The Jubilee Line was a complete mess all weekend, what with scheduled closures, two train failures and signalling problems at either end of the line. Happily it behaved itself long enough to get us to and from the O2 Arena at Greenwich North, though it did take longer than it should.
On the way home we were treated to a couple of late middle aged Moodies groupies talking about the gig. They managed to sound very much like Mrs Premise and Mrs Conclusion from the Monty Python sketch (“Ooh, Morning, Mrs Cutout…”). The one particularly clearly loves both the Moody Blues and the O2: “oh, we’ve got to wait another two years before they come around again. They’re off to Amsterdam, now and then the rest of Europe. We saw them a couple of years ago and I first saw them ages back. Ooh yes, very good. John Lodge has kept his hair nice hasn’t he, though Justin’s seems to be getting a bit thin. Graeme was looking well considering he’s just turned 69. Mind you, Justin must be getting on a bit too…”
A good gig, but not a great gig; I’m glad I went and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Even I heard a few bum notes and in a couple of places the voices couldn’t quite hit the notes they once did. Most of the time they handled it professionally with key changes and a different playing speed. In other places the two excellent young female musician/singers they had with them had their vocals raised in the mix to disguise the leads. Even so, a couple of times…
Given that there were no new songs on the set, I thought that they could have played a few more of their big numbers, but maybe if I were a greater Moodies fan, I would have appreciated the stroll around some of the more obscure corners of their repertoire. We did get Ride My See Saw, Isn’t it Strange andNights in White Satin - there would probably have been a riot if we hadn’t, though it would have been better if they had cut Graeme Edge’s spoken, fifth form poetry intro.
Speaking of Graeme Edge, most of the time he was quite happy behind his drum kit, hammering away. There is a second drummer with the band these days, but they worked together well enough and Edge appeared quite capable of covering the numbers without help. The pair of them were even juggling drum sticks at each other at one point. In the second half, Edge broke free a couple of times and went walkabout on stage. Apart from the spoken intro to Nights, the band also performed Higher, one of his tracks where he recites a poem inspired by the 1969 moon landings. It was a bit embarrassing, that bit. It was as if he’d walked on thinking “I’ll have a nice cup of tea, two sugars, please and I think I’ll play a bit of drums while I’m waiting” and someone had laced the tea with very strong whisky. I guess though, with the rest of the set alternating Hayward and Lodge songs, the band felt, a bit like the Beatles did with Ringo, that he ought to have a go.
Over all, I think a solid 3 stars out of 5. Not spectacular, but solid and I am very glad I saw them, but rather wish I’d seen them twenty years ago. Or maybe I don’t. If I had, I may have appreciated this gig less. An enjoyable and surprisingly loud performance, workman like but low on flair. Not tired, but happy to rest on past glories, I think.
One thing to note was the large number of people in their late teens and twenties attending, together with older people who would remember the band in its heyday. I always like that; it gives me hope that there are still enough people who don’t simply assume that music has to be in the current charts to make it worthwhile.
I wish they had played Go Now, but I suppose that it’s no surprise they left it out of the set. Everyone likes to pretend that Denny Laine was never part of the band for some reason. I must check Wikipedia to see if I can find a reason…
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