I have to concede that I reviewed this show mainly for one reason, and one reason only— sheer curiosity.
Speaking candidly, I wanted to see for myself how fans would accept “Jeff Lynne’s ELO” as opposed to the real ELO, or Electric Light Orchestra, take your pick.
Initially, when I got the word early this year that “Jeff Lynne’s ELO” was commencing a final tour this year, I was honestly (if not shockingly) surprised that they were able to book an arena tour.
Let’s be honest. There aren’t many (maybe not any) bands that have only one original or founding member in the lineup that can headline a full-scale arena tour. In this case, it goes even further. Band leader Jeff Lynne, since 2014, has taken his former band’s name and rebranded it under his own name (due to court issues most likely).
In short order, I find that absolutely disgraceful! Having said that, I guess I should give credit to Lynne though. Most artists who have done that are by and large relegated to playing clubs– if they’re lucky. Rightly or wrongly, Lynne is a rare exception to this. Still, talk about being very fortunate.
I’ll put it another way. As I see it, one person is not a band. For all intents and purposes, that’s a solo artist… fairly or unfairly. But I digress.
Frankly, I was even more surprised that the band’s Phoenix stop at Footprint Center, originally scheduled for Mon. Oct. 21, sold out in advance!
Due to illness, the band had to postpone the show, which was re-scheduled to Tues. Oct. 29. It turned out, by default, Phoenix ended up being the final U.S. show of the cleverly-titled Over and Out (farewell) tour.
On to the show now. From my vantage point, it looked like the stage was almost “circular”, if you will, which was pretty unique. Lynne and company kicked off the 20-song, 90-minute set with, appropriately, One More Time from the 2019 album From Out Of Nowhere.
To clarify, it was the only song of the night that was truly “Jeff Lynne’s ELO“. The rest of the set was focused on ELO’s legacy, and rightly so I might add.
It was surprising to hear Evil Woman and Do Ya (originally recorded by The Move in 1972 and re-recorded by ELO in 1976) so early in the set. On the other hand, those two songs got the crowd out of their seats. That’s a good thing for any performer.
I once read that ELO‘s music is for people who don’t care for “prog rock”. There may be some truth to that. Yes, ELO has some progressive elements in their music without question. However, there’s no doubt that they’re certainly more “radio friendly” than bands like Yes, Genesis, and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer to cite a few examples.
However, one could rightly argue that ELO‘s overall musicianship is on equal footing though with their aforementioned contemporaries.
One positive thing I will say about “Jeff Lynne’s ELO“: to their credit, they play the ELO songs faithfully to the original studio recordings. It certainly helps that there’s a 12-piece band accompanying Lynne onstage. The musicianship was exceptional indeed.
Funny thing about some of the songs. There’s no question that a song like Last Train To London has a disco bent to it. In fact, I’d say that several of their songs have a disco flavor to them, whether anyone wants to say that out loud or not.
It’s almost as if there was a Beatles-meets-Bee Gees hybrid to ELO, something I really never realized until now. Particularly when the band is harmonizing together. By the way, that’s not a criticism, it’s just an observation. For the record, I’ve never bought an ELO album in my life.
Frankly, Believe Me Now has Paul McCartney written all over it. Something like Rockaria! sounds like a cross between opera and Chuck Berry.
Another fan favorite, 10538 Overture got the boomer heavy audience going, while Strange Magic and Sweet Talkin’ Woman brought the roof down as well.
To a large degree, I must admit that I never realized how many hits ELO has garnered over their career. It’s absolutely fair to say that I took them for granted when I started getting into “classic rock” in the 80s.
Back onstage, the hits just kept coming. Can’t Get It Out Of My Head, Fire On High, Livin’ Thing, and Telephone Line were pretty much mandatory for many ELO fans.
Some fans around me were rightly complaining about the 90-minute length of the show. On the other hand, at least they played 20 songs. If nothing else, that is a fair amount of songs to play. To that point, I’ll cut them some slack there.
It’s like I’ve always said in previous concert reviews. Veteran bands with a sizable catalog (i.e. six studio albums or more) should play 20 songs or 2 hours onstage— minimum. Anything less than that is absolutely unacceptable— no matter how “great” they may be.
Perhaps the quirkiest song of the night, Turn To Stone, received the biggest applause of the night. However, the main set closers Shine a Little Love and Don’t Bring Me Down came awfully close as well.
There was only one encore, Mr. Blue Sky. Afterwards, the band received an extended standing ovation, perhaps the audience realizing that “Jeff Lynne’s ELO” was now indeed… Over and Out. At least in the U.S. anyway.
The final verdict? I’ll admit I was pretty impressed, more than I probably care to acknowledge— for the reasons I stated earlier. With that… I’ll give this tour four out of five stars. Overall, I think most fans got what they came for.
On that note, I wish a fond farewell to Mr. Lynne. I hope he enjoyed the ride.
