It was time to say goodbye to an all-time great.
Yet, it wasn’t going to be easy, not after all this man’s music has meant to us over the years.
Thus, understandably, there was a tinge of sadness in the air as some 11,000 fans gathered on Sunday night (Sept. 1) at Chase Center in San Francisco to witness the final tour of Jeff Lynne’s ELO.
It was, from start to finish, a glorious performance as the 13-piece ensemble reawakened one incredible classic tune after another from what is one of the greatest catalogs in rock ‘n’ roll history — the one belonging to the Electric Light Orchestra.
And I’m not sure if the triumphant nature of the performance made it harder or easier on fans, given that Lynne and company sounded like anything but a troupe whose time has come to call it quits.
It did, however, make the evening vastly enjoyable, especially when the stellar musicianship and songs were accompanied by such a spectacular assortment of video elements, light displays and special effects — as well as a laser light show that would cause even the most ardent Pink Floyd fan’s jaw to drop.
Truly, Jeff Lynne’s ELO Over and Out Tour is nothing short of the most visually stunning rock show of 2024. And pretty much all classic rock aficionados, whether they are big ELO fans or not, should try to catch this production before the band finishes up this North American trek with two shows at the Kia Forum in Southern California in late October.
Following an opening set from L.A. rock act Rooney — led by Robert Schwartzman (brother of Jason) — Lynne and crew kicked off their approximately 90-minute headlining set in appropriate fashion with “One More time.”
And the message was loud and clear.
“Come on, baby, time to rock ‘n’ roll,” the 76-year-old Lynne sang out. “Get on board, and we’ll soon be gone. Everybody gonna feel real fine.
“We’re gonna do it one more time.”
They’d definitely make this final San Francisco show count, quickly moving into greatest hits territory – where they’d pretty much remain all night long – as they loaded up the first portion of the 19-song set with such winners as “Evil Woman,” “Do Ya” and “Sweet Talkin’ Woman.”
The setlist drew mainly from that breathtaking run of music from 1974’s “Eldorado” (the fourth ELO album) to 1979’s “Discovery” (ELO’s eighth).
Although, they did include one song apiece from their 1971 eponymous debut album (known in the U.S. as “No Answer” due to a communication breakdown between the band and the record label) and their third album, 1973’s “On the Third Day” – “10538 Overture” and “Showdown,” respectively. There was also one offering (“All Over the World”) from 1980’s excellent “Xanadu” soundtrack.
There was nothing from 1973’s “ELO,” which was unfortunate since their version of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” is one of the truly essential covers in all of pop music history and would have really brought the house down at Chase.
They pretty much ignored their newer material, except for the opening statement of “One More Time” from 2019’s From Out of Nowhere.” That probably was a wise decision, given the group’s plethora of great older material, even though I would have personally loved to have heard “When I Was a Boy” from 2015’s “Alone in the Universe.”
The setlist gave Lynne’s band – consisting of guitarist/musical director Mike Stevens, bassist Lee Pomeroy, drummer Donavan Hepburn, pianist Marcus Byrne, lead guitarist Milton McDonald, keyboardists Jo Webb and Shannon Harris, backing vocalists Melanie Lewis-McDonald and Iain Hornal, and a string section of Amy Langley, Jessie Murrphy and Jess Cox – plenty of time to flex its muscle in different ways. Although all of ELO’s material is generally categorized under the classic rock banner, the troupe rolled through so many different pop music styles during the night – from towering prog-rock instrumentals (“Fire on High”) and Beatlesque pop (“Mr. Blue Sky”) to dizzying disco (“Last Train To London”), classical/rock hybrids (“Rockaria!”) and so much more.
Given the sheer breadth of musical variety and ambition on display, it’s a bit ironic to note that arguably the most memorable moment of the show came when Lynne pushed pause on all the bells and whistles – both sonically and visually – and poured himself into the strikingly pure pop ballad “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head.” It was just a master and his most gorgeous melody, touching hearts just like they did when we first heard the song on 1974’s “Eldorado,” and the response from the crowd was nothing short of rapturous.
The production elements greatly enhanced the experience, drawing numerous gasps of approval from the crowd. The centerpiece of the production was a large oval video screen, designed to look like the iconic ELO Spaceship, which was flanked on each side with other big screens.
The graphics always corresponded to the music, offering up a giant spinning disco ball (“Shine a Little Love”), a Tolkein-esque fairyland (“Strange Magic”), a butterfly zooming through the rain forest (“Livin’ Thing”), etc. Of course, there were no shortage of interstellar (and just plan stellar) sci-fi moments utilizing ELO’s well-branded spaceship imagery.
Lynne was really cooking as he reached the homestretch, rocking and rolling through “All Over The World,” “Turn to Stone” and the powerful main-set closer “Don’t Bring Me Down” before returning to put a bow on the whole package with encore double shot of “Telephone Line” and “Mr. Blue Sky.
It was an incredible way to say farewell to his Bay Area fans. Bravo, Mr. Lynne.
Yet, for those us having a hard time with this goodbye – a number that definitely includes this critic — it’s nice to know that Jeff Lynne’s ELO has one more NorCal gig scheduled for Golden 1 Center on Oct. 23.
See you in Sacramento!
Setlist:
1. “One More Time”
2. “Evil Woman”
3. “Do Ya”
4. “Sweet Talkin’ Woman”
5. “Strange Magic”
6. “10538 Overture”
7. “Showdown”
8. “Can’t Get It Out of My Head”
9. “Rockaria!”
10. “Steppin’ Out”
11. “Fire on High”
12. “Livin’ Thing”
13. “Last Train to London”
14. “All Over the World”
15. “Turn to Stone”
16. “Shine a Little Love”
17. “Don’t Bring Me Down”
Encore:
18. “Telephone Line”
19. “Mr. Blue Sky”
Originally Published:
Source: www.mercurynews.com