Bryan Ferry delivered more or less the perfect show when he kicked off a short North American tour at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Saturday. Mind you, with a catalogue longer than the lank fringe that still dangles insouciantly over those sleepy eyes, there was bound to be some disappointments. One punter beefed that we didn’t hear “Virginia Plain” as we all filed out after a beautifully executed 22-song set. And it’s true, it would have been amazing to hear the song that launched Roxy Music’s incredible run of hit singles back in 1972. But with four numbers pulled from the band’s debut album, and another couple from the equally revered follow-up, 1973's For Your Pleasure, hardcore fans weren’t exactly cheated out of a money shot or six.

Among those, the highlight might have been “If There Is Something”, which received a heroic sax solo from Jorja Chalmers as she sashayed across the stage in a black jumpsuit, looking like nothing less than an 1981 version of Charlotte Rampling (from where I was sitting, at least). On the other hand, the thundering tom breakdown and sweet noise that ended “Ladytron” could have been the most musically sublime moment of the night. On the other, other hand, there was something pretty magical about hearing almost everyone in the room scream “But you blew my mind!” as “In Every Dream Home a Heartache” exploded from a tense and sickly four-minute preamble into its bonkers climax.

This was a proudly middle-aged crowd, by the way—with a smattering of younger folk who obviously knew their shit from their shinola—come to pay tribute to a guy whose icon status has been achieved a little more casually than contemporaries like Bowie. Casual, of course, is Ferry’s thing. Huge chunks of the show served to remind us as much, from the remarkably well–preserved 68-year-old’s smoking jacket to the way he eased from a stripped down and extra-melancholy “More Than This” into a groovily lazy “Avalon”.

"Take a Chance With Me" and "Oh Yeah" kept us similarly rooted in the loucher end of his career, but Ferry rocked, too, turning up the bombast for “Same Old Blues”, letting the band make a vertiginous racket out of Manifesto’s “Stronger Through the Years” (complete with bass solo), and blowing harmonica over the top of a pounding “Both Ends Burning”. We were also reminded that Roxy Music came from glam rock's intelligence wing when Chalmers started avant-pounding on the keyboard like an angry toddler during “Editions of You”.

It all wound up with a string of solid gold hits: “Love Is the Drug”, “Let’s Stick Together” (the only time Ferry’s voice crapped out), and finally “Jealous Guy”, leaving us with an outstanding performance that'll only get better as the band tootles off down the coast. In other words: look out Coachella. Unless “Virginia Plain” is a deal-breaker (and maybe "Do the Strand"), you have a major treat in store.

Georgia Straight, April 2014