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From: sra@hocda.UUCP (S.ABBOT)
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: Moody Blues Concert Review
Message-ID: <307@hocda.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 19-Oct-83 16:36:48 EDT
Article-I.D.: hocda.307
Posted: Wed Oct 19 16:36:48 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 20-Oct-83 22:10:59 EDT
Organization: Bell Labs, Holmdel
Lines: 88

Just saw The Moody Blues last night at the Centrum in Worcester.
VERY IMPRESSIVE.  I was really amazed at what they were able to do
on stage.  They started out with their new song "Sitting At The
Wheel", which isn't really their style but makes a great opening
song.  At least they aren't getting too mellow with their old age.
They did songs from almost every album, in most cases sounding as
good or not better than the studio versions.  Even the more mellow songs
(such as "Blue World") were exciting to watch and listen to.  The
group doesn't go for all of the gimmicks that the other groups do,
like jumping around the stage, blinding the audience with lasers,
and generally distracting your attention.  All in all, they are still
very much together and still making good music.

It was interesting to see the reactions to some of the songs.  The
first mega-hit they did was "Tuesday Afternoon" or "Forever Afternoon
(Tuesday?)" as it was originally called.  Justin Hayward sang it exactly
as he did 16 years ago, and they were even able to imitate the sound of
the orchestra they used with keyboards.  They also did "Nights In White
Satin", which was unbelievable to see done live.  The most popular song
with the audience was "Legend Of A Mind" (remember "Timothy Leary's
Dead"?) which almost brought down the house.  I noticed the fourth
voice missing in a few songs, especially "I'm Just A Singer In A Rock
And Roll Band".  Mike Pinder, the former keyboard player, left the
group several years ago, and with him they lost one of their singers.
Graeme Edge and Patrick Moraz do not sing.

An interesting thing I noticed about the group - on stage, there is
no real "leader" or dominant personality.  Justin Hayward has historically
been the leader (in a way) of the group, but on stage they just acted
like a family.  Each song would normally have one dominant musician,
either Justin Hayward, John Lodge or Ray Thomas.  Thomas is definitely
the showman of the group - much more active than one would think by
just looking at him.

My observations on the members of the group:

Justin Hayward - In the concert he played lead guitar, acoustic guitar
and the mellotron (I believe - it was a small keyboard instrument).
He isn't very active on stage but very good.  He was interesting to
watch as he wouldn't dance around, get excited or anything, but on
some songs he would be making about half the music I was hearing and
I hardly noticed he was doing everything.  One thing I noticed about
his guitar playing - he is not a "strummer" but a "picker".  This is
one of the reasons he appears to be so inactive, as he is making many
different sounds with his guitar with no apparent motion.  Another
thing about him - he hasn't changed at all in 15 years!  I have a film
of him on video tape that was made in 1968 singing "Nights In White
Satin".  Even his stage style is the same.

John Lodge - I would call him the "rocker" of the group.  He played
bass throughout most of the concert, except for the one song that Hayward
played the keyboards.  For that song Lodge played a two-necked guitar
with a six-string guitar at the top and bass at the bottom.  I noticed
both Lodge and Hayward seem to have a great deal of respect for the other
members of the group - if they weren't singing on a song they would step
back near the amps out of the lights so that the audience could see
who was singing (or playing if it was a keyboard solo).

Ray Thomas - He is the most cosmic member of the group.  I have often
wondered what he did when he wasn't playing the flute - he plays the
tambourine and generally livens up the atmosphere.  The flute pieces
he played were quite impressive, especially the extended solo in
"Legend Of A Mind".  He also did some mean harmonica playing in
"Veteran Cosmic Rocker".  Great stage personality.

Graeme Edge - I was hoping he would do some of his poetry that has
appeared on their albums over the years.  The only piece of poetry
they did was "Reflective Smile", the intro to "Veteran Cosmic Rocker",
and that was done by Thomas.  If anyone sees them on their tour, watch
what he does when Thomas is doing "Reflective Smile".  Edge is
probably one of the better drummers around, not "massive" like Keith
Moon, just very tight and artistic.

Patrick Moraz - I now see why he is called the best keyboard player
in the world.  He had a room of keyboards - they were set up around him
in about a 10 x 10 square.  He also had a mini-Moog so he could bop
around on stage.  He was able to do all of the orchestral sounds and
sound effects with style and grace.  From what I understand, the Moodies
is now his number one project.  I read an interview with him and he said
that he normally likes to have about 5 projects going at once, but he
is reducing his load so he can spend more time with the group.

This was the second night of their world tour.  It would be interesting
to see if they are still this good after a few months of touring.

					Scott Abbot
					Bell Labs, Merrimack Valley
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