The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues
Apollo
September 14, 2010
The nostalgia tour rolls back into Manchester almost two years to the day since their last visit, with Sixties psychedelic poppers-turned-prog masterminds The Moody Blues once again taking this stage by storm with their golden oldies.
It might be seven years since the group’s last studio album, but the demand for this veteran trio is still as rabid as ever.
With recent successes of such prog-minded bands such as MGMT, Yeasayer, and others there are even a few fresh-faced youngsters who are curious to see one of the genre’s originators in action.
Unleashing the crowd pleasers early, the trio (expanded to a seven-piece for the stage) sound better and more enlivened than they have on previous visits, with guitarist/singer Justin Hayward even cracking a rare smile as he pulls off some impressive solos.
However, the spotlight truly belongs to bassist John Lodge, with silver bouffant hair and a sinister look in his eye uncommon among most 65-year-old gents.
Numbers such as Higher And Higher, Timezone, Voices In The Sky and, of course, the group’s signature tune, Nights In White Satin, coax early standing ovations from the adoring gathering.
Managing to perfectly recapture the spirit of those early recordings, the group rarely put a note wrong, even if at times original drummer Graeme Edge looks a bit lost.
A look at some of the group’s stage backdrop, of some truly hideous past album covers and at one point what looks to be footage from a colonoscopy, points to just one of the reasons why Seventies prog would become a much maligned genre and derided by punks’ first wave, but this core following don’t seem to care.
And with songs and performances like this one, who could argue.
TweetYou must be logged in to rate this event
Register Now or Login to rate this
Comments (5)
You need to be logged in to comment. Login | Register
The hired hands you mention are NOT. Gordon Marshall on drums is an amazing multi talented musician…
An hono…