| DOWN UNDER TOUR 2005
Sunday, April 10th Palais Theatre Melbourne On The Road With MaggieMay... It was lightly sprinkling when Angel and I hopped into a cab for our trip to the venue. The Palais Theatre is located in St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne. St Kilda’s fine beach had attracted Melbourne’s gold rich of that period but had eventually become a place of ill-repute. These days have seen an upsurgence in the area, particularly with the young people of Melbourne who pack its sidewalk cafes. I’d describe it as “enthusiastic Bohemian”. We had circled the theatre on Friday evening’s outing to Donavan’s and I was horrified when I first saw the venue.  The entrance was a large and evil clown-like face and the
place looked like some kind of amusement park. “No, no”, said our
cab driver. Oh, thank God! The theatre was the building next
door. We jumped out to a good crowd of concert-goers anxiously milling
around. A huge poster (at least 6’ x 15’) greeted us next to the
box office, proclaiming the appearance of The Moody Blues!
THE VENUE The Palais Theatre is very similar in design to the grand old Fox Theatres built in the 1920s all across the United States. Though not impressive on the outside, the inside is quite beautiful, old and ornate and in very good condition. One difference? The ladies restroom is titled the “cloakroom”. It’s good to know these things. I quickly glanced at the merchandise table: new tour tshirts, similar tourbook (guitar encircled with city names) with one BIG difference. They’re numbered! Apparently this is a limited edition. It was hard to get close enough to see the stuff – it had a big crowd. The large stage held the usual Moodies setup. The only thing I can mildly take exception with was the 8 foot deep unused orchestra pit between the stage and the front row. THE CONCERT The kick-off performance for The Moody Blues Down Under Tour 2005 was outstanding. I’ve never seen the energy on the stage that high! It was truly one of those once-in-a-lifetime concerts, and I thank God I was lucky enough to be there. The Setlist: Lovely to See You Tuesday Afternoon Lean on Me The Actor Slide Zone The Voice (replacing English Sunset) Talking Out of Turn I Know You’re Out There Somewhere The Story in Your Eyes (Interval) Forever Autumn Your Wildest Dreams Isn’t Life Strange The Other Side of Life December Snow Higher and Higher Are You Sitting Comfortably? I’m Just a Singer in a Rock ‘n Roll Band Nights in White Satin Question Ride My Seesaw The setlist was the same as that performed on The Moodies USA Winter Tour 2005 with two exceptions. The 80s hit The Voice was performed instead of 1999’s English Sunset, and as in the UK, Australia was graced with Jeff Wayne’s gem, Forever Autumn. A Moodies concert is always good. The vast majority of performances are great. Sometimes, not very often, the planets perfectly align and a concert reaches new heights. The Melbourne concert was one of those! What made this particular concert outstanding? It’s not unimportant that the venue was beautiful and the seating was good with clear views of the stage. I would characterize Melbourne with two words: Sound and Energy. Great sound and fantastic energy! I was sitting front row center and it is usually one of the worst places in the house for sound. (However, I have that well-known eyesight problem) I was astonished at the quality of the sound.  The Palais had a BIG sound without distortion
and it was perfectly, and I mean PERFECTLY balanced. The sound was
bell-like and clear - A caviar sound! The drums were incredibly powerful
and yet delicate harmonies were enhanced; each voice could be picked out
separately like layers in a parfait, Norda, Julie, and John’s voices caressing
Justin’s lead, each completely distinct but not overpowering, separate
but blended. The lead voice always remained in front. It was
perfect. Absolutely PERFECT! The sound was a complete joy and
a pleasure that seemed almost sinful. I really hate the thought of
hearing The Moodies anywhere else. Sigh...
Bernie Barlow’s replacement for the Australian tour, Julie Ragins, did an excellent job – I rather like her! Julie’s voice blends very well and she has a pleasant and subdued stage presence. She may have been nervous, but I didn’t think it showed! She was well-prepared and came off very professionally. Great job, Julie, and welcome! The concert started well, but I could sense a light aura of nervousness onstage. Justin’s voice seemed “tight” through the first two songs evidenced by both the quality of his vocals and the shortened sustained notes. Certainly the vocals were adequate, they weren’t stellar. John had a bit of time to warm up on backing vocals and his voice on Lean on Me sounded great. Justin’s nervousness faded away and was completely gone by the The Actor. It was a delicious treatment of that beautiful song. The Olson rang out clearly (again, a bell-like sound), and every delicate guitar note could be completely savored. Justin’s voice soared through the theatre with beauty and passion, and the harmony against it nearly made me weep. It was a thrilling performance. Slide Zone came off very well and was followed by a knock out rendition of The Voice. The Band ripped into it like there was no tomorrow! I have never heard that song sound better, even despite a minor bass problem at the ending. ; ) It’s a big song that was a joy to hear – I’ve really missed its absence from the setlist. The only thing that could have made me happier would be to have English Sunset too. They’re both great songs and both personal favorites. John’s vocals were just excellent in TOoT – among the best I’ve ever heard from him – a VERY fine job. IKYOTS was beautiful and sweetly plaintive. TSIYE got the first really big audience response. It wowed the crowd! I could hear coos of wonder and delight from the folks on my left as The Jays did the shuffle. It had a huge effect! The first half ended on a fantastic high note. I noticed Gordon crossing the stage to Julie’s keyboard after the intermission and I shivered with secret pleasure – ooooooh, we were going to get Forever Autumn, particularly appropriate since it’s fall here in Australia. Justin was MAJOR in to it and it was incredible. Six foot one, and every inch of it into that song. WOOHOO! Wow! What a beautiful rendition of Forever Autumn! It knocked your socks off and received uproarous applause from the Melbourne faithful. Justin did not walk off stage at the end. After graciously accepting his due, he busied himself preparing for the next song of the set while the backups took their usual places. Graeme Edge returned to the stage giving HIS applause for the song. It was a LOVELY gesture of acknowledgement of Justin’s performance by the founding member of The Moody Blues. Very, very classy! Those lucky Australians! Forever Autumn has yet to grace the stage on the American tours, much to the sadness of yearning fans. The second set of the evening was on fire! I have never seen the energy onstage at that height and it was sustained to the very last note of Seesaw. ILS received its usual thrilled response, and TOSOL was fantastic! I was surprised at the audience at the end of that particular song – there wasn’t nearly the response it deserved. I can only think that it is less known Down Under. Justin had pointed out earlier that the Moodies recent cds had not been released yet in Australia, and I assumed that was the Band’s logic in substituting The Voice for English Sunset. Despite that, December Snow fortunately stayed in the setlist and its performance was exquisite – wonderful RICH vocals and smoky work on the Gibson, a small (but noticeable) guitar flub not affecting the whole. H&H was very well done, as always; AYSC was vibrant. Singer was BIG in Melbourne, an incredibly exciting and effective performance deserving and receiving a huge audience response.  Ah, Nights! I can’t even imagine
how many times I’ve heard this song and that number is dwarfed by the number
of times it’s been performed world-wide. Melbourne saw one of, if
not THE, most incredible, MAGNIFICENT performances I have ever seen.
It was awesome. Spine-tingling! HUGE! It was so powerful
that it was almost frightening, as if you might die after hearing it.
The crowd was brought to their feet.
Great Question, but different. No one sang! I really like those performances, because they change the impact of the song. To hear Justin sing alone, accompanied only by his 12 string gives the song a quality of loneliness and a heightened intimacy. SeeSaw was great, alive and big and thrilling. I think the audience might have confused the Band, though I don’t know that. I have never seen a larger group of FANS. There weren’t very many people just there to enjoy an evening out – the people at the Palais were there on a sacred mission. If I heard once that it had been 18 years, I heard it a 100 times. It wasn’t an American style audience, but it wasn’t a UK one either! People didn’t get up, but there was plenty of fervent applause. They were thrilled to be there! I overheard a number of comments and these people were knowledgeable fans. I think most of them had been there 18 years ago! LOL It was emotional, and I think quite a few were almost weeping with joy at the experience. It was a thrill and an honor to be there and share it with them. My favorite comment of the night wasn’t one of the emotional ones. A fellow behind me as I left the theatre was going on and on about John Lodge, and said, “He must have taken voice-training since he was last here – his voice sounds SO much better – it was fantastic!” The fellow with him replied, “But what about that Justin Hayward’s voice? It’s MUCH better than last time too!” They got into quite an argument about WHO sounded better. LOL Of course, the last time they SAW The Moodies was 18 long years ago! I chuckled, but I had to silently agree. Their voices have improved and mellowed and are full and rich. They both sound the best they’ve ever sounded! I get to see them again in June! I’m sure I couldn’t wait 18 years. It’s WONDERFUL to be here in Australia! The people are so friendly, so warm and so mellow. They remind me alot of the people in the midwest, and I really feel at home. Thank you, Australia! MaggieMay It’s the way you really mean it, When you tell me what will be... |
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