T.O. crowd revels in The Moody Blues' rock relics http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/apr/12/to-crowd-revels-in-the-moody-blues-rock-relics/
By Bill Locey Sunday, April 12, 2009 Forty years ago, The Moody Blues' hippie trippy concert clientele saw not only blue but also red, orange, purple and all the other colors of the rainbow as perhaps half of the crowd would no doubt be psychedelically altered. Think a civilized Grateful Dead show where introspection has replaced dancing. It would probably be safe to say that there were zero trippers at the Moodys' Monday night gig at the big square thing by the freeway, the Civic Arts Plaza. While sedate has replaced surreal, the band sounded as good as ever from the get-go as the on-time show began with the ever-appropriate "Lovely to See You" and the crowd, obviously lifelong fans of the band, responded with a standing ovation, the first of many. After 45 years of all this wildly successful night job, three of the originals are still at it guitar player Justin Hayward, bass player John Lodge and drummer Graeme Edge. Flute player Ray Thomas retired a few years back and Mike Pinder and his replacement on keyboards, Patrick Moraz, are long gone. Ably backing the big three is another keyboard player, another drummer and two multi-instrumentalist women who helped those harmonies fill the room. Norda Mullen has taken Thomas' place as the flute player. Hayward and Lodge can both still sing and, with the expanded lineup, their symphonic songs of bliss and wonder were downright heavenly. As the bandmates sailed through relics of their remarkable repertoire, images from back in their psychedelic mod days were projected on the wall behind them. The Moody Blues started in the mid-'60s as another British blues band, got caught up in all the action in those silly '60s, got a new direction and released a series of incomparable rock albums that are philosophical, surreal, psychedelic, symphonic and fill in your own adjective. They were labeled art rock, progressive rock and maybe a bit pretentious to some; "Born to Be Wild" it was not. The band hit it big with its second album, "Days of Future Past," which had two of its signature biggies "Tuesday Afternoon," a song written by Hayward when he was still a teen, and "Nights in White Satin." When the band played "Tuesday Afternoon" on a Monday night, as the harmonies fairly floated to the heavens or at least to the roof of the venue, it gave a tingly taste of why music matters. The band played only nine songs, and then it was halftime, but they ended with a rocker, "The Story in Your Eyes," with an extended Hayward guitar solo, leaving zero doubt that this is a kick-ass outfit when the situation calls for unbridled raucous rock. The band took a 20-minute break, allowing for a chance to have a drink, maybe buy a shirt or chat. And nice touch at the break, as before the show, Moody Blues music was playing in the background. The big three changed shirts before returning for their second set, kicking things off with "My Wildest Dream." When Edge came down the stairs to recite his poetic intro to the mantra of groovy times past, "Higher and Higher," the gray-haired drummer noted that this song was "way back when my hair was darker than theirs." The song featured another terrific Hayward solo way longer than the album version. The first half ended with "Nights in White Satin," another song of uplift with more soaring harmonies as the Moodys went Jimmy Stewart on the joint, as Lodge said, "We wish you all a wonderful life." The Moody Blues is one of the great rock bands ever, but the boys can certainly hold their own with any of those other '60s British bands and, better yet, the Moodys still play, and play very well. Five or six of its albums, from "In Search of the Lost Chord" in 1967 to "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" in 1971, are some of the best albums of all time. Lofty lyrics, happening harmonies, impeccable musicianship The Moody Blues were and are a class act. Too bad more kids were not at the gig to see a slice of rock history and too bad more of the veteran fans don't go see new bands such as the upcoming TV On the Radio show to glimpse rock's future. Just because you stopped listening does not mean the musicians have stopped playing. -- E-mail music writer Bill Locey at [email protected]. . --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sixties-L" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sixties-l?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
