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Post by fourlittlediamonds on Apr 20, 2016 22:25:35 GMT
The last six months have been an amazing and almost unprecedented time for ELO fans that most of us never expected to see. Starting with the Hyde Park comeback and the subsequent hope that it might lead Jeff to return to the public eye, the resurgence of interest and then eventually came the new album, the TV and media appearances and finally the AITU tour, its been a dream come true. But all good things must come to an end and personally I have very mixed feelings about the Glastonbury gig. It'll no doubt be a great show but when Jeff walks off that stage that will essentially be it, (apart from the few US gigs in September that will round things off). Jeff will return to Bungalow Palace to resume work on his next projects, Mike Stevens and the band will move onto other work and all that will be left will be the memories of an amazing and special time in the history of this band and music we love so much and back to our record collections and memorabilia. The prospect of a concert film and maybe even a live album (?) is some compensation but I do (forlornly) wish it didn't have to end. Which is why I'm going to the Birmingham gig in June for (yes i admit ) one last hurrah and what I think will be a very special night in many ways. It's going to be a bittersweet time when it's all over but am grateful it happened and will make no apologies for being nostalgic and sentimental about it, long into the future. Let's just hope there will be "a next time" but if not it was a fitting way to wrap the story up, even if some bridges , sadly, couldn't be mended. I'm probably being pathetically overly sentimental, but the older you get, the more these experiences and memories seem to matter?
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Post by BSJ on Apr 20, 2016 23:32:37 GMT
You're upsetting me (and I'm sure other USA members) writing Jeff won't tour more of our country. Can you at least be hopeful and excited for us as we have been for you?
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Post by fourlittlediamonds on Apr 21, 2016 0:21:55 GMT
You're upsetting me (and I'm sure other USA members) writing Jeff won't tour more of our country. Can you at least be hopeful and excited for us as we have been for you? My apologies BSJ, that was thoughtless of me and I wouldn't dream of spoiling things for you all as I know it means as much to you as any fans. and deserve it no less. We've been very lucky here in the UK and it's easy to forget other fans who have the same hopes and expectations. I write from a purely personal point of view and from a UK perspective and I'm sure you can see what it's meant to fans over here. I really hope you get a wider tour and the chance see them live as we have had. But, if not, and you can get to Radio City or the Hollywood Bowl for those dates (easy for me to say I know) then do so as you won't regret it and you'll be part of a very select group and it really will be something to look forward to and remember. I'll keep my fingers crossed that JL realises that US fans also deserve a proper chance to see ELO and comes your way.
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Post by nickheynes on Apr 21, 2016 7:27:06 GMT
Flippin' Eck FLD I'm not going to the o2 till next week and you've got me feeling all melancholy already!!
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Post by soonerorlater on Apr 21, 2016 10:34:02 GMT
Those closest to me would almost certainly agree that I am generally cynical about life and more than a little negative about potentially positive outcomes but.....I have to say that I don't agree with the recurring theme across several threads that this is necessarily the fond and final farewell of a touring, Jeff Lynne-led ELO. Consider the case for the defence....
Back in 2012 Jeff enjoyed some perhaps unexpected success with the releases of the re-recorded Mr Blue Sky compilation and of course, Long Wave. There was a golden week when he occupied three places in the Top 10 UK album chart at the same time (the aforementioned albums plus the other compilation, All Over The World) but he expressed no desire to take to the road. A year later though, badgered by Chris Evans, he briefly appeared at the BBC Children In Need Rocks Concert and I think that a seed was sown. A bit more Chris Evans pressure/momentum followed and the 2014 Hyde Park appearance became a reality not, I would argue because he'd had some chart success but because he was beginning to understand and enjoy some genuine audience interaction and appreciation of that incredible songbook.
As we now know, things have snowballed from that point. Hyde Park led him to ditch (or at least mothball) some of the solo songs he was already working on in favour of a fully fledged (whatever that means!) ELO album, AITU. From there we have this tour which began as an ambitiously large endeavour from a UK point of view but has just kept on growing anyway. If he'd wanted to retire from the stage and say 'right, I've fulfilled my obligation to Chris Evans and Radio 2 and the people have seen me again', he would have surely called it quits after Hyde Park. In that light there was no need for him to launch into this year's tour at all!! I just think that he's reconnected with the live experience, is enjoying himself and will leave future plans open.
The argument that his band may not necessarily be free again when he would want them to be is frankly a non-starter. There are a lot of very competent musicians who support 'legacy' acts on the road and here is just another set of them. For Mike Stevens in 2016 read Marc Mann in 2001 or arguably Louis Clark before that - the play can stay the same but the actors will change. I really rate Mike Stevens but when I've seen him with 10cc he's at the back of the stage and it's Mick Wilson who takes the prominent lead in support of Graham Gouldman. It's what musicians of that calibre do.
I could not easily contemplate Glastonbury being Jeff's final UK performance because it's a rubbish way to go out, an artificially created fifty-something hippy love-in where it isn't anyone's specific audience and everyone wears wellies!!! We may not see a tour of this scale again but I certainly wouldn't dismiss the idea of something like a future British Summertime appearance in Hyde Park or a Coachella in California because I think, he just enjoys the connection in a way he probably never has before.
Call me naïve and overly optimistic if you will - very few have!!!!
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Post by fourlittlediamonds on Apr 21, 2016 12:28:21 GMT
Flippin' Eck FLD I'm not going to the o2 till next week and you've got me feeling all melancholy already!! Just starting the wake early following the inevitable comedown after the high of last Saturday.I blame it on a mid-life crisis and suddenly being overwhelmed with all this activity after 30 years of silence. Positive thoughts, though- this is the just the beginning, not the end, .....I hope!
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Post by orangefiltersky on Apr 21, 2016 12:38:20 GMT
I have high hopes for at least one more E.L.O. record in 2017 or 2018. I hope that Jeff Lynne will be on a high after this tour so that he will return to writing and recording new E.L.O. material. After this tour he cannot have a doubt how many people adore him and his music. And who knows, maybe he will do another bunch of shows then.
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Post by spike on Apr 21, 2016 17:04:28 GMT
Plus of course he has a manager in Craig Fruin or whatever his name is that is probably pushing Jeff gently to realise that the world appreciates him.
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Post by queenofthehours on Apr 21, 2016 18:40:16 GMT
I was trying to think of the word for the feeling I have and nickheynes has it: melancholy!
I've been feeling like that for the last week. Maybe I wouldn't be feeling it as much, if at all, if I hadn't been to see Jeff myself. Seeing him ignited every reason I had to love him and I just wanted to see and hear more of him! I suppose it made me greedy. He's already been more than generous to us, more than we had any hope to expect.
When the Mr Blue Sky documentary came out who'd have thought they would be experiencing this now? Who's to say what the future might hold? It took a magical and painful four years to get this far but it happened! Anything could happen now! Hand's up who'd have ever imagined Chris Evans and Take That's band to have had a helping hand in it all? In the ELO world no one can guess what will happen next. And one person who knows that is true is Jeff himself - would the boy from Shard End, idolising the Beatles and Roy Orbison, ever think he'd get to meet let alone make records for his heroes? We'll just have to hope, as we always have, and wait and see and trust in Jeff Lynne .
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Post by sparky123 on Apr 21, 2016 18:49:27 GMT
You're upsetting me (and I'm sure other USA members) writing Jeff won't tour more of our country. Can you at least be hopeful and excited for us as we have been for you? I hope you do get to see him. I know his Australian fans are begging him to go there by the numerous messages they are leaving on facebook and Jeff must know his concerts are going down a storm with everyone and every review has been positive, so fingers crossed he will add more dates.
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Post by jackpunch on Apr 21, 2016 18:53:33 GMT
We just need a nod from the great man that there will be more to come in the future. I dont think we'll get another big tour, and this is a big big tour in terms of music, lights, crowds but a new CD in 2017 and a few gigs might not be unrealistic. Have to say after the way this tour has been received by everyone it'll be a feeding frenzy trying to get tickets next time. Bring on a residency at the Albet Hall.
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Post by Chippa on Apr 21, 2016 19:31:45 GMT
Having been on various incarnations of this forum since 1999(RIP Prince), I can say that back then none of us ever really expected Jeff to tour again. We were happy with his all too rare public appearances and the fact that he'd release a new song now and then. The dry spells were very long, sometimes, but we still found something to talk-and sometimes argue-about.
This barrage of new music and concerts over the last few years has been glorious, and I'm loving every minute of it. What will he do after the tour ends? I suspect he'll take some time to breathe, and maybe come up with some new music for us to enjoy. But I honestly think this is the last we'll see him doing a major, extensive tour. And you know what? I'm ok with that.
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Post by unomusette on Apr 21, 2016 21:04:24 GMT
I'm optimistic, all this direct experience of the joy he can bring to a live audience, and have it reflected right back at him, has to be a reason to want to repeat the experience. Supporting musicians would queue up to be involved and there are plenty of performers even older than him who are still pulling off successful tours. Plus I'm sure he would want to play for fans in a wider range of countries, or even just more extensively in his adopted homeland. I can't think of many artists who could ask him to produce them who are tempting enough to rival the positive vibes he's been having lately on tour. So I reckon he'll be back in some form or other. In the meantime we can bask in the glow of his very welcome reappearance this year
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Post by BSJ on Apr 21, 2016 21:09:16 GMT
Thank you fourlittlediamonds. Others have written same, but you were the unlucky one I chose to pick on!
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