Apart from the amazing Bootleg Beatles, I've never really felt the urge to go and see a tribute band. But partly because this lot sounded really rather good, partly because it was an excuse to meet up with some old friends and go along as a little gang, and partly because it would give me my first chance of seeing the spanking new Theatre Severn, I thought I'd give it a go.
Well, it was a success on all fronts. Mightily impressed with the smart, ideally-situated Theatre Severn. Mightily impressed with my old friends (still old, still friends). And mightily impressed with the ELO Experience.
My youngest son said they did get a bit Butlins at times (lots of arm-waving and clapping) which, I thought, was fair comment from the 16-year-old music critic dragged along there by his dad, but you could not fault the note-perfect renditions of Jeff Lynne's poptastic hits. I especially enjoyed Wild West Heroes and The Diary of Horace Wimp (two recently rediscovered ELO gems as far as I'm concerned), but the whole thing was great fun and made me want to dig out my ELO CDs again. You just can't beat a good tune.
The lads in the band (who are from Hull incidentally) clearly don't take themselves too seriously (how could they? - This is good-time rock 'n' roll meets irresistible melodies meets 1970s hairstyles). No. This is just escapist entertainment done with great style.
No comments:
Post a Comment