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Post by Horacewimp on Dec 1, 2015 19:29:26 GMT
I was at the NEC for that tour. It was the Sunday night and a mate and I had travelled over to my sisters place in Birmingham. At about 1pm it started to snow. And it snowed. And it snowed. And it snowed. My mate and I were panicking. Then came an announcement that the gig was still on. My dad drove us to New Street Station where we caught the train to Birmingham International Station next to the NEC. By the time we arrived the snow was a foot deep. And still it snowed. I missed most of Voyager as my mate and I had a beer in one of the bars. Then came the call that the main act was on. Amazingly, over 8,000 had managed to get to the gig. Other things I remember about that night. Roy Wood arriving in an ankle length fur coat. The clock counting down. Finally to zero and then the letters E-L-O flashed on the clock. The stage went dark and the cheer went up. Then Fred arrives to the first strains of the Prologue. The band appeared from the darkness. The first notes of Richards keyboards of Twilight strike up as the stage lights go on. And then it was 90 minutes of musical bliss that was electrifyingly good. We could care less about the weather. Oh and it was the only gig I've ever attended in my wellies. When we left the arena the snow was about 14 inches deep. And still it snowed. It took me a good few hours to get pushed out the the NEC car park in my Marina Van, the tall signs in the car park were showing the temperature -22 deg C I think.
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Post by LoserGoneWild on Dec 1, 2015 20:47:01 GMT
I was at the NEC for that tour. It was the Sunday night and a mate and I had travelled over to my sisters place in Birmingham. At about 1pm it started to snow. And it snowed. And it snowed. And it snowed. My mate and I were panicking. Then came an announcement that the gig was still on. My dad drove us to New Street Station where we caught the train to Birmingham International Station next to the NEC. By the time we arrived the snow was a foot deep. And still it snowed. I missed most of Voyager as my mate and I had a beer in one of the bars. Then came the call that the main act was on. Amazingly, over 8,000 had managed to get to the gig. Other things I remember about that night. Roy Wood arriving in an ankle length fur coat. The clock counting down. Finally to zero and then the letters E-L-O flashed on the clock. The stage went dark and the cheer went up. Then Fred arrives to the first strains of the Prologue. The band appeared from the darkness. The first notes of Richards keyboards of Twilight strike up as the stage lights go on. And then it was 90 minutes of musical bliss that was electrifyingly good. We could care less about the weather. Oh and it was the only gig I've ever attended in my wellies. When we left the arena the snow was about 14 inches deep. And still it snowed. It took me a good few hours to get pushed out the the NEC car park in my Marina Van, the tall signs in the car park were showing the temperature -22 deg C I think. That's right. It was one cold night. I remember queueing for a taxi back at New St and we got back to my sisters around 4 in the morning. But I'd have done it all again. And did. Amazingly I got the chance to go again the next night. I ended up back at my sisters again. But well worth braving the cold for.
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Post by unomusette on Dec 1, 2015 23:03:15 GMT
Great memories, thanks for sharing It's awful at the time, but when things go a bit wrong it makes you remember it even more vividly. I'd love to see a pic of Roy Wood in his fur coat, in those days rock stars really looked the part.
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Post by wilko on Dec 2, 2015 0:59:23 GMT
34 years ago today, I finally fulfilled my adolescent dream (there were others!!) of seeing ELO live in concert. Tuesday, 1st December 1981 at Wembley Arena in London, for the princely sum of £8.50.
Having just turned 18 I had the reluctant blessing of my parents to travel there alone by train. Sadly none of my other friends wanted to go so it was quite an adventure for me in the big city. I remember it all so clearly but there are three points that I'd like to share and I'd be really interested to learn of any other memories from amongst you, obscure or otherwise:
1) The support band, Voyager (Halfway Hotel anyone?) were fabulous, still the best support act I've ever seen in over 35 years of concert-going. 2) There was a countdown clock above the stage (Time Tour you see!) and the build up in tension grew and grew as it headed towards zero. When it finally did, it flashed and nothing happened! The band came on a few minutes later behind Fred the robot when they were ready, not when a clock told them to! 3) Here's the weird one and remember this was in an era when there was no internet and therefore no leaks of information about set lists etc, at all. On the train on the way down, I had the Chuck Berry song No Particular Place To Go stuck in my head constantly. I don't know why and I certainly can't remember hearing it on the radio earlier that day. I didn't own a copy of the record either. Anyway, I arrived in Wembley really early so I started walking up and down the street in front of the Arena looking for somewhere to eat when I suddenly heard the very loud sounds of the band running through a sound check. I stopped with some other curious passers by and listened to the whole thing. I know the band had a history of playing Chuck Berry in rehearsal and for band member auditions but I felt distinctly spooked when the first song they played was none other than No Particular Place To Go!!
Anyway, a truly memorable night and compensation indeed for having been deemed too young to go to the Out Of The Blue tour (in the same venue of course) three years previously.
I saw them the following night and only paid £7.50 !!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2015 7:43:35 GMT
I still think Time is the most brillaint of all ELO albums. I mean, just think about the first few tracks alone....Prologue...Twilight.... 2095.....Moon....., and all of the space age background effects that Jeff brought to this......the brilliant melodies and frankly....I must capitalize this......THE GREATEST LYRICS THAT JEFF EVER DID. 2095 and 21st Century Man especially. How is it that he seems to dismiss this period now?
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Post by Timeblue on Dec 2, 2015 17:19:33 GMT
I still think Time is the most brillaint of all ELO albums. I mean, just think about the first few tracks alone....Prologue...Twilight.... 2095.....Moon....., and all of the space age background effects that Jeff brought to this......the brilliant melodies and frankly....I must capitalize this......THE GREATEST LYRICS THAT JEFF EVER DID. 2095 and 21st Century Man especially. How is it that he seems to dismiss this period now? Hear hear Ole,Time was my album introduction to ELO and I never tire of playing it after 34 years.
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Post by soonerorlater on Dec 2, 2015 19:33:49 GMT
34 years ago today, I finally fulfilled my adolescent dream (there were others!!) of seeing ELO live in concert. Tuesday, 1st December 1981 at Wembley Arena in London, for the princely sum of £8.50.
Having just turned 18 I had the reluctant blessing of my parents to travel there alone by train. Sadly none of my other friends wanted to go so it was quite an adventure for me in the big city. I remember it all so clearly but there are three points that I'd like to share and I'd be really interested to learn of any other memories from amongst you, obscure or otherwise:
1) The support band, Voyager (Halfway Hotel anyone?) were fabulous, still the best support act I've ever seen in over 35 years of concert-going. 2) There was a countdown clock above the stage (Time Tour you see!) and the build up in tension grew and grew as it headed towards zero. When it finally did, it flashed and nothing happened! The band came on a few minutes later behind Fred the robot when they were ready, not when a clock told them to! 3) Here's the weird one and remember this was in an era when there was no internet and therefore no leaks of information about set lists etc, at all. On the train on the way down, I had the Chuck Berry song No Particular Place To Go stuck in my head constantly. I don't know why and I certainly can't remember hearing it on the radio earlier that day. I didn't own a copy of the record either. Anyway, I arrived in Wembley really early so I started walking up and down the street in front of the Arena looking for somewhere to eat when I suddenly heard the very loud sounds of the band running through a sound check. I stopped with some other curious passers by and listened to the whole thing. I know the band had a history of playing Chuck Berry in rehearsal and for band member auditions but I felt distinctly spooked when the first song they played was none other than No Particular Place To Go!!
Anyway, a truly memorable night and compensation indeed for having been deemed too young to go to the Out Of The Blue tour (in the same venue of course) three years previously.
I saw them the following night and only paid £7.50 !! And that doesn't even cover the 'booking fee' this time around! I'm sounding like an old git aren't I?
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Post by BSJ on Dec 2, 2015 19:57:10 GMT
$5.50 was the cost of my ticket in '76. Just picked them up at the local record store "The Head Shed". They kept the small stacks of tickets for ELO, and other bands, under the counter. Amazing.
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Post by wilko on Dec 4, 2015 0:37:46 GMT
I saw them the following night and only paid £7.50 !! And that doesn't even cover the 'booking fee' this time around! I'm sounding like an old git aren't I? Actually you don't sound like an old git soonerorlater - booking fees are my biggest bugbear about the modern music scene. Don't get me started or I'll go on all night!!
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