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Well, April the 5th finally dawned. Went to work for my midday shift, shuffled some papers for a couple of hours then ran away to Liverpool for the afternoon. Liverpool is a great city to spend time with world class stuff to see and do with some cracking eateries...the show started at 7.30pm with the Arena's 11000 seats full. We were in block one - right next to the stage. Support band were The Feeling. Accomplished and professional a great fit for the main event.....which was ......awesome.....the soundtrack of my life again beautifully produced, sung and played - the light and lazer show was incredible, easiest the best if not the best I've seen in years. I know that someone on here was referencing the 80s show with the awesome Spaceship thing- but this is the 21st Century and things are different and the sight of the images of the original singles spinning as a backdrop and on the stage below Jeff Lynne's feet is something I'll never forget. The encore was "Roll over Beethoven" which was absolutely first class.....first class end of. Brilliant night, worth every penny.
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Although I am only mid 40s I was brought up on bands like ELO, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Meatloaf as my brother, who was 10 years older than me, was into them and what he listened to, we all listened to!
Was there most of the old classics, Mr Blue Sky / Horace etc or was there a lot of new stuff?
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It was quite funny.....most of the songs were the classics (including Wild West Hero which I was belting out on the ride home from work tonight ) - they were greeted with roars of approval, the odd new songs were rather more subdued.....shows what people want !! They were all there....brill.
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I really like ELO. Got into them at university in the 90s.
I'm at the Echo Arena soonish - Manic Street Preachers in May. Saw the Manics live the first time on Millennium eve in Cardiff. These latest tickets were a gift.
Where did you park for the arena? Any tips? No idea what time it all starts for me. We know Liverpool quite well but tend to part further out and walk a lot.
One place we like to pop in is the 'beer garden' of Kazimier.
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We parked in the John Lewis multi storey....5 minute walk from Arena....and it was safe and secure and an easy drive out (no queues) it was busy getting out towards the tunnel. But I reckon the M56 or M62 is a doddle from there.
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There is a program on Radio Scotland every evening called "Get It On" whereby there is a random theme and folk contact them with songs to fit the theme. I catch up on them via iplayer when out walking dog etc
A recent theme was "disappointing live shows" and the vast majority of the gripes were that people had went along to their favourite's concerts, only for them to play all new releases rather than old classics!
Having said that Bob Dylan and Van Morrison also featured for just being awful live with a "don't give a hoot for the audience" approach!
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When they play Glasgow they probably just assume everyone is leathered and won't notice !
;-)
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>>.....most of the songs were the classics..... - they were
>> greeted with roars of approval, the odd new songs were rather more subdued.....shows what people want....
....which rather reminds me of the (true) story about Neil Young (and why I like the curmudgeonly old b****** so much).
Reprise sat on his album "Tonight's the Night" for several years without releasing it (it being 'difficult' and somewhat unlike previous material). That didn't stop him, pre-release, playing it in its entirety at a live concert, with the audience getting progressively more restive and requesting stuff they knew.
At the end of the track list, to cheers Neil then announced "now we're gonna play something you've heard before"…
..........and played the track list from 'Tonight's The Night' in full again.
:-)
.....but he is the best (mainstream) live performer I've seen.
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>> I know that someone
>> on here was referencing the 80s show with the awesome Spaceship thing- but this is
>> the 21st Century and things are different
What? you never got the space ship? Pffftttt These born again rockers never get it right.
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I was young and broke then !
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I saw ELO Part 11 in concert in Tilgate Park in Crawley in 1998 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Tickets cost £14 then....
I bet they cost a bit more now.....
Last edited by: smokie on Thu 7 Apr 16 at 12:45
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Two tickets to see them at the O2 in London at £ 92 each on Twickets currently ......another two at £ 130 each.
Think I'll pass....
Last edited by: helicopter on Thu 7 Apr 16 at 12:22
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>> Tickets cost £14 then....
Was that when you were a boy?
>> Think I'll pass....
Don't let them bring you down.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 7 Apr 16 at 12:53
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>> Think I'll pass....
>>
I did too, despite seeing ELO live being a major item on my bucket list. I don't begrudge artists earning a living but one thing Jeff Lynne isn't short of is money, even if the rest of the band need paying.
I thought the prices were excessive, and I have to say that I found the new album somewhat uinderwhelming.
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>>I thought the prices were excessive, and I have to say that I found the new album somewhat underwhelming.
>>
Underwhelming is a serious understatement. Very disappointing.
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Had £90 quids worth of pleasure this week.
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£90 quid would have bought you a lot of pleasure back in the day...
;-)
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>> £90 quid would have bought you a lot of pleasure back in the day...
In Liverpool? 9 of them.
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.....£90 would buy more pleasure than (most of) the posters on here could handle.......
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"Underwhelming is a serious understatement. Very disappointing."
I was discussing the return of (the original) ELO this evening with my mate at a Martin Taylor/Martin Simpson concert. I just wonder if Harry Hill's maxim should be applied i.e. "If you're doing badly - get off; if you're doing well - get off".
[I say that as a great admirer of Jeff Lynne and his work]
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...this thread is taking on a bit of a 70's theme.
I first saw Martin Simpson touring (the folk clubs) with June Tabor sometime in the mid to late 70's........
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Great if you have the time/money/location to see the real thing but, if you don't, then I can recommend 'The ELO Experience' as a pretty decent tribute band - we saw them again last week.
How was Jeff Lynne's voice at the Liverpool show? When I saw him on tv a few months back, I just got the impression that it was showing the effects of wear and tear ..... and I didn't think that the new song that he performed was up to the standard of his old stuff.
Sad to say, I haven't seen the great man playing live since he was performing with the 'Idle Race' in ~1968; even then, he could be singled out as being destined for greatness. I was sufficiently impressed to buy their two albums 'The Birthday Party' and 'Idle Race' which I still have - though I don't have anything to play them on.
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There are some really good tribute bands around and the venues they play are often (for me) much more pleasant than some of the huge arenas.
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Tribute bands just play the stuff you want to hear, none of the 'new material' that no one is interested in :)
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Very good point. Even when I saw the Stones at Twickers a few years back I wanted the old stuff.. Saw them in late 90s at the Brixton Academy (small venue) and they did a blinding set of their older stuff.
The Counterfeit Stones are also good though, and a fraction of the cost...
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"Even when I saw the Stones at Twickers a few years back I wanted the old stuff."
Most musos seem to go through a golden period - and that's what people want to see again. If I went to see Jeff Lynne, I don't think I'd be particularly seeking out material from his 'Idle Race' days. One should, of course, remain open-minded about new stuff - otherwise artists could never progress.
I've seen the Counterfeit Stones several times as well, and their stage show portrays a history of the Stones - very entertaining. Their line up changes almost as much as the real thing, and ISTR their guitarists are lecturers/tutors at the Guitar Institute etc. I used to be very sniffy about tribute bands until I saw the Counterfeit Stones.
I saw T Rextasy a couple of years ago and, although they played their music well, it only served to remind me that all T Rex's songs were basically the same.
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As with most threads I hardly dare put in my feeble contribution, but I will say here that coincidentally we went out last night (amazing enough in itself) to see a musical act. We had a good time and there were two standing ovations.
It was the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain, who have been going for over 30 years.
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I found them on YouTube a month or so back and would like to see them live.
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>> and would like to see
>> them live.
>>
I'd like to see them DIE!
What's the difference between a banjo and a ukelele?
A Banjo takes longer to burn.
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It was as good as I remember it. I saw a clip of the One Show this morning and he was poor on that.
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"It was as good as I remember it. I saw a clip of the One Show this morning and he was poor on that."
Just looking at Youtube, I came across this clip - and I think there are related ones from that session - he's certainly in good voice there.....
youtu.be/oRfW5Nahgc4
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I've got the programme recorded on my box thing. Loved it. He comes across with some humility and modesty....Steppin' Out is a particular favourite of mine, it was sung on Tuesday..I'll never forget that gig.
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Lynne's best songs are his melancholy ones - and the ones that feature his favourite metaphor, rain. Steppin' Out ticks both boxes, as does my favourite track on Out of the Blue, Big Wheels. Even Mr Blue Sky derives some of its joyous impact from following the three rain-themed tracks on side 3 (hence the final 'please turn me over'.)
And the melancholy mood pervades his finest work of all, Time, which Lynne himself seems not to like. At least that means he's spared it the revisiting and re-recording that he's inflicted on the earlier songs.
One question, RP: was Richard Tandy on stage too? He seems to bring out the best in Lynne, and you really feel his absence from last year's new album.
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I'm going to have to get the vinyl out I think, I have Eldorado, Face the Music, A new World Record, out of the blue, and discovery in the record box.
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Worst act I saw live, Stephen Hawkin "Unplugged"
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Glad the Liverpool concert was good as another review I saw in their local rag (which I originally thought was a bit biased). I've got row 3 tickets to see them at the O2 Wednesday week! And I Can Not Wait!!
Interesting comments Will about you thinking Time was his best work. I think it is under-rated but wouldn't say it is his best. Face The Music or New World Record or Out of the Blue are the best for me, depending on my mood. And the common thread I get with his songs is communication, rather than rain!
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I'm still buzzing today. Crap weather this morning dug out the excellent Bungalow documentaries and the Hyde Park concert I have on my Sky box....brilliant. Jeff Lynne comes over as a modest Brummie...which is remarkably cool. Also found my Discovery and A New World Record CDs. I have them on vinyl as well but I don't have Out of the Blue on a disc. Guess it's a Click To Buy moment - You;ll love the light show. A memory popped into my head earlier. There was a guy in the audience wearing a blue suit with cloud patterns on it....should have photographed him
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>>I have them on vinyl as well but I don't have Out of the
>> Blue on a disc.
I bought ELO's Out of the Blue out of my first wage packet in 1978, its probably still in a box in my parents loft !
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Bloomin 'eck. Friend is selling his Lionel Richie tickets for the cover price of £158.00 - ELO was a bargain
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>> Bloomin 'eck. Friend is selling his Lionel Richie tickets for the cover price of £158.00
" Hello, was it you I'm looking for
Your once, twice, three times a sucker
and I luuuuuuuurrrvvveeeee you""
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 12 Apr 16 at 10:41
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>> >> Bloomin 'eck. Friend is selling his Lionel Richie tickets for the cover price of
>> £158.00
>>
>>
>> " Hello, was it you I'm looking for
>>
>>
He played Cape Town Stadium a few weeks back.
A friend of mine went along, and said it consisted of a bunch of middle-aged women singing Richie songs all the way through, so you could hardly hear the artists themselves.
I can think of nothing worse.
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That's the glory of Metallica gigs. Everyone can shout along as loud as they like, but you'll always hear the band.
Big one I'm looking forward to this year is Billy Joel at Wembley. Not a great fan of stadium gigs, but I've never seen him and he's one of my all-time favourites. Radiohead are doing some rare gigs at the Roundhouse in Camden (brilliant venue) this year, but tickets went after about two minutes of going on sale and I didn't get lucky.
Will be giving Reading Festival a miss this year as the line-up is atrociously poor. Sob. :-(
And no Shed Seven tour this year, they alternate years.
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Of topic (of course) but...
news.sky.com/story/1676782/led-zeppelin-face-stairway-to-heaven-lawsuit
Led Zep sued over Hairway to Steven..
45 years??
Are they kidding...
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I used to go to concerts years ago and indeed mainly enjoyed them. But now ( even then in truth ) I am intolerant of crowds.
Being forced into close proximity to thousands of others in a controlled environment frankly just freaks me out.
My problem not theirs I know, but I really don't like it.
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"Being forced into close proximity to thousands of others in a controlled environment frankly just freaks me out."
Me too. I once went to an Eric Clapton/Elton John concert at the old Wembley Stadium. We found a spot about halfway down the pitch in the middle of the crowd - bladderial considerations would not allow me to do that now. It was not a pleasant experience; the view was hopeless and the sound quality was atrocious.
I go to lots of gigs now, but all are at small venues.
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>> Led Zep sued over Hairway to Steven..
>>
>>
>> 45 years??
>> Are they kidding...
Here is the claimants song
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFHLO_2_THg
and here is stairway to heaven
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW_7XBrDBAA
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"Here is the claimants song"
Clearly, that 6-bar sequence is the same, but then it veers off. Music is full of 'bits that remind you of something else' - it's inevitable that similarities occur with just 12 notes in the chromatic scale.
Mind you, I couldn't really see the resemblance between Petty/Lynne's 'I won't back down' and Sam Smith's 'Stay with me' - but it didn't stop the lawyers kicking up a fuss.
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Try spotting the similarity between ZZ Top's Dippin' Low (in the Lap of Luxury) and Gimme All Your Lovin' by, erm, ZZ Top.
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"Try spotting the similarity ...."
Yep, I genuinely love the ZZ Top sound - all one of it ;-)
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...or the similarity between the original:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRIJv6LicXc
and an equally bit hit by Taylor Swift:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xg3vE8Ie_E
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"and an equally bit hit by Taylor Swift:"
The main difference that I can hear is a more prominent banjo in Taylor Swift's song - which gives me an idea for the next banjo lesson. Thank you.
Our choir is working on a Taylor Swift song at the moment - 'Welcome to New York'
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>> "and an equally bit hit by Taylor Swift:"
>>
>> The main difference that I can hear is a more prominent banjo in Taylor Swift's
>> song - which gives me an idea for the next banjo lesson. Thank you.
It was YOU i bumped into in Basingstoke Spoons
www.youtube.com/watch?v=myhnAZFR1po&nohtml5=False
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"It was YOU i bumped into in Basingstoke Spoons"
Not me on that occasion, guv but, do you all look like that down in Basingstoke?
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>> Not me on that occasion, guv but, do you all look like that down in
>> Basingstoke?
>>
Now that a certain IT company no longer has any presence there it's bound to have gone downhill :-)
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>Now that a certain IT company no longer has any presence there it's bound to have gone downhill :-)
Quite the opposite.
Lunchtime in the town center is no longer full of people in blue suits begging.
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>..do you all look like that down in Basingstoke?
Of course not, he's a very rare exception.
Only the most attractive ones get chosen for film and TV.
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Try spotting the difference between any song from Status Quo, and err Status Quo. They dont release new songs, they just change the label.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 12 Apr 16 at 16:04
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>> See also: REM.
Ah but have you listened to Fables of the Reconstruction? Produced by Joe Boyd, previously of Fairport Convention fame, and also did some excellent work with 10,000 Maniacs. Quite early in their career (1985) and by far their best, IMHO of course.
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No I haven't. Will check it out, thanks.
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>> See also: REM.
Or Coldplay.
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>> That's the glory of Metallica gigs. Everyone can shout along as loud as they like,
>> but you'll always hear the band.
>>
>> Big one I'm looking forward to this year is Billy Joel at Wembley.
Saw him at Wembley Arena back in the late 80s early 90s. He was in good form, Christine Brinkley hadn't left him by then.
Perhaps Fluffy should watch this
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHnJp0oyOxs&nohtml5=False
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Going to see Bryan Adams at the NEC in a couple of weeks....has anyone seen him live and is he as good?
Pat
Last edited by: Pat on Tue 12 Apr 16 at 16:57
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I saw Bryan Adams way back when he was touring the Reckless album. Was good. He did a New Year's Eve concert on TV that looked good, so it looks like you won't be disappointed Pat.
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>> Going to see Bryan Adams at the NEC in a couple of weeks....has anyone seen
>> him live and is he as good?
Only if Mel C's there :)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W2jONIjrM0
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"Going to see Bryan Adams at the NEC in a couple of weeks....has anyone seen him live and is he as good?"
I saw him, but it was a while ago - in fact, July 14th i992 at Portman Road, Ipswich. He was good and he was loud but, if he's anything like me 24 years on, he won't be jumping around as much!
I'd gone to the gig with the blokes in our band and we were seated in the main stand about halfway back - in line with the sound/lighting tower. Shortly after we'd bought tickets, a friend with a hospitality box invited my wife and the boys along - they were more or less opposite us.
Well into the concert, we noted a flurry of activity on the pitch below as a second stage (B stage) was set up a few yards in front of us. Bryan and his mateys came and played a couple of numbers from there and it was like watching him playing in the street below your bedroom window. My wife was well-miffed because her view of this activity was completely blocked by the aforementioned lighting tower.
After this, our band included 'Summer of '69' in our repertoire for a while but our lead singer, despite having a pretty good tenor voice, took against it - too much strain on the old throat bits.
The set list is here
www.setlist.fm/setlist/bryan-adams/1992/portman-road-ipswich-england-3d3556f.html
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If he does that set list again I will be happy!
Pat
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...too much strain on the old throat bits.
Mr Adams might agree with you. Out of curiosity I Deezered the performance from the live set recorded at Sydney Opera House in 2011, and I reckon it's pitched a semitone lower than the album version from 1984. Saves him from all those top As, but perhaps dropping only a semitone after all those years of touring is an achievement in itself.
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>> >> Big one I'm looking forward to this year is Billy Joel at Wembley.
Godamn you have dragged me back into another Billy Joel Appreciation moment* There are surprisingly few "artist compilations" you can throw into the media player of choice to start a two or three hour journey, and arrive at the other end without having to press the "search" or "skip" button.
Billy Joel is in there by miles, Along with ELO, George Benson, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra.
*appreciation moments. Everyone has them I think. The records/cds/playlist get pushed into the dark dusty recesses by newer stuff arriving, months or years later a spark reignites, you drag them out and you think, Damn thats good. It was good then and its good now.
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>> Big one I'm looking forward to this year is Billy Joel at Wembley. Not a
>> great fan of stadium gigs, but I've never seen him and he's one of my
>> all-time favourites.
>>
Motoring connection: Billy Joel drives (or used to drive) a 2CV. In the States!
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Joel was/is great....must dig out the double CD he had in the nineties. Mint.
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Well it was my turn to see ELO last night at the O2.
What a brilliant concert. Wife and I were grinning from ear to ear from start to finish as all the old favourites were given a live airing for the first time in (too) many years. Richard Tandy centre stage on piano and Moog (of some sorts), and I was most impressed by the lead guitarist. Jeff's voice still in remarkably good form considering his age (how old is he now?). He is not and never will be a natural showman, but the humility seems genuine. I think Rockaria was my favourite of the night.
Of course, having third row seats might have helped the enjoyment somewhat!
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ELO Gig. Liverpool Echo Arena. - BobbyG
