Current:Home > InvestIs there a better live sonic feast than Jeff Lynne's ELO? Not a chance. -Secure Growth Academy
Is there a better live sonic feast than Jeff Lynne's ELO? Not a chance.
View
Date:2025-04-19 15:09:43
WASHINGTON – Six years ago, Jeff Lynne delighted fans when he brought his Electric Light Orchestra to the U.S. for the first time in decades.
Never one to tiptoe out of his preferred studio confines with any regularity, Lynne nonetheless crafted an absolutely dazzling production stocked with gripping visuals (in a pre-Sphere world) and perhaps the most pristine sound ever heard at a rock show.
Guess who’s back and as aurally flawless as ever?
This Over and Out Tour – a believable farewell given his age (76) and the reality that he isn’t a road dog – is in the middle of its 31 dates and will wrap Oct. 26 in Los Angeles. At Capital One Arena in D.C. Wednesday, Lynne, still shaggy, sporting tinted glasses and mostly in supple voice, didn’t have much to say other than many humble acknowledgements of the crowd’s affection. But who needs to blather on when there is a brisk 90-minute set of lush ‘70s and ‘80s classics to administer?
More:The Eagles deploy pristine sound, dazzling visuals at Vegas Sphere kickoff concert: Review
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
ELO dropped a setlist that romped through '70s classics
Aside from the opening “One More Time” – obviously chosen for its literalness – from ELO’s 2019 album “From Out of Nowhere,” the sonic feast concentrated on the band’s ‘70s output, seesawing from Top 10 rock smashes (“Don’t Bring Me Down”) to deep cuts (“Showdown”).
Complementing these impeccably recreated gems was a slew of eye candy. Lasers and videos and spaceships (oh my) buttressed each offering in the 20-song set, with an animated witch morphing into a creepy eyeball (“Evil Woman”) and green lasers enveloping the arena like ribbons in the sky (“Telephone Line”).
Lynne’s band was loaded with familiar names from the previous tour, including the rich string section of Jessie Murphy (violin) and Amy Langley and Jess Cox (cello) and standout vocalists – really more than mere backup singers – Iain Hornal and Melanie Lewis-McDonald, who handled the heavy lifting on the giddy “Rockaria!”
One unexpected offering, “Believe Me Now,” was added to the setlist a couple of weeks ago. An instrumental album track from ELO’s 1977 mega-selling double album, “Out of the Blue,” the song, an intro to the equally moving "Steppin' Out," exhales chord changes so sumptuous, they’ll make your eyes water.
More:Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band still rock, quake and shake after 50 years
Jeff Lynne and ELO say goodbye with a smile
But that’s a feeling frequently evoked during the show, coupled with the joy of hearing these sculpted beauties one final time.
The crisp opening guitar riff of “Do Ya,” the disco-fied “Last Train to London,” the wistful dreamscape “Strange Magic,” all unfurled with precision, but not sterility.
A sea of phone lights held aloft accented “Can’t Get it Out of My Head,” a technological illumination replacing the lighters that reigned 50 years ago when the song was released.
But that all preceded the standout in a show stuffed with them – the musical masterpiece “Turn to Stone.” Between the rapid-fire vocal breakdown nailed by Hornal and Lewis-McDonald – which earned its own ovation – and the furious, frenetic build to a musical climax, the orchestral pop dazzler electrified the arena.
Close to the bliss of that corker was show closer “Mr. Blue Sky,” an anthem of optimism that still sounds like sunshine. Bassist Lee Pomeroy high-stepped through its Beatles-esque bouncy rhythm while Lynne and the band traded layered harmonies on the pop treasure.
It was as obvious a closer as “One More Time” was the opener, but really, how else could Lynne leave a multigenerational throng of fans other than with a smile?
veryGood! (288)
Related
- Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
- How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
- Average rate on 30
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- Trump issues order to ban transgender troops from serving openly in the military
- Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
- NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
Ranking
- 'Most Whopper
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- Federal Spending Freeze Could Have Widespread Impact on Environment, Emergency Management
- What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
Recommendation
Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
Travis Hunter, the 2
All That You Wanted to Know About She’s All That
Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst