Harrison cover)
Jealous Guy (John Lennon cover)
Editions of You (Roxy Music song)
First Published: April 2, 2017, 3:12 a.m.
