Roxy Music enchants longtime fans at first Austin concert in 46 years

English band Roxy Music made records for just 11 years, releasing eight albums between 1972 and 1982. But those records, which artfully blended elements of glam-rock, jazz, punk and more with a distinct style and flair, influenced a lot of artists in the decades ahead, enough to warrant their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.

Notable anniversaries have sparked reunions in the 21st century, starting with a 30th-anniversary tour in 2001 that nearly led to a new Roxy Music album. (The sessions featuring several band members ultimately were released as part of frontman Bryan Ferry's 2010 solo album "Olympia.") After a string of 40th-anniversary concerts in 2011, the group went dormant again. But the 50th anniversary of its self-titled debut album brought about a 13-date tour that included Roxy Music's first Austin concert since a 1976 appearance at Armadillo World Headquarters.

Ferry has played Austin twice in the past five years, both times at ACL Live, and it's possible that venue would have been a better choice for Wednesday's concert at the University of Texas' new Moody Center. Of the 10 concerts I've reviewed so far at the arena, which opened in April, this was the first in which the upper-deck seats were blocked off by panels designed to reduce attendance at UT basketball games. Floor seating was mostly full, but lower-level sections on the sides had lots of empty seats, and online resellers were dumping tickets for less than $10 earlier this week.

Attendance onstage was bountiful, though: Longtime members Ferry (on vocals and keyboards), Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone and oboe) and Paul Thompson (drums) brought nine more musicians with them, allowing the band to stretch out its broad sonic palette. The sophistication of their sound sometimes got lost in an arena partly designed for sports, while a towering video display behind the stage often felt too big for the occasion.

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But the music itself was mesmerizing. Though Ferry's cool-tempered yet melodious croon is at the center of the songs, more often than not the real driver is the instrumental interplay between Manzanera's inventive guitar leads and Mackay's splendid saxophone and oboe solos. Additional keyboards, horns, guitars, a second drummer and a three-piece backing-vocal section further enhanced the presentation of songs that drew from nearly all the band's studio albums.

The focus was mainly on the first two and last two records, including six tracks from he band's 1982 swan song "Avalon." The lone Roxy Music album to go platinum in the United States, it featured several tunes that came to define the group, most notably the title track and "More Than This." Those two were played back-to-back as the band hit the home stretch of its 100-minute set, following them with the rocked-up "Love Is the Drug," the group's highest-charting single in 1975.

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The first half of the show featured more songs from the band's early years, including the first three songs on the band's 1972 debut album. Its first track, "Re-Make/Re-Model," opened the concert with a blast of energy that assured the younger side musicians would help kick things up a notch for the seventy-something core members.

Other highlights included "Dance Away," which, true to its title, got people in the audience dancing; "Oh Yeah" from 1980's "Flesh and Blood," which featured jumbotron images of drive-in theaters to supplement its car-centric lyrics; and a brilliant closing cover of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy" that topped the British and Australian charts in 1981 when Roxy Music released it after Lennon's death.

No small bonus for concertgoers was opening act St. Vincent, featuring Dallas-raised singer-songwriter Annie Clark and her seven-piece band. A veteran of "Austin City Limits" TV tapings and ACL Fest performances, St. Vincent is nothing if not eclectic. In a nine-song set, the group drew heavily from funk rhythms, with blasts of radiant pop bursting forth at times.

Clark ventured onto the arena during the song "New York," mingling up-close with concertgoers as she continued singing. A telling moment came at the end of her last song, "The Melting of the Sun": Gradually, she brought all her bandmates up to the front of the stage with her, until they all sang the last lines together a cappella. And then Clark disappeared, giving the final spotlight to her fellow musicians.

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Roxy Music setlist Sept. 21 at Austin's Moody Center

1. "Re-Make/Re-Model"

2. "Out of the Blue"

3. "The Bogus Man"

4. "The Main Thing"

5. "Ladytron"

6. "While My Heart Is Still Beating"

7. "Oh Yeah"

8. "If There Is Something"

9. "In Every Dream Home a Heartache"

10. "Tara"

11. "My Only Love"

12. "To Turn You On"

13. "Dance Away"

14. "Same Old Scene"

15. "More Than This"

16. "Avalon"

17. "Love Is the Drug"

18. "Editions of You"

19. "Do the Strand"

20. "Jealous Guy"

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Roxy Music: 50th anniversary tour is first show in Austin in 46 years