Even in an age that is positively swamped by reunions, the revitalization of Roxy Music was never going to be just another bunch of old guys chasing the golden goose one more time. There was, after all, always a sense that the band still had a lot of old business to see to. Nobody could claim to have been satisfied by the ragged ending of the original group, and the 18 years that separated Avalon from news of the re-formation scarcely overflowed with new acts to compete with Roxy's ghosts -- and that includes the bandmembers' own subsequent projects. Nevertheless, it was impossible to predict just how dynamic the show would turn out to be, just how effortless their re-creation of past glories would emerge, and just how exhilarating it would be to see Bryan Ferry, Andy Mackay, Phil Manzanera, and Paul Thompson sharing a stage once again. From the looming murmur of "Remake Remodel" that ushers in the concert (just as it ushered in Roxy's first album almost 30 years earlier) to the extended farewells that bring "For Your Pleasure" to a close, Live at the Apollo reads like the greatest Roxy hits collection ever, but plays like the freshest band you've ever hoped to witness.

Buried away among the DVD's bonus material, during the 17-minute documentary that preps you for the main attraction, guitarist Manzanera remarks that this was the first occasion on which the band had toured without having a new record to promote -- the first, in other words, on which the group could concentrate wholly on the music. The freedom is apparent from the outset. Drifting through Roxy Music's entire career without apparent preference for any single album or era, the band is in blistering form -- Ferry is spellbinding while barely moving a muscle, Mackay remains the epitome of cool, and Manzanera's guitar is simply devastating, a firestorm of effects and eccentricities that matches Ferry's lyricism note for freakish note. Of the auxiliary Roxy-ites, Chris Spedding, Lucy Wilkins, and Julia Thornton also pack undeniable visual punch, while four dancers are so much more than window dressing that the years roll back to any -- and that means any -- past Roxy show, as though not a day has gone by. And, if there is any criticism to be made of the entire event, it's that it reveals just how shallow so many other modern reunions are. Early into the performance, Ferry tells the audience, "This is Roxy Music." He's right -- it is.

Roxy Music's final show at Hammersmith Apollo London was recorded for DVD & VHS release. The concert was released in Europe on DVD & VHS on 6th May 2002 and in USA on DVD in September 2002.

The DVD has a bonus documentary with interviews with Bryan Ferry, Phil Manzanera, Andy MacKay, Paul Thompson,, Chris Spedding and footage from backstage and at rehearsals for the tour.

Color; Digitally Processed; Widescreen; DTS Sound

DVD/Video, released in 2002

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Re-make/re-model

2. Street Life

3. Ladytron

4. While My Heart Is Still Beating

5. Out Of The Blue

6. A Song For Europe

7. My Only Love

8. In Every Dream Home A Heartache

9. Oh Yeah!

10. Both Ends Burning

11. Tara

12. Mother Of Pearl

13. Avalon

14. Dance Away

15. Jealous Guy

16. Editions Of You

17. Virginia Plain

18. Love Is The Drug

19. Do The Strand

20. For Your Pleasure

Line-up / Musicians

- Bryan Ferry / vocals, keyboards, harmonica

- Phil Manzanera / guitar

- Andy Mackay / saxophone and oboe

- Paul Thompson / drums

- Chris Spedding / guitar

- Colin Good / piano

- Lucy Wilkins / violin, keyboards, synthesizer

- Julia Thornton / percussion, keybards

- Zev Katz / bass

- Sarah Brown / background vocals

- Yanick Etienne / background vocals

Dancers: Lizzie Carlin, Sophie Pateman, Katie Turner, Anna Vollands