City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra performing ELO : Symphony Hall, Birmingham - 8th March 2025
What a fantastic concert by the City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Richard Balcombe alongside vocalists and the CBSO choir), with their tribute to the music of Jeff Lynne & ELO at Birmingham Symphony Hall on Saturday 8th March 2025.
Such a great venue and lovely to hear the orchestral arrangements of many Jeff Lynne and ELO songs, most of which were originally created by the late Louis Clark. It was also great to see former ELO member Bill Hunt who was sat close to us in the circle, who got a great round of applause from the audience when he was announced. Here are a few of my photos from the front row of the circle.
Set list : Standing In The Rain, Evil Woman, All Over The World, Diary Of Horace Wimp, Last Train To London, Sweet Talkin' Woman, Showdown, Telephone Line, Rockaria!, Living Thing, Shine A Little Love, Eldorado Suite including Can't Get It Out Of My Head, Turn To Stone, When I Was A Boy, Wild West Hero, Xanadu, Mr Blue Sky, Roll Over Beethoven.
Line-up : City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Richard Balcombe (conductor), Patrick Smyth (vocalist), Stuart Matthew Price (vocalist), Graham Bickley (backing vocalist), James Alexander Gibbs (backing vocalist), Heather Lundstedt Price (backing vocalist), Alex Turney (backing vocalist), CBSO Chorus and Julian Wilkins (chorus master).
Official gig photos can be viewed at the CBSO Facebook page here.
Check out the Video Section to view some footage I took at the gig.
What a fantastic concert by the City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Richard Balcombe alongside vocalists and the CBSO choir), with their tribute to the music of Jeff Lynne & ELO at Birmingham Symphony Hall on Saturday 8th March 2025.
Such a great venue and lovely to hear the orchestral arrangements of many Jeff Lynne and ELO songs, most of which were originally created by the late Louis Clark. It was also great to see former ELO member Bill Hunt who was sat close to us in the circle, who got a great round of applause from the audience when he was announced. Here are a few of my photos from the front row of the circle.
Set list : Standing In The Rain, Evil Woman, All Over The World, Diary Of Horace Wimp, Last Train To London, Sweet Talkin' Woman, Showdown, Telephone Line, Rockaria!, Living Thing, Shine A Little Love, Eldorado Suite including Can't Get It Out Of My Head, Turn To Stone, When I Was A Boy, Wild West Hero, Xanadu, Mr Blue Sky, Roll Over Beethoven.
Line-up : City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Richard Balcombe (conductor), Patrick Smyth (vocalist), Stuart Matthew Price (vocalist), Graham Bickley (backing vocalist), James Alexander Gibbs (backing vocalist), Heather Lundstedt Price (backing vocalist), Alex Turney (backing vocalist), CBSO Chorus and Julian Wilkins (chorus master).
Official gig photos can be viewed at the CBSO Facebook page here.
Check out the Video Section to view some footage I took at the gig.
Morganisation ft Lou Clark Jnr : Downstairs at Chas Mann's, Kings Norton, Birmingham - 7th March 2025
We had a great time at the Morganisation ft Louis Clark Jr. gig at the Downstairs at Chas Mann's venue in Kings Norton, Birmingham on Friday 7th March. Prior to travelling to the gig, we had a few drinks and a meal at the Shakespeare pub in Birmingham along with our friends who had travelled from Germany, Austria and Slovakia for the concert.
The set included plenty of Dave's own material including 'Benediction', 'Starry Lady', 'Big Brown Sky' and 'Stuck In A Machine'. The band also performed a few cover versions and also a nice bluesy number 'Shanty Town Blues' written by Dave and inspired by Curtis Mayfield. But I think the biggest cheers and applause were for the wonderful Jeff Lynne song 'When I Was A Boy' and the ELO songs 'Telephone Line', 'Mr Blue Sky' and 'Wild West Hero'. These particular songs sounded somewhat extra-special with Lou Clark Jnr on the wurlitzer originally owned by Richard Tandy and his father Louis Clark, and was used in many of those original ELO tracks. Full set list in the photos below.
It was lovely to chat with Louis, Dave and Mandy, and also chatting with former Wizzard member Keith Smart who was in the audience. A great show by Mandy, Dave, Alex and Louis.
Check out the Video Section to view some footage I took at the gig.
We had a great time at the Morganisation ft Louis Clark Jr. gig at the Downstairs at Chas Mann's venue in Kings Norton, Birmingham on Friday 7th March. Prior to travelling to the gig, we had a few drinks and a meal at the Shakespeare pub in Birmingham along with our friends who had travelled from Germany, Austria and Slovakia for the concert.
The set included plenty of Dave's own material including 'Benediction', 'Starry Lady', 'Big Brown Sky' and 'Stuck In A Machine'. The band also performed a few cover versions and also a nice bluesy number 'Shanty Town Blues' written by Dave and inspired by Curtis Mayfield. But I think the biggest cheers and applause were for the wonderful Jeff Lynne song 'When I Was A Boy' and the ELO songs 'Telephone Line', 'Mr Blue Sky' and 'Wild West Hero'. These particular songs sounded somewhat extra-special with Lou Clark Jnr on the wurlitzer originally owned by Richard Tandy and his father Louis Clark, and was used in many of those original ELO tracks. Full set list in the photos below.
It was lovely to chat with Louis, Dave and Mandy, and also chatting with former Wizzard member Keith Smart who was in the audience. A great show by Mandy, Dave, Alex and Louis.
Check out the Video Section to view some footage I took at the gig.
Morganisation ft Lou Clark Jnr : Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham - 2nd February 2025
This was the first time seeing Morganisation since the wonderful Earthrise orchestral concert back in 2019. Morganisation features former Ugly's and ELO member Dave Scott-Morgan, Mandy Scott-Morgan and Alex Lowe. Tonights concert also featured a special appearance of Lou Clark Jnr playing the Wurlitzer organ formerly owned by Richard Tandy and Lou's father Louis Clark, and used on many of the ELO classic recordings.
The venue was the Kitchen Garden Cafe in Kings Heath, Birmingham and the room was packed to watch this gig. We had great seats on the front row literally within touching distance of the band!!
The set included plenty of Dave's own material including 'Benediction', 'Starry Lady', 'Big Brown Sky' and 'Stuck In A Machine'. The band also performed a few cover versions and also a nice bluesy number 'Shanty Town Blues' written by Dave and inspired by Curtis Mayfield. But I think the biggest cheers and applause were for the wonderful Jeff Lynne song 'When I Was A Boy' and the ELO songs 'Telephone Line', 'Mr Blue Sky', 'Rock & Roll Is King' and 'Wild West Hero'. These particular songs sounded somewhat extra-special with Lou Clark Jnr on the wurlitzer originally owned by Richard Tandy and his father Louis Clark, and was used in many of those original ELO tracks. Full set list in the photos below.
It was lovely to chat with Louis, Dave and Mandy, and also chatting with many friends there including Richard, Jeff, Martin, Fred, Neil, Paul and Ace Kefford. A very pleasant evening. Thanks to all for the great concert and for the great company.
A few of my photos from the gig below including a few of myself with friends Jeff, Martin, Fred (who flew in from the USA for this gig), and the brilliant Ace Kefford of The Move who was in the audience.
Check out the Video Section to view some footage I took at the gig.
This was the first time seeing Morganisation since the wonderful Earthrise orchestral concert back in 2019. Morganisation features former Ugly's and ELO member Dave Scott-Morgan, Mandy Scott-Morgan and Alex Lowe. Tonights concert also featured a special appearance of Lou Clark Jnr playing the Wurlitzer organ formerly owned by Richard Tandy and Lou's father Louis Clark, and used on many of the ELO classic recordings.
The venue was the Kitchen Garden Cafe in Kings Heath, Birmingham and the room was packed to watch this gig. We had great seats on the front row literally within touching distance of the band!!
The set included plenty of Dave's own material including 'Benediction', 'Starry Lady', 'Big Brown Sky' and 'Stuck In A Machine'. The band also performed a few cover versions and also a nice bluesy number 'Shanty Town Blues' written by Dave and inspired by Curtis Mayfield. But I think the biggest cheers and applause were for the wonderful Jeff Lynne song 'When I Was A Boy' and the ELO songs 'Telephone Line', 'Mr Blue Sky', 'Rock & Roll Is King' and 'Wild West Hero'. These particular songs sounded somewhat extra-special with Lou Clark Jnr on the wurlitzer originally owned by Richard Tandy and his father Louis Clark, and was used in many of those original ELO tracks. Full set list in the photos below.
It was lovely to chat with Louis, Dave and Mandy, and also chatting with many friends there including Richard, Jeff, Martin, Fred, Neil, Paul and Ace Kefford. A very pleasant evening. Thanks to all for the great concert and for the great company.
A few of my photos from the gig below including a few of myself with friends Jeff, Martin, Fred (who flew in from the USA for this gig), and the brilliant Ace Kefford of The Move who was in the audience.
Check out the Video Section to view some footage I took at the gig.
