Review by Shawn Perry
Photos by Mathew Imaging
Jeff Lynne and Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are interchangeable, joined at the hip, together forever, you can’t have one without the other. Former members have tried to resuscitate the name in some form or another. Yet, as much credibility as drummer Bev Bevan may bring to the ELO name, it was, is and will always be Jeff Lynne’s baby.
And so it was, rebranded as Jeff Lynne’s ELO, that the prolific and accomplished singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer of records by George Harrison and Tom Petty, backed by a 12-piece band, plus a scaled down lineup of the 80-piece Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, took over the Hollywood Bowl for three nights. The legendary venue was transformed into a magical metropolis of harmony, joy, music, lights and fireworks.
Seeing an orchestra — a “real” orchestra — at the Hollywood Bowl is something every music lover should do at least once in their life, and tonight was a first for this reviewer. Straightaway, I could tell the place was built for orchestral music, with its box seats, allowance for food and wine, glazed in an electric Hollywood night — it has to be a classical music aficionado’s utopia.
So before ELO, there was to be a 25-minute segment of orchestral pieces presented by the Hollywood Orchestra. What a treat this was. And tonight, it being the third and final night of the Hollywood Bowl engagement, was especially poignant given the date. Thomas Wilkins, Principal Conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra since 2014, addressing the audience once the musicians were in place, touched lightly on the day, expressing it as a time to “embrace our hope.”
Then, with the American flag at half-mast at stage right, he led the orchestra in the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Given the climate of late, it was nice to see everyone on their feet for this. From there, the orchestra tantalized everyone’s eardrums with Malcolm Arnold’s “Anniversary Overture,” the first movement from Vaughan Williams’ 1923 English Folk Song Suite, “March: Seventeen Come Sunday,” and Sir Edward Edgar’s “Nimrod” from his “Enigma Variations” opus, followed by “Pomp and Circumstance,” which is, as Wilkins explained, better known as “The Graduation March.” It was an incredible sampler of how mighty and moving live strings, horns and percussion can be in the proper platform.
Wilkins also spoke of Jeff Lynne and his genius, so it was left to the ELO main man to live up to the lofty expectations set forth. Once he walked out onto the stage, his ELO band members in their respective positions, and eased into “Tightrope,” there was little doubt that the evening was going to be epic. As sonically and visually spectacular as David Gilmour had been earlier in the year at the Bowl, this was taking things to an entirely different level.
The Bowl lit up with lasers highlighted by smokey entrails surveying the occupied box seats and benches, the perimeters of the Bowl’s famous shell reflecting colorful images, the backdrop twinkling in a spacetime continuum that adorned the ELO logo. The orchestra embellished the simple and sophisticated arrangements with pitch-perfect precision and craftsmanship.
Indeed, each and every one of the 17 ELO nuggets Lynne and company played, was ripe with indelible ingenuity — from the sweet orchestral intros to the gooey harmonies, and Lynne infecting the verses with his Roy Orbison-like, bari-tenor timbre. The band played each and every part without straying from their famous radio counterparts. Considering the ground covered — from sumptuous, string-heavy early songs like “Showdown,” “10538 Overture” and the Beatlesque “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head,” to the latter-day, more pop-flavored “Livin’ Thing,” “Turn To Stone,” and ‘Sweet Talkin’ Woman” — there was nary a misstep over the span of the 90-minute set.
Joining Lynne onstage was original ELO keyboardist Richard Tandy, along with “members” of the live band — Milton McDonald (guitar), Mike Stevens (guitar), Lee Pomeroy (bass), Marcus Byrne (keyboards), Bernie Smith (keyboards), Donavan Hepburn (drums), Rosie Langley (violin), Amy Langley (cello), Jess Cox (cello), Iain Hornal (backing vocals, guitar) and Melanie Lewis-McDonald (backing vocals). Lynne’s daughter Laura also sang back-up vocals on the first five songs. The singer told the audience it was only her third time on stage performing live before an audience.
With so many songs to choose from, and so many Lynne absolutely had to play, there was only time for one song, “When I Was A Boy,” from Alone In The Universe, the Jeff Lynne’s ELO studio album from 2015. Many in the audience didn’t seem to know the song or the album, but it slid seamlessly into the set without disrupting the pace.
There orchestra took a break during “Don’t Bring Me Down,” which had several rows of folks clapping and dancing in the aisles. A heart-stopping, grin-inducing “Mr. Blue Sky” had everyone swaying in ecstasy, surmounting a contagious, powerful energy that swept through the entire hillside. It was a blissful moment, only enhanced by the encore of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven.” For most of the song, fireworks took over the sky, dazzling the senses and giving the music a bright and visual makeover.
With two more nights in New York City, it’s hard to say where Lynne will take the ELO spaceship next. Selling out three nights at the Hollywood Bowl speaks volumes about the legacy of ELO. As inseparable as the man and band are, the overwhelmingly positive reaction at the Bowl accurately measured how it’s the music, more than anything else, that has stood the test of time.
