The Orchestra : The 'Annual Summerbration', Town Square, Blue Ash, Ohio, USA - 3rd June 2001
I attended tonight's Orchestra gig in Blue Ash, Ohio ... Fantastic is too light a term for this one!
1) First of all, the sky was severely overcast, temperature was 70 degrees, there were about 2,000 people in attendance, and the show began with 'Fire on High'! What a rush! Unfortunately, Hux's guitar wasn't plugged in completely, and Kelly's bass was having some problem. So guess what? Gordon took over, and beat the living crap out of the drum set to compensate!
2) Eric's keyboard launched the group into 'Evil Woman', and Kelly has never sounded better! After this one, Kelly notified us that Eric would not be singing much tonight, since he seems to have lost his voice...
3) 'Showdown' was next, and the audience, which comprised of us die-hards against the stage and the rest sitting in lawn chairs or standing in the back, really loved this one!!
4) Hux sang an almost haunting version of 'Over London Skies', and there were a lot of moist eyes in the house.
5) What a medley! Full version of 'Livin' Thing' followed by 'I'm Alive' followed by 'Xanadu'. WOW!!!!
6) 'Can't Get It Out of My Head' was done with a lot of feeling. I hope that since this was the first stop on their tour, they keep the same emotions in each song. This was beautiful. I just want to know this: Why did it start to rain when the line "walking on a wave's chicane" was sung?
7) Hux really got the audience rocking with 'Rock 'n Roll Is King', and Kelly really enjoys asking the audience if they would like to rock.
8) Another medley? Heavens! This one was better than the first one: 'Twilight' followed by 'Last Train to London' followed by 'Horace Wimp'. This is too much!!! The band regroups for a second, Kelly really fills up on water after about three songs (I hope that he is feeling okay) and then....
9) Eric picks up the guitar, and with Kelly's and Hux's help, we are bombarded with 'Ma Ma Ma Belle'. The audience was shocked, because after this one, EVERYONE was on their feet dancing!!!
10) Time for a short medley, and Kelly announces that it's time to slow things down a little bit, so 'Midnight Blue' then 'Strange Magic'. Kelly asks "Is it raining?" (He couldn't tell until he noticed the umbrellas coming up in the back of the audience). Then he asks "Do we care?" (Of course, everyone said NO!!!). This made Kelly happy.
11) 'Sweet Talking Woman' arrives, and the audience claps along WITH THE BEAT, imagine that! 3,000 of your closest friends, and they're all clapping in time....
12) Hux's 'Do Ya' is so good that no one who ever picked up a guitar before and did this song did it any justice. Hux is just that good!!! Lou steps out and introduces the band, who then introduce him. But the greatest kudos were held out for Eric and Lou, who are introduced having a long resume of great work!!!
13) Kelly looks out and says "Looks like time for this one..." 'Standin' In the Rain'. I gotta tell you, when Mik plays that violin, he does not need a backing orchestra. He stands alone as a force of 1,000 strings!!!
14) And, in the middle of a rain shower, what would be absolutely fitting after 'Standin' In the Rain'? You got it, right into 'Mr. Blue Sky'. Kind of disappointing though, because by now it's about 9:30 and there is ABSOLUTELY no way that we're going to see the sun now.
15) Now that the audience is REALLY worked over, are our lads going to let up? NO WAY!!! Hold on to your seats, because Kelly's letting loose with a soprano scream that just HAS to be the intro to, you got it: 'Rockaria!' And we were reelin' and rockin' all through the rain, just enough to let the band launch into 'Turn to Stone'!!! Against the stronger rain, I noticed that NO audience member left. Everyone remained and really loved this!! "Good night, Blue Ash" was Kelly's departing words, but NO! couldn't be, is this the last song? NEVER, because:
16) 'Don't Bring Me Down' was next, and brought the house down. What a great show!!!!
If you have seen other shows in the past, do NOT miss this one!!! Just to have the chance to hear songs that have never been played live in years is worth it. Of course, the ticket price for tonight's show was excellent: FREE. If you have to pay to see them, DO IT!!! You will regret missing this show. Even the promoters of this show mentioned backstage that they NEVER heard a group play so tightly and so well!!!
From our Labs to yours,
Scott Mallon - June 2001
I attended tonight's Orchestra gig in Blue Ash, Ohio ... Fantastic is too light a term for this one!
1) First of all, the sky was severely overcast, temperature was 70 degrees, there were about 2,000 people in attendance, and the show began with 'Fire on High'! What a rush! Unfortunately, Hux's guitar wasn't plugged in completely, and Kelly's bass was having some problem. So guess what? Gordon took over, and beat the living crap out of the drum set to compensate!
2) Eric's keyboard launched the group into 'Evil Woman', and Kelly has never sounded better! After this one, Kelly notified us that Eric would not be singing much tonight, since he seems to have lost his voice...
3) 'Showdown' was next, and the audience, which comprised of us die-hards against the stage and the rest sitting in lawn chairs or standing in the back, really loved this one!!
4) Hux sang an almost haunting version of 'Over London Skies', and there were a lot of moist eyes in the house.
5) What a medley! Full version of 'Livin' Thing' followed by 'I'm Alive' followed by 'Xanadu'. WOW!!!!
6) 'Can't Get It Out of My Head' was done with a lot of feeling. I hope that since this was the first stop on their tour, they keep the same emotions in each song. This was beautiful. I just want to know this: Why did it start to rain when the line "walking on a wave's chicane" was sung?
7) Hux really got the audience rocking with 'Rock 'n Roll Is King', and Kelly really enjoys asking the audience if they would like to rock.
8) Another medley? Heavens! This one was better than the first one: 'Twilight' followed by 'Last Train to London' followed by 'Horace Wimp'. This is too much!!! The band regroups for a second, Kelly really fills up on water after about three songs (I hope that he is feeling okay) and then....
9) Eric picks up the guitar, and with Kelly's and Hux's help, we are bombarded with 'Ma Ma Ma Belle'. The audience was shocked, because after this one, EVERYONE was on their feet dancing!!!
10) Time for a short medley, and Kelly announces that it's time to slow things down a little bit, so 'Midnight Blue' then 'Strange Magic'. Kelly asks "Is it raining?" (He couldn't tell until he noticed the umbrellas coming up in the back of the audience). Then he asks "Do we care?" (Of course, everyone said NO!!!). This made Kelly happy.
11) 'Sweet Talking Woman' arrives, and the audience claps along WITH THE BEAT, imagine that! 3,000 of your closest friends, and they're all clapping in time....
12) Hux's 'Do Ya' is so good that no one who ever picked up a guitar before and did this song did it any justice. Hux is just that good!!! Lou steps out and introduces the band, who then introduce him. But the greatest kudos were held out for Eric and Lou, who are introduced having a long resume of great work!!!
13) Kelly looks out and says "Looks like time for this one..." 'Standin' In the Rain'. I gotta tell you, when Mik plays that violin, he does not need a backing orchestra. He stands alone as a force of 1,000 strings!!!
14) And, in the middle of a rain shower, what would be absolutely fitting after 'Standin' In the Rain'? You got it, right into 'Mr. Blue Sky'. Kind of disappointing though, because by now it's about 9:30 and there is ABSOLUTELY no way that we're going to see the sun now.
15) Now that the audience is REALLY worked over, are our lads going to let up? NO WAY!!! Hold on to your seats, because Kelly's letting loose with a soprano scream that just HAS to be the intro to, you got it: 'Rockaria!' And we were reelin' and rockin' all through the rain, just enough to let the band launch into 'Turn to Stone'!!! Against the stronger rain, I noticed that NO audience member left. Everyone remained and really loved this!! "Good night, Blue Ash" was Kelly's departing words, but NO! couldn't be, is this the last song? NEVER, because:
16) 'Don't Bring Me Down' was next, and brought the house down. What a great show!!!!
If you have seen other shows in the past, do NOT miss this one!!! Just to have the chance to hear songs that have never been played live in years is worth it. Of course, the ticket price for tonight's show was excellent: FREE. If you have to pay to see them, DO IT!!! You will regret missing this show. Even the promoters of this show mentioned backstage that they NEVER heard a group play so tightly and so well!!!
From our Labs to yours,
Scott Mallon - June 2001