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Post by unomusette on Oct 13, 2018 21:01:39 GMT
Your photos are brilliant Horacewimp, the onstage backdrop visuals look amazing. And it's cheering to see how BSJ was at your shoulder using her spooky ninja skills, nice work me Snooks! What a shame about the drunken guy though, hope he didn't spoil it too much for you. Although it must have been weird to sit through the whole show at least you found a positive aspect in that the view was a good 'un. I bet Jeff wishes he could sit down all the way through too sometimes
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Post by soonerorlater on Oct 15, 2018 15:53:13 GMT
So, it's over for now. My greatly anticipated adventure In Birmingham, seeing all three shows in four days is complete and very little now stands in the way of Christmas!! Having experienced such an intense burst of ELO concert wonderment, I can but offer the following random thoughts (in an equally random order): 1 I'm too old for this! Three shows in four days with around four hours of travel each day and a job of work to do as well, is asking too much of me. I now need a holiday/vacation! 2 The light show was naturally better from further towards the back of the arena but so was the sound. That said, Being three rows from the front on the first night was my ultimate ELO experience, and I include my 80's shows in that as well. 3 Jeff's voice is better when he's had a night off, i.e. between the first and second shows (Wednesday and Friday). 4 The fixed setlist is a problem for those of us who've been following this merry-go-round since the start of the 2016 tour. However, the setlist is affixed to the 'greatest hits' market and there's not much any of us can do about that apart from stop going. If the Secret Messages vinyl re-issue had been a shock top ten hit in the album charts then things may have been different but that was never going to happen, was it? And I'm just as guilty when I go and see certain other acts. In the past couple of years or so I've seen people like Fleetwood Mac, Status Quo, The Moody Blues and Roger Waters and I've wanted them to play their hits/best known songs. In every case there's a committed fanbase bemoaning the fact that the setlist wasn't more adventurous! 5 I share the frustration over people who appear to have turned up just to have a drink. Isn't it cheaper going to a bar/the pub for the evening?! Why would you pay so much for a ticket and then spend most of the evening in the pursuit of alcohol. I actually find it quite sad, particularly as we're talking about people in their 40s, 50s and older - not youngsters. There certainly appears to be a direct correlation to the size of their waistline as well but as this isn't about politics and the ills of society I'll leave that there. 6 The programme was disappointing compared to 2016 and 2017 but the other merchandise I thought was better this time around than both previous years. 7 Billy Lockett was entirely competent as a support act but boring the second time around and positively tedious the third. He typifies the fate of most newcomers in the music business these days. He's been given this great showcase platform but its hard to imagine him making any real impact. Maybe I'll be proved wrong but I still think that it was a lukewarm choice by Jeff's team. 8 It was a true privilege to see the shows and I can't wait until the next time. I am very confident that there will be a 'next time' and it won't be that long in coming around. I hope our American friends get another fair spread of shows once again. I'm still working on the photos!!
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Post by Helmut83 on Oct 15, 2018 18:20:02 GMT
It's incredible that so many people attend the show just to drink. And judging by what others said it seems to be a constant. About the support act, I was thinking maybe Jeff and/or his team chose him because he wouldn't overshadow them. I remember about 8 years ago U2 played in La Plata and the general comment the day after was that Muse -their support artist- gave a show which was better than that of U2 ( unomusette will be proud). 8 It was a true privilege to see the shows and I can't wait until the next time. I am very confident that there will be a 'next time' and it won't be that long in coming around. I hope our American friends get another fair spread of shows once again. What about us South Americans? We can't even say "once again" because Jeff never even stepped on our continent as far as I know. I had a glimmer of hope last year when suddenly "Last Train to London" was included in the setlist, but it stood out soon enough that it had nothing to do with a potential visit to South America.
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Post by BSJ on Oct 15, 2018 20:38:10 GMT
There, there Helmut83, you know I love you more than my full glass of cheap!
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Post by Helmut83 on Oct 15, 2018 21:47:47 GMT
Well, considering yesterday you said you loved me more than your empty glass of cheap, it would seem like it's an improvement...
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Post by Timeblue on Oct 15, 2018 22:46:40 GMT
From all the reviews that I have seen so far on this forum,two things stand out. Firstly the set list remaining static for the last 4 years since Hyde Park with only a little change here and there. Secondly the morons who spend the night drinking rather than watching the show and who when they are tipsy or even drunk, spoil the show for those around them. Apologies if I sound like an old fart who disapproves of such things but both points seem to be 'the norm' now. I'd love Jeff to be a little more varied in his choices,I've said it before but Eldorado and Time are criminally overlooked for song choices,and these two are for me, his best albums...
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Post by soonerorlater on Oct 16, 2018 9:16:59 GMT
8 It was a true privilege to see the shows and I can't wait until the next time. I am very confident that there will be a 'next time' and it won't be that long in coming around. I hope our American friends get another fair spread of shows once again. What about us South Americans? We can't even say "once again" because Jeff never even stepped on our continent as far as I know. Of course I hope Jeff tours South America Helmut83 - I know how much that would mean to a lot of people there. When you look on various ELO-related Facebook pages you constantly see messages along the lines of 'come to Australia', 'come to New Zealand', 'come to Japan', etc. etc. I genuinely feel for people who probably won't get the chance to experience the show and there I was whingeing about being tired. Sorry!
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Post by raybram on Oct 16, 2018 10:08:00 GMT
If Jeff had performed "4 little diamonds" then he could have used the dog as backing "barker" Jeff sings "there's just no answer to give....." cue dog. How to replicate the recorded sound
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Post by Helmut83 on Oct 16, 2018 17:40:25 GMT
What about us South Americans? We can't even say "once again" because Jeff never even stepped on our continent as far as I know. Of course I hope Jeff tours South America Helmut83 - I know how much that would mean to a lot of people there. When you look on various ELO-related Facebook pages you constantly see messages along the lines of 'come to Australia', 'come to New Zealand', 'come to Japan', etc. etc. I genuinely feel for people who probably won't get the chance to experience the show and there I was whingeing about being tired. Sorry! Don't worry, soonerorlater , there was nothing to get offended about in any of your comments. Truth is in these parts of the world we are already resigned to never being visited by Jeff Lynne. Maybe Australians, New Zealanders and Japanese have bigger hopes because he has played there in the past (for that same reason we South Americans feel he owes us more) so maybe they think he could repeat that. But if you go through the list of places he has played in you'll realize that he never set foot outside of the "civilized world", so if he didn't do it in 1978 he won't be doing it now and we know it. We are already resigned to it, so at least I'd rather see that the people who are getting the chance are enjoying it.
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Post by dillwyn on Oct 17, 2018 4:57:31 GMT
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Post by tremblinwilbury on Oct 19, 2018 10:53:35 GMT
Ok, I was at the O2 on Wednesday night (the 17th) - the first of four nights there. A full house, as far as I could see. A lively bunch at the opposite end to the stage voicing their support and love for Jeff & Co. All in all, everything went to plan. Roughly the same setlist as will have been performed elsewhere. Jeff was in good voice and as active on stage as he usually is - basically "Hello London - thanks for coming". The crowd was rather muted. Not many mobile phone lights on show. I didn't bring mine, so I can't really complain At the very end of ROB, Lee got a tad carried away with the whole 'rock star' thing - rolling around on his back playing his bass. Bless 'im
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Post by dillwyn on Oct 19, 2018 21:14:16 GMT
FT.com.... i tried to post the link but it hit went to some gobbledygook page
Jeff Lynne’s ELO, O2 Arena, London — indelible melodies, huge choruses
A show that made you wonder why ELO ever fell out of fashion There was a time, not so long ago, when ELO seemed to have become the ultimate local radio band, the punchline to a joke about someone so out of touch they didn’t realise they were out of touch: “Pray silence, please, for The Electric Light Orchestra,” demanded Alan Partridge, at 23 minutes to five in the morning, on his Radio Norwich show in the comedy series I’m Alan Partridge. In 2001, that year’s version of ELO had to cancel a tour because ticket sales were so bad. There’s not a chance of that happening now.
The past four years have seen an astonishing reversal of fortune for Jeff Lynne, following a headline appearance at a Radio 2 show in Hyde Park, for which he revived the ELO brand. Since then he has gone back to the arenas, headlined Wembley Stadium, and this was the first of three nights at London’s biggest indoor venue. And one had to ask: why did he fall out of fashion in the first place? These songs — written, arranged, produced and sung by him — are magnificent: in any given number you might reasonably expect an operatic interlude, an indelible melody, a chorus so huge it could raze a city, and harmonies creamier than butter. To see Lynne and his 12-piece band bring them to life in startling clarity was like watching a new print of a beloved film: were the colours always this bright? Was the picture always this sharp?
ELO, it was often suggested, was Lynne filling a Beatles-shaped hole in pop in the 1970s, but that’s unfair. Of course, there were Beatlesesque moments, but “All Over the World” owed just as much to Brian Wilson in its unexpected chord changes and the lushness of the voices coming together. A version of “Handle With Care” was lovelier than the original by Lynne’s 1980s supergroup The Traveling Wilburys, not least because any group with Bob Dylan involved is always going to struggle a little with its harmonies, whereas this version of ELO is filled with singers. One was reminded not so much of The Beatles as Phil Spector: this is what he might have grown into had he not retreated into paranoia and attempts to recreate past glories.
A trio of “Don’t Bring Me Down”, “Turn to Stone” and “Mr. Blue Sky” brought the main set to a close, and the house to its feet. It was pop so golden, so burnished, one wanted to bathe in its light for hours.
★★★★☆
jefflynneselo.com
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Post by BSJ on Oct 19, 2018 21:49:18 GMT
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Post by dillwyn on Oct 20, 2018 18:10:41 GMT
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Post by queenofthehours on Oct 21, 2018 19:15:53 GMT
The black cab driver I had when I went to London to see Procol Harum said that he was going to see Jeff at the O2. I hope he had a great time because he was an excellent driver! Great chap.
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