sra@hocda.UUCP (S.ABBOT) (10/19/83)
Just saw The Moody Blues last night at the Centrum in Worcester. VERY IMPRESSIVE. I was really amazed at what they were able to do on stage. They started out with their new song "Sitting At The Wheel", which isn't really their style but makes a great opening song. At least they aren't getting too mellow with their old age. They did songs from almost every album, in most cases sounding as good or not better than the studio versions. Even the more mellow songs (such as "Blue World") were exciting to watch and listen to. The group doesn't go for all of the gimmicks that the other groups do, like jumping around the stage, blinding the audience with lasers, and generally distracting your attention. All in all, they are still very much together and still making good music. It was interesting to see the reactions to some of the songs. The first mega-hit they did was "Tuesday Afternoon" or "Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)" as it was originally called. Justin Hayward sang it exactly as he did 16 years ago, and they were even able to imitate the sound of the orchestra they used with keyboards. They also did "Nights In White Satin", which was unbelievable to see done live. The most popular song with the audience was "Legend Of A Mind" (remember "Timothy Leary's Dead"?) which almost brought down the house. I noticed the fourth voice missing in a few songs, especially "I'm Just A Singer In A Rock And Roll Band". Mike Pinder, the former keyboard player, left the group several years ago, and with him they lost one of their singers. Graeme Edge and Patrick Moraz do not sing. An interesting thing I noticed about the group - on stage, there is no real "leader" or dominant personality. Justin Hayward has historically been the leader (in a way) of the group, but on stage they just acted like a family. Each song would normally have one dominant musician, either Justin Hayward, John Lodge or Ray Thomas. Thomas is definitely the showman of the group - much more active than one would think by just looking at him. My observations on the members of the group: Justin Hayward - In the concert he played lead guitar, acoustic guitar and the mellotron (I believe - it was a small keyboard instrument). He isn't very active on stage but very good. He was interesting to watch as he wouldn't dance around, get excited or anything, but on some songs he would be making about half the music I was hearing and I hardly noticed he was doing everything. One thing I noticed about his guitar playing - he is not a "strummer" but a "picker". This is one of the reasons he appears to be so inactive, as he is making many different sounds with his guitar with no apparent motion. Another thing about him - he hasn't changed at all in 15 years! I have a film of him on video tape that was made in 1968 singing "Nights In White Satin". Even his stage style is the same. John Lodge - I would call him the "rocker" of the group. He played bass throughout most of the concert, except for the one song that Hayward played the keyboards. For that song Lodge played a two-necked guitar with a six-string guitar at the top and bass at the bottom. I noticed both Lodge and Hayward seem to have a great deal of respect for the other members of the group - if they weren't singing on a song they would step back near the amps out of the lights so that the audience could see who was singing (or playing if it was a keyboard solo). Ray Thomas - He is the most cosmic member of the group. I have often wondered what he did when he wasn't playing the flute - he plays the tambourine and generally livens up the atmosphere. The flute pieces he played were quite impressive, especially the extended solo in "Legend Of A Mind". He also did some mean harmonica playing in "Veteran Cosmic Rocker". Great stage personality. Graeme Edge - I was hoping he would do some of his poetry that has appeared on their albums over the years. The only piece of poetry they did was "Reflective Smile", the intro to "Veteran Cosmic Rocker", and that was done by Thomas. If anyone sees them on their tour, watch what he does when Thomas is doing "Reflective Smile". Edge is probably one of the better drummers around, not "massive" like Keith Moon, just very tight and artistic. Patrick Moraz - I now see why he is called the best keyboard player in the world. He had a room of keyboards - they were set up around him in about a 10 x 10 square. He also had a mini-Moog so he could bop around on stage. He was able to do all of the orchestral sounds and sound effects with style and grace. From what I understand, the Moodies is now his number one project. I read an interview with him and he said that he normally likes to have about 5 projects going at once, but he is reducing his load so he can spend more time with the group. This was the second night of their world tour. It would be interesting to see if they are still this good after a few months of touring. Scott Abbot Bell Labs, Merrimack Valley mvuxb!sa or hocda!sra
jwr@ccieng5.UUCP (James Walter Reid) (07/09/84)
I saw the Moody Blues live for the first time the other night.
Overall, I was disappointed.
I had heard that they were not a great live band, and that
there time was done, but I still felt that it would be a
good show.
They are not great musicians. Patrick Moraz (formerly of Yes)
is the only truly fine musician. Justin Hayward is a fair
guitarist, but the rest of the band leave a lot to be desired.
There greatest asset has always been their songs. Primarily
those of Justin Hayward. At the end of the concert I was
left wondering; why is Hayward still in the band ? All of his
songs ("The Question", "Story in your eyes", "Tuesday afternoon")
were very well done, but when the songs switched to those of Ray
Thomas and John Lodge, the moment was lost.
If Lodge could ever sing, he cannot any more. His only
song that succeded was "I'm just a singer in a rock and roll band".
Ray Thomas typifies that 'Moody Blues sound' more than anyone,
but all of his songs sounded the same after a while.
I feel that Moody Blues have exhauasted their musical resources.
Justin Hayward should pursue a solo career, which I feel would
succeed, and Patrick Moraz should seek a more challenging band.
Thomas, Lodge and drummer Graeme Edge should quit now, while
people still respect them.
Any comments would be appreciated.
--
James Walter Reid (ccieng5!jwr) marantz@null.DEC (Joshua Marantz DTN 225-4835) (07/12/84)
You may be interested in an album Patrick Moraz recently did with drummer Bill Bruford called "Music for Piano and Drum". It's difficult to find, but is in my opinion well worth the effort. Bruford is also a former Yes member, but is currently on tour with King Crimson so I don't know if he will tour with Moraz in the near future. The album is closer to jazz than Yes, the Moody Blues, or King Crimson, but anyone who enjoys those bands will probably also appreciate "Music for Piano and Drum". -Joshua D. Marantz DEC ENET: NULL::MARANTZ USENET: decvax!decwrl!rhea!null!marantz ARPANET: "decvax!decwrl!rhea!null!marantz"@berkeley
gmk@uicsl.UUCP (07/13/84)
#R:ccieng5:-49400:uicsl:20500001:000:1664 uicsl!gmk Jul 13 11:04:00 1984 I saw the Moodies once in 1981 (after the release of "Long Distance Voyager") and thought it was a very good show. I agree that Patrick Moraz's talents are being wasted in this group and would be overjoyed if he ever returned to YES. I do like the way he has transformed the Moodies sound, however. His lush keyboards and generous use of synthesizer (which the MBs had never used before) were responsible more than anything else for the brilliant sound of LDV. I'm somewhat disappointed in "The Present", though. It just doesn't seem to have the same magic. The remaining members of the band have never been great musicians but their strength has been in their songwriting, their arranging, and their diversity. They were one of the first bands to use a mellotron to achieve their famous orchestral sound and how many other "pop" bands have complemented their array of basic instruments with flute, harpsichord, sitar, and violin. The Moodies (sans Moraz) don't play any instrument with any virtuosity but they play a wide variety of different instruments. (There's a blurb on one of their early albums that they're the "world's smallest symphony orchestra" and, before YES came along, that was probably true.) Back to their live performance: I was most impressed with Ray Thomas. His flute solo on "Legend of a Mind" was incredible. I left that concert with a much greater respect for him as a musician. His songs in recent years have become more introspective, though, to the point of self-indulgent whining. Compare "Veteran Cosmic Rocker" and "Sorry" to his earlier masterpieces like "For My Lady" and "Nice to be Here". Gary Koob pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsg!gmk