|
USA Summer Tour 2005 Tuesday, June 7th San Luis Obispo, CA On the Road With MaggieMay... THE SETLIST Lovely to See You Tuesday Afternoon Lean on Me (Tonight) The Actor Slide Zone The Voice Talking Out of Turn I Know You're Out There Somewhere The Story in Your Eyes Interval Your Wildest Dreams Isn't Life Strange The Other Side of Life December Snow Higher & Higher Are You Sitting Comfortably I'm Just a Singer in a Rock 'n Roll Band Nights in White Satin Question SeeSaw (ED: no concert photos tonight, so we'll go with scenery. Sigh) THE FASHION REPORT JH - Black long-slvd shirt, black jeans, 2nd half white striped long-slvd shirt, black slacks JL - White long-slvd Cossack shirt, blue jeans with embroidery on left knee GE - Black shirt with red car, black slacks, 2nd half Graeme Edge tshirt, black slacks Norda - Long black riding skirt with ruffle, tank-style top, black with flowers Bernie - NEW long, green halter style top, gold "Grecian" decorations, white slacks Paul - Dark patterned long-slvd shirt Gordon - 2nd half black short-slvd shirt, white slacks  John wore the fabulous new shirt premiered in New Zealand, It's white, silky "crinkled" material, long loose sleeves and is worn untucked, flowing slightly beneath his belt. The open neck is loosely pulled to with a tie of the same fabric. It's got a "Cossack" look to it, and is simply gorgeous. I heard numerous positive comments about the blue jeans; most of them probably shouldn't be repeated where children might read them. A fantastic stage outfit!Bernie's new top is very striking, very pretty. Justin's hair looks shorter this tour, though it's still nice and long in the back. It looks similar to how he wore it during the Strange Times period. If you liked that look, then you're in luck. It kinda freaked me to see Graeme wearing the new Graeme Tshirt - it's like seeing double! THE CONCERT The first night of The Moodies 2005 Summer Tour USA was a solid and quite respectable performance. The setlist (seen above) was the same as the Australia/NZ Tour with the exception of Forever Autumn. Hey, don't cry to me! Send your emails begging, pleading and complaining to, to...well, I don't know who you should send them to! Send them to: info@JustinHayward.com info@JohnLodge.com info@notachanceinhell.com Right now, I'd say that all three addresses will work about the same.  I always enjoy changes in the setlist - it's a good thing for me, giving me the chance to enjoy another Moodies song, and I strongly feel it's a good thing for The Band, too. Peps them up a bit, puts them on their toes and a spark back into their eyes. I'll admit I was Sad and Sorry when it dawned on me that English Sunset was *not* going to be put back into the setlist. This dawned at SeeSaw. Taking it out of the Down Under setlist had a perverted logic - it wasn't clear whether Strange Times had even been released there. It's a great song, has a lot of energy and is very effective (plus it's a favorite of mine). I love The Voice. Shrug I think English Sunset adds some balance to the setlist - there's no representation for Strange Times at all now. Sigh December Snow is the SOLE "new" song and the setlist has a slight 80s list.  Without question, the HIGHLIGHT of the evening, the element that provided an incredible sense of excitement and changed the entire show is the new light show, the creation of The Moodies lighting designer and genius, Mick Thornton. WOW! It is FANTASTIC! I couldn't stop looking up at it. Each song has been separately programmed and is unique. It's almost beyond description, in fact each song would have to be described separately - no two are alike. In general, Mick has used a combination of photo stills and moving fractal-type art. Almost each song includes the image of the LP cover that it was taken from and I have to say, it is a thrill to see Keys of the Kingdom and the other LPs on the 18ft by 20ft screen. My favorite light show is not my favorite song. It's Your Wildest Dreams. Mick has a number of old photos of a young and upcoming rock 'n roll band and the effect is PERFECT for the song. You feel a kind of sweet sadness, like looking at an old family photo album and seeing pictures of yourself and your siblings as kids. The photos are fantastic and GREAT fun too. I will admit, I almost fell off my chair when I looked up and saw Mike Pinder's WEDDING PHOTO up on the screen, Mike and his bride smiling and surrounded by the rest of the guys. How cool is that! It's more than a light show, it's a celebration of The Moody Blues - it honors their history, their achievements and successes and like TMB themselves is INCREDIBLY entertaining.  I think I even saw um...what's his name there. Played keyboards in the 80s. Darn! I just can't quite remember.It is absolutely BRILLIANT! It knocked me out and is the only reason a fan needs to make a concert this summer. I'd have to see it 20 times to really appreciate it. Guess I need to rethink my OWN summer tour schedule! My other favorite was Mick's treatment of Question. I can not imagine how he did this, but the album graphics are somehow folded and morphed into a kind of wormhole effect. You twist and turn on a wild ride and the walls of the tunnel are from that fabulous LP cover (God over a beach). I also loved the use of the various Moody Blue logos (some flying) during SeeSaw - GREAT effect. This may be the biggest thing to impact The Moody Blues in the last decade as a touring band. The concert itself? One big lyrics flub during Slide Zone. Shrug I loved it! I can't remember any lyrics either - worse, I CHANGE them ala Opus the penguin in Berke Breathed's comic strip Bloom County, in his memorable rendition of The Police's "Every Breath You Take": Every breath you take, Every cow you steak, Every goat you shake, Every snort you make - I'll be watching you! John looked guilty, gave a very cute grin and went on. I know every woman in the audience smiled (thinking "How aDORable!"). Sometimes you win by losing.  The show was darn near perfect, very nicely done, still showing the polish from the recent Australia/New Zealand tour. No fascinating stories from the past, no touring vans driven across the Bering Strait, no uniformed men offering joints to poor innocent rock 'n roll stars. I don't pick my seat for the sound (I beg for them on the street from kind passersby) and I give up sound perfection to sit where I can see, as I'm very old and my eyesight is poor. Having said that, the sound was ok, but it wasn't LOUD enough. Not only did I not need my earplugs, I coulda used a bit more. TURN UP THE VOLUME! What I heard was nicely balanced, clear vocals, nice guitars, a little too much drums. Nice flute, nice backing vocals. All in all I can't complain. We had a front fill speaker in front of us - didn't hear a lot from it. What we heard almost entirely came off the stage. Justin sounded good, but I noticed he cut off his sustained notes. If you would sing the complete score of Aida EVERY day when you're off, you'll be in perfect shape for the first night of a tour. I highly recommend it! Great audience - lots of appreciative applause, lot of positive calling out (as opposed to catcalls), numerous "woohoos" and no fights. I don't like fights at a concert. Not a LOT of standing, but apparent tolerance for those that felt compelled. Just a nice fun audience at a nice venue. There were quite a number of fans and it was great to see them. Finally, there's one thing left to say: WELCOME BACK BERNIE! MaggieMay I've left behind the empty streets, That once inspired my life... |
|
NEXT |
