Current:Home > FinanceIs there a better live sonic feast than Jeff Lynne's ELO? Not a chance. -Secure Horizon Growth
Is there a better live sonic feast than Jeff Lynne's ELO? Not a chance.
View
Date:2025-04-14 06:59:53
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! (75)
Related
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- Transcript: Rep. Mike Turner on Face the Nation, June 25, 2023
- Cost of Coal: Electric Bills Skyrocket in Appalachia as Region’s Economy Collapses
- Khloe Kardashian Captures Adorable Sibling Moment Between True and Tatum Thompson
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Will a Greener World Be Fairer, Too?
- 8 Black Lung Indictments Allege Coal Mine Managers Lied About Health Safety
- FDA approves Opill, the first daily birth control pill without a prescription
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- Offset and His 3 Sons Own the Red Carpet In Coordinating Looks
Ranking
- Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
- Megan Thee Stallion and Soccer Star Romelu Lukaku Spark Romance Rumors With Sweetest PDA
- A year after victory in Dobbs decision, anti-abortion activists still in fight mode
- The Largest Arctic Science Expedition in History Finds Itself on Increasingly Thin Ice
- Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
- As Solar and Wind Prices Fall, Coal’s Future is Fading Fast, BNEF Says
- New Study Shows Global Warming Increasing Frequency of the Most-Destructive Tropical Storms
- Plastic is suffocating coral reefs — and it's not just bottles and bags
Recommendation
Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
Get $150 Worth of Clean Beauty Products for Just $36: Peter Thomas Roth, Elemis, Osea, and More
In Michigan, Dams Plus Climate Change Equals a Disastrous Mix
Politicians want cop crackdowns on drug dealers. Experts say tough tactics cost lives
$73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
Orlando Bloom's Shirtless Style Leaves Katy Perry Walking on Air
BMW Tests Electric Cars as Power Grid Stabilizers
A Bipartisan Climate Policy? It Could Happen Under a Biden Administration, Washington Veterans Say