Jeff Lynne /ELO Live Hyde Park 2014 Complete Show Streaming BBC Radio 2

You can hear Jeff's first ELO show since the Zoom TV tapings. Damn, I wish I could have been there.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04hcxht

 

SET LIST:

All Over the World
Evil Woman
Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
Showdown
Livin' Thing
Strange Magic
10538 Overture
Can't Get It Out of My Head
Sweet Talkin' Woman
Turn to Stone
Steppin' Out (Live debut)
Handle With Care (Traveling Wilburys cover)
Don't Bring Me Down
Rock 'n' Roll Is King
Telephone Line
Mr. Blue Sky
Encore: Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry cover)
======Note: Billed as Jeff Lynne's ELO with the BBC Concert Orchestra; ELO's first performance since 2001, and first with Richard Tandy since 1986 .

Arnie

 

They sound great. I hope that someday he comes to the US - there is no one that I would rather see live.

 

It will be available for streaming for 7 days according to the page.

 

No huge surprises in the setlist EXCEPT the fact that it's extremely heavy on earlier ELO:

A track from the debut
A track from #2
2 tracks from On the Third Day

And only four tracks, total, from after Out of the Blue: All Over the World, Handle With Care, Don't Bring Me Down, Rock N Roll is King.

Realistically, this is about as good a setlist as one could expect given the venue and the time constraints.

Jeff sounds good. Her has clearly lost some of his high end, and he either struggles with some of the higher notes or else finesses them by either sliding in/out of them or else moving down the scale instead of up. But nothing embarrassing...

 

All Over The World was a cool way to open - I was surprised about that.

 

I don't get the fact that it seems so many people hate ELO. They seem to be one of those bands that everyone says they hate, but probably secretly listen to. I love 'em; I love Xanadu as a 6 year old kid, and then I found the Discovery LP in my Dad's collection, so I was hooked.

 

And here's "Mr. Blue Sky" as performed earlier tonight:



Crappy direction, but MAN, that was a huge crowd and a terrific performance, and Jeff looks and sounds really good. It makes me sad that he hasn't toured for so may years. Maybe he'll go out now -- that'd be a great show to see at the Hollywood Bowl.

I think there were about 100,000 people in Hyde Park tonight who liked them.

 

Yeah, but there are at least 10 on Stevehoffman.tv who don't. That kind of thing keeps Jeff up at night.

 

Wow, totally caught off guard by this. Had no idea Lynn was even considering performing again. Looking at the clips, Lynn still sounds pretty good although I think he could do with better backing vox. The woman he had on the Zoom era lineup meshed with his vocals much better. Interesting there's nothing from anytthing later than 1983 in the set as well as no "Do Ya."

ELO was the first stadium show I ever saw back in 1978 at the Anaheim Stadium. At the time, I loved their music but the "Discovery" album really killed it for me (I have since gotten back into that album) although I continued buying the albums and did see them again during the "Time" tour at the Long Beach Arena in '81. I really looked forward to seeing (Lynn) when the Zoom tour was announced and bummed when it was abruptly cancelled due to poor ticket sales. If Lynn beefed up the set, I'd definitely see them again.

BTW to correct a comment above, Richard Tandy was part of the (aborted) Zoom tour lineup in 2001 and can be prominently seen in the live home video release.

 

great performance !

 

That was friggin awesome!

 

I'd be satisfied if Jeff Lynne were to do an acoustic tour, maybe just him and Richard Tandy. The BBC aired a terrific performance entitled "Live From Bungalow Palace," which showcased Lynne's vocal abilities and musicianship. The entire show was acoustic, but I enjoyed hearing the songs stripped down and without the sometimes overbearing "orchestra."

 

he played the wilbury's track pretty well!

 

Yep, Tandy was at the live performance I saw in 2001. Definitely not an arena rock show, but a well-organized outdoor family event. That was a full band affair, they played for a good 80 minutes give or take. The entire concert was professionally filmed, but has not been released yet because the production company has the recording. If it does get released, you will see me in the audience, around the front of the stage. The female singer you mentioned was talented, I believe she was dating Lynne at the time and stopped working with him when their relationship ended.

Guess how much I paid for my ticket? I think it was around $12-$15 dollars! General admission, a package deal where they have multiple bands performing each night. Lynne's ELO headlined that night, it was either a Saturday or a Friday, would have to check my diary. Basically, an outdoor family festival which books classic rock acts. I've seen Gin Blossoms, Three Dog Night, Gregg Rolie, Blue Oyster Cult, John Waite, Jerry Jeff Walker, The Knack, Percy Sledge, Cheap Trick, Paul Rodgers, The Romantics, Joan Jett and many more there as well. Some of the artists come out after the show and you get to meet them, buy autographs/merchandise, etc. ELO did not come out after the show, but The Knack and Eddie Money did.

There were several reasons why Jeff Lynne's Zoom tour failed. Lynne's ELO employed a large number of musicians and road crew, which made it very expensive for them to tour. Ticket presales did poorly and they were forced to cancel many concerts. Some might argue that Lynne's expectations were too high or unrealistic, but I believe the overall expenses were the deciding factor. Not to mention, ELO II were still touring and this created both confusion and controversy. Not to mention, some people were afraid to attend public events and concerts, due to the recent events of 9/11 at that time.

 

The great thing about last night was that the BBC not only gave us the radio broadcast, we also got the full show on the red button. Camera work was a bit dicey so I would think it will be re-edited before it gets a showing on one of the 4 main channels.

Was that really Take That's band backing him up?

 

Don't forget that Lynne's close friend George Harrison also got ill in 2001 and died in late November. I think between the lower-than-expected ticket sales, 9/11, and Harrison, that three-way punch threw them all for a loop and they "temporarily" shelved the plans for a U.S. tour.

If McCartney can find a way to tour with a limited band, ELO could also do it assuming they scaled back on the number of strings. I'd hate to see Jeff do it with all synths, but that would at least be an economical solution. What impressed me from the recent TV documentary and Sunday's performance is that his voice and guitar skill are still in great shape.

Man, I hate watching rock concerts where the director misses solos and vocals, cutting to the totally wrong camera angle at the wrong moment, and also not cutting on the beat. Maddening. If they recorded the whole show with isos, then they can certainly "fix it in post" later on.

I did notice that Jeff got no tight close-ups, plus he had a teleprompter at the front of the stage...

 

Absolutely Brilliant

How is Jeff Lynne not in the Hall of Fame?

 

His skills at baseball are quite limited....

Arnie

 

If Jeff had a teleprompter it must have been faulty, as he forgot the words several times during the set!

It was a great show, and amazing to watch the whole thing live on the BBC.

I await the usual debate about which bits were being performed live and which bits came "off tape"...

Robin.

 

which broke down during Evil Woman - The start of the last verse appears to be more mumbling than actual lyrics.

 

Yeah but you can tell that he was genuinely suprised by the fan reaction to the fast bridge. He seemed to smile and then was caught off-guard at the start of the final verse. A nice moment.

 

Don't know who else was in the band, but I do spy Mick Wilson from Graham Gouldman's 10cc on backing vocals and percussion...

 

Heard it on air yesterday. Jeff sounded exactly like he sounded in the 70s (except for some high notes in "Turn To Stone"). I thought it was a great concert. I even enjoyed "All Over The World" which is in my top-10 worst ELO songs; haven't softened towards the "Xanadu" version, but I think it can turn into a decent live number.

Good setlist, even though I was hoping we could hear "Last Train to London", "Do Ya" and "Mr. Radio" (yeah, I know, the last one is impossibile). Jeff sounded amazing and the audience clearly loved him and his performance. I hope this is not his last Jeff Lynne/ELO concert.

 

Satisfied?! Boy, that would be great. Won't happen, though. Jeff has never loved touring in the first place, and if he does it now, it'll be a victory lap affair, sort of like Hyde Park--which can either be seen as a way to remind people he's around while he prepares a new album (hopefully not more oldies remakes), or to pad the bank account.