| UK Fall Tour 2004
London, UK The Royal Albert Hall Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday Oct 4th, 5th, and 6th, 2004 I couldn’t wait to get out of Nottingham! Not that I don’t like that area of the UK, and Nottingham itself is all right. I was manically desperate to get out of our tiny hotel room. Ah, those quirky little English hotels! While our digs in Newcastle were spacious and lovely, our room in Notts was a broom closet. It didn’t seem worth the effort to move to another when you’re going to spend 8 hours sleeping there, or so I thought. We should have moved. The window didn’t open and there was no air movement at all. In the dark, I could FEEL the walls of the small room moving closer and closer, while the air was being sucked out. While I did finally fall asleep, I woke Sunday morning feeling like an elephant in an animal cracker box. The bathroom was about the same size as the bedroom but with twice the area to move around in. I shoulda slept in there! I showered and dressed in record time, grabbed my purse and leaped over my suitcase to reach the door. Darling Hubby joined me not too long after with the same claustrophobic look in his eyes. After a few cups of coffee in the lounge we were feeling more like ourselves again. They make a fine latte at the Hilton and carefully serve it so that you can admire the layers. Ian arrived with the van, and  The
Girls came down soon after. I hated to return to our room to collect
my bags and re-experience what was hardly more than a prison cell.
I asked DH to say a few words about it, and he turned to me, laughed sickly
and said the thought of it left him speechless. LOL
I finished my last latte and picked up my bags and skipped out to the van, but noticed a clock tower that needed to be remembered. It would only take a moment to pull my camera out of my back bag...uh oh. No purse! Sigh I dumped the bags from my shoulders and trucked back into the Hilton lounge. One of the young people we had invited to join us at our table had my bag against his knee, watching it for me. God bless his little heart! I tried to act very casual when I returned to the van, but my lurch into the hotel had not missed DH’s eagle eye. He gave me one of those fine husband glares while shaking his head in disgust. I tried to look properly remorseful. It was a nice drive south on the M1 on a lovely Sunday afternoon. Ian’s girlfriend had joined us on this trip (so that Ian wouldn’t have to drive back to Notts alone) and she usurped my front row seat leaving me to  pick
my way through the incredible number of large suitcases being laboriously
loaded into the rear of the van. Kate had joined us for this leg
and we had a *tad* more luggage. I wedged myself into one of the
back seats, put up my feet on someone’s large suitcase and settled in for
a kip. The conversation around me was lively and it took a long time
to fall asleep. I had finally managed it when some nutcase in the
van called out: There’s STONEHENGE!!! Now, *I* have a UK map
in my bag and had studied our route. If Darling Hubby could see Stonehenge
then we were WAY the heck out of our way. I opened my eyes and saw
not Stonehenge, but a huge nuclear power plant. Yes, it was reminiscent
of Stonehenge, albeit in a disturbing way. DH has a worrisome sense
of humor.
I was wide awake now – there was no return to naptime. Sigh I didn’t feel up to intelligent conversation and tried to hypnotize myself by watching traffic. It didn’t work. Just when I was feeling twitchy, Ian pulled into the Moto. The Moto is similar to the rest area plazas found on the PA Turnpike. I LOVE looking through the plaza and petrol station stores, finding all kinds of different waters, colas, crisps and snacks. Catsup crisps (potato chips) – I don’t even want to know how they are! My principal source of sustenance on tour are the sandwiches sold in such places and it’s always fun to check out the English varieties – the ploughman, cheese and onion, prawn cocktail, ham salad and my personal favorite – egg mayo and cress on brown bread. “Egg mayo” is the equivalent to egg salad in The States, but if you purchase ham salad, you’ll be quite surprised. It’s ham with “salad” on it! I stood outside the van (conveniently marked with ambulance plates) and viewed the gas station signs with amusement. I hadn’t seen 88.9 for gasoline in a LONG time! However, the UK signs refer to liters; it’s the equivalent of 3.60 a gallon. And that’s in POUNDS! ACK! With gas about $2.00 when I left Indiana it was an uncomfortable reminder of how bad things could and probably will get. Ian and his girlfriend came back to the van and chatted amiably, standing with me in a light drizzle. The girlfriend smiled and said, “At least we have nice weather!” I looked up at the overcast sky, shivered in the cold and the drizzle, and inanely smiled back, saying “oh yes”, while thinking ‘WHAT are you talking about?’ LOL  Ian
had told me that we were pretty close to London, but it became obvious
that we weren’t going to be arriving at our hotel for some time.
The moment we got off the highway, we were in Manhattan style rush hour
traffic – move a few feet and stop, move a few feet and stop again.
Aaaaaargh! Gabe started eyeing our luggage and I knew he was thinking
about jumping out and making a run for it. The only thing that kept
him from it was the complete mystery of the location of our hotel.
Knowledge is power and I keep everything I know to myself. After
all, he can’t very well stray from my side if he doesn’t know where we’re
going, right? Heheheh Less disappearing husbands that way.
It took forever to get to our hotel. I can’t imagine what all those
people and cars were doing on a Sunday afternoon in Kensington! Is
it like that EVERY Sunday?
We finally arrived at my favorite hotel in London and Ian pleasantly put us out at curbside where we were taken under the doorman’s wing and gently ushered in. Something else was waiting curbside too! Red had just arrived to join us for some London fun. I weakly waved goodbye to Angel, Little Star and Kate, looked at the well-rested and ready-to-party Red and thought: I NEED COFFEE! Red and DH (surprisingly peppy, which I thought was pretty disgusting) chatted as I went to perform the official check-in duties. English was not the first language of the desk clerk. I don’t think it qualified as a second language, either. Sigh We exchanged several perplexed looks as each of us struggled to understand the other. I’m not sure she had ever heard American English with a Midwest accent. I handed over a credit card and received room keys in exchange and made my familiar way to the lift. Darling Hubby and Red were deep in conversation with Graeme and Amanda, who both greeted me by taking a step back and saying “Don’t come NEAR me!” They were SICK. This was not good news! It was not a surprise when they soberly said that The Moodies lead singer/guitarist was very sick. The sniffles had been a sign. We wished them a pleasant evening and got away from those two sickies as quickly as we could. After dumping our baggage we made our way down to the upstairs bar and spent a quiet evening with drinks, coffee and conversation. Life is good! Monday was spent resting. Coffee was the ONLY business that need to be attended to and we did it with gusto. The day passed pleasantly until it was time to hit the concert trail once again. Though I had an extra ticket, Red sweetly declined. Hubby and I sat out on our short walk which ended in the most magnificent venue I’ve had the good fortune to visit: The Royal Albert Hall.  THE
VENUE
The Royal Albert Hall (fondly referred to as the RAH by Moody Blues fans) presented its first concert in 1871 and has seen 150,000 performances in its auditorium. A visit to their website provides a brief background of its history and restoration and a timeline highlighting the memorable and unusual performances that have been held there. Sumo wrestling was a surprise! The RAH seats over 5000 and has one of the worst seating charts I’ve ever seen. It is the only venue in the world (to my knowledge) whose website has a section devoted to “Hall Etiquette.” Only in England! The RAH is an amazing place! The garish gold statue of Prince Albert (dead of typhoid at the age of 42) eternally watches over the RAH from Hyde Park across Kensington Gore.  Although
Queen Victoria said on viewing the Hall that “It looks like the British
Constitution”, most people agree that it looks remarkably like a wedding
cake. It’s big, it’s ornate, it’s ROUND.
I’ve been to, well...a number of Moody Blues concerts both in the States and the UK and I can say that the Royal Albert Hall is unique in many ways, both large and small. It’s certainly not the largest venue I’ve been to, but it is the most imposing. The notes on the RAH website state that it is a symbol of Britain’s political and cultural power at that time, and it has an aura of grandeur still today. One of its peculiarities is the entrance. Rather than a single entry, a number of marked doors provide ingress. The RAH has a great deal of flexibility and is heavily used with an average of 300 plus performances a year and an attendance topping 1 million. I noted my favorite opera, Carmen is listed to be performed there in the round. This was my third chance to see The Moody Blues at the RAH, having attended both the 2000 and 2002 performances there. Some things were different, and some things remained the same.  The
basic end-stage setup for The Moodies was the same as in 2000 and 2002,
with the stage placed at one end of the auditorium. What was different
from 2000 and 2002? No orchestra! This fact determined
a slight change in arena seating. The 1st and 2nd rows had been removed
from the center arena sections for the 2000 and 2002 tours and were left
in for the 2004 performances. Seating for the RAH is divided into
3 basic areas: The Arena (floor), The Stalls (sides circling The
Arena) and The Balconies. Bars are available in the rings surrounding
the Hall.
One thing proved to be pretty much the same: it is very difficult to get good seats for The RAH! Some things never change. THE FASHION REPORT for Monday, Oct 6th JH – Sheet shirt, black jeans, studded boots, 2nd half white long-slvd shirt with chest embroidery and “wine spots”, black slacks, shoes JL – White long-slvd “bib” shirt, black jeans with leather back pockets, boots, 2nd half black shirt with ruffle GE – Black shirt with blue car, black slacks, 2nd half NEW Rhinestone Cowboy shirt GM – Black shirt, white pants Paul – White oxford shirt, black slacks Graeme’s new white, long-slvd shirt has a bib with a checked design. Rhinestones were definitely glinting in the light, or was that just his natural charisma? : ) The Girls were on the other side of the stage from me and I didn’t catch their stage wear.  THE
FASHION REPORT for Tuesday, Oct 5th
JH – White long-slvd oxford shirt with blue stripes, black jeans, shoes, 2nd half NEW western style shirt with snaps, 1 flap pocket on left breast, white with small blue dots JL – White long-slvd “bib” shirt, black jeans with leather back pockets, boots, 2nd half black long-slvd shirt with ruffle GE – Black shirt with blue car, black slacks, 2nd half Rhinestone Cowboy shirt Bernie – black halter top, black skirt Norda – Fringe dress (black sheath with spaghetti straps, 2 cape-like layers, smoky green with fringe) THE FASHION REPORT for Wednesday, Oct 6th GE – Black shirt with red car, black slacks, 2nd half Rhinestone Cowboy shirt JH – White long-slvd oxford shirt with blue stripes, black pants, 2nd half White long-slvd shirt with vertical rows of embroidery on the chest and “wine spots” JL – White long-slvd “bib” shirt, black jeans with leather pockets, boots, 2nd half Black long-slvd shirt with pleats and ruffle Norda – Black bustier with straps and white flower design, brown/black broomstick skirt and wide belt. Bernie – Black jacket, black keyhole/halter top, black skirt THE CONCERT The venue for Oct 4th, 5th and 6th was the same, the band was the same, the setlist was the same and for the most part, the concert was the same.  The
2004 UK Tour setlist was played each night in its entirety with a 20 minute
intermission.
What was different? There was one thing that definitely caught my attention. It was the Master of Ceremonies at center stage! Justin was in the mood to *share* at the Royal Albert Hall. I don’t recall any concert (or sets of concerts) where I got see as much of... The Other Side of Justin Hayward! Monday night (as I remember it and my memory is not what it USED to be!) – Introduction to English Sunset: We’re riding on a bus. It’s a nice bus! Drafty though. I caught a cold on it somewhere between Glasgow and Newcastle. I found out this afternoon that I can yodel! Please forgive me if I hit some blue notes or brown notes. We’ve had a couple of new albums in the last few years. Not that anyone noticed! Introduction to Voices in the Sky: ...We bought a long-wheelbase transit van. (A petite lady on the front row calls out “It was white!”) It was a WHITE long-wheelbase transit van. The salesman told us it was the first one in the UK. I remember clouds of blue smoke. We got into some trouble and had a good time.  Tuesday
night provided more about the transit van – We brought
it back to the salesman a couple of years later with 250,000 miles on it.
Wednesday night, Justin hit his peak in stand-up entertainment. While I have to rely pretty much on memory for Monday and Tuesday night (Darling Hubby doesn’t remember jack), I have the complete transcript of Wednesday night. It just arrived one day in the mail! Curious, I know. Justin’s intro to English Sunset: Thank you very much! Lovely to see you all and welcome. You know, we’ve had a couple of new albums out in the last few years. Last year we had an album called December and before that, we had an album called Strange Times. We’d like to do a song from our Strange Times album now. This is the opening track from the album – it’s called English Sunset. (Justin looks down at the fellow sitting next to me on the front row) Nothing to do with Football! John’s intro (standard) to Talking Out of Turn: Thank you very much! We recorded an album called Long Distance Voyager, and this is a song from that album, and it’s every time you said something and a few seconds later, you think, why did I say that? It’s called Talking Out of Turn. I think of TOoT as the quintessential HUSBAND song! TOoT was followed by the intro highlight of the evening – Justin’s lengthy and very funny talk before Voices in the Sky:  Well,
here we are again touring England. The United Kingdom – I beg your pardon.
On a bus. It’s quite a nice bus! A bit drafty, but it’s all
right, going down the motorway. I picked up the rottenest little
cough and cold somewhere between Glasgow and Newcastle. So, I inadvertently
done without...(something, something) for the last couple of days...
This last bit was ENTIRELY unintelligible. That makes an odd kind of sense, because I *believe* Justin was saying that he was taking um, strong medicine (obviously VERY strong medicine) for his cold. I think he was lucky to even know where he was! Which would be quite nice (the medicine) intentionally drunk as a party drink. (pause) I’ve got it under control. Thinks MaggieMay: REALLY? Um, no...I don’t THINK so! But um...anyway, we’re on a bus and the other night we were coming back from Nottingham down the M1 and it just really took me back to the days when we used to spend our lives...we had a white Ford transit van. 
(Justin looks over at John – John is smiling and looking incredulous)
I think it was the first, the salesman told us it was the first long-wheelbase
transit van. Graeme: They never lie! Justin: No!
We gave it back to him with about 500,000 miles on it. We spent a
few years in that van. It was fantastic! We had some great
times, a lot of naughtiness and some hysterical laughter. Some great
ideas and great sort of mind-expanding “stuff”. Fantastic!
And really through those times, it was the titles of the albums that were
starting up, from our first album Days of Future Passed, Threshold
of a Dream, to Our Children’s Children’s Children. The titles were
evocative! John and Graeme were always thinking of those titles
and they always turned me on. But my favorite really was our second
album; it was on us to deliver on our second album, ‘cause after NIGHTS
and all that good stuff. Our second album was called In Search of
the Lost Chord. This is a song from it called Voices in the Sky.
WHAT? The Moodies took DRUGS in the 60s? Well, I’m shocked. After the interval, Justin came onstage to perform Forever Autumn. He said: Thank you very much! It gets shorter every time (referring to the break or to the walk to center stage.) Not for you! For me. You’re not HERE every night. (Loud protestations from the audience) Oh that’s right! Some of you are, I guess. You’ve been to more than *I* have actually! You know, in the late 70s, I was really lucky to be a part of an album on CBS. It was called War of the Worlds. Paul, Gordon and myself would like to do a song from that album now. It’s called Forever Autumn. Forever Autumn was VERY nice. I can’t imagine attempting it with a cold. Justin takes a break to tune Big Red after TOSOL, saying afterward, “It makes me feel happier you know, makes me feel better”. He goes on to introduce December Snow: We had an album out last year, it was called December. We’d like to do one of the new songs for you in the show tonight. It’s called December Snow. The end of December Snow saw Mr Edge make his way down to his mike at the front of the stage:  Good
Evening! That was the, I think, exquisite December Snow from an album
we released about a year ago. Now we’re going to do something that
we released about three decades ago. Way, way back when my hair was
brown and my teeth were white. But those were good days and those
of you who are old enough to remember, were probably there with me about
4am, I think it was in England, watching as Neil Armstrong made that small
step for all of us. It inspired me at the time to write a, well they
used to be called poems. I think they’re called rap songs now, for
an album we called To Our Children’s Children’s Children. This is
a track called Higher and Higher. ONE TWO THREE FOUR!
Higher and Higher had a little EXTRA excitement when Graeme inadvertently stumbled over Justin’s foot control box at the beginning of the song. He kept on his feet and looked down at it as if wondering where it had come from. Graeme got back to the music, but almost immediately cracked up. Graeme’s drum solo saw Justin bend down to pick up a piece of his box that had broken off and lay it carefully on his amp. EEEK! After H&H, Justin spoke with the guitar tech, John B, and then had SEVERAL things, with a lot of hand motions, to say to Mr Edge. Justin was smiling and laughing, but came up to the mike and excitedly said: It came flying off across the stage, that’s what! It must have been (Justin points down at his box) from MY SWITCHES!!! There’s the tour profit gone. AYSC went without injury to performer or equipment. At the end, Justin introduced Norda Mullen and THEN introduced Bernie Barlow. Bernie’s introduction is new this tour and has been consistently done. All four backups now receive name mention during the concert. John tied up the evening with his usual speech before Question: We’ve just done three nights in probably one of the most beautiful venues in the world. On behalf of The Moody Blues, thank you very much! To everyone that joined us at the beginning of our musical journey through our lives, to everyone who joined us on that journey and ‘course, to everyone here tonight, from  The Moody
Blues, thank you for keeping the faith! From us, have a wonderful
life, and until we do see you again, take care, keep smiling...
QUESTION! All three Royal Albert Hall concerts were VERY good. Despite Justin’s illness, the performances, or more specifically HIS performances were excellent. If he hadn’t announced he was sick, I’d say most attendees wouldn’t have realized it. There was very little sniffing or coughing on stage, though Justin’s nose glistened at times like Rudoph’s on Christmas Eve. Sustained notes were not held as long and his voice sounded “gravelly” on NIGHTS. I actually kinda LIKED it! LOL One thing was certainly true at the RAH. Though ill (or perhaps BECAUSE he was ill) the Moodies lead singer was in a VERY good mood and was unusually talkative. Hey, it was great! I love hearing about the early days of The Band. Whatever Justin’s taking, I hope he’ll save a bottle or two for the next USA tour! MaggieMay Blasting, billowing, bursting forth, With the power of ten billion butterfly sneezes Photos by Maggie and Gabe |
|
Cobham |
