The Orchestra : 2001 U.K. Tour Review
A little belated maybe, but here is a short review of the UK tour, the first time I have had to sit down and write about it since coming back from my 2000 mile plus trek to see them 6 times ! I have attempted to add to what others have written rather than write a review from scratch. Apologies however if it is still rather long and it does dodge about a bit !
Having missed seeing ELO Part II at the Royal Albert Hall in May 1999, I wanted to make the most of the UK tour in 2001 and so booked most of the week off. Living at Poole meant that I had a fair distance to go to all of the shows, with personal and work commitments in between meaning I had to return to Poole after every show. I started the trek up to Manchester with what I thought was plenty of time to spare, only to arrive too late to meet other uls members in the Rain bar next to the Bridgewater Hall, albeit in time for the show. Jim and Susan, Bea, Lorraine and Karsten it would have been great to meet you, perhaps next time ! I did however have the pleasure of meeting Tami and Serena later in the week.
My biggest concern since ELO Part II became ELO 2 and then the Orchestra was the loss of Bev Bevan. I thought the group would never be the same without him. However Gordon is such an enthusiastic - and powerful - drummer, that I had no reason to worry. He is different from Bev, but not in my view inferior. He adds his own fills and flourishes in such a way that make it fascinating to watch him and he appears to really enjoy being in the band.
The rest of the band seemed really pleased to be performing again, both on new and old songs. A few hiccups occured on the first night due to almost overrunning the allotted time but otherwise songs (once in motion!) were played smoothly and the band and orchestra gelled really well.
This was the first time I had seen the Halle orchestra play and I must say I was very impressed. Not only that but the choir, at Manchester and all the other shows added that extra thing that really made the show. This is certainly a first for not only Orchestra but any performance of ELO songs, which is all down to Louis for making it happen I am sure, who certainly did a grand job of conducting the orchestra and choir throughout the tour.
The songlist at Manchester remained constant throughout the week with the exception that the new instrumental track played at Manchester (unnamed) was replaced by Standing in the Rain. In addition, the new track Can't wait to see you was only played at Manchester and Cardiff if I remember correctly.
The new songs were generally received very well by the audience - which obviously consisted of some (if not most) general fans of ELO music rather than just the Orchestra. Jewel and Johnny and No Rewind got loads of applause, although this was topped by Twist and Shout. I actually enjoyed T&S better live than on No Rewind as the live orchestra and choir seemed to help bring the whole thing to life, with Eric in excellent form on lead vocals.
The old tracks were also very nice to see - Orchestra add that special something to their renditions of these classics. Hopefully this mix of almost as many new songs as old songs will continue, in fact a few ELO Part II songs would also have been good - perhaps some which have not been played live before.
The RPCO at the other shows sounded equally as good as the Halle, there is not much between these two fine orchestras. The Cardiff and later shows were more polished, due to everyone knowing which songs were to be played when !!
Eric at times seemed to have trouble, constantly twiddling with the knobs next to his keyboards, but at least we know it is all live, and the sound was excellent. In fact as others mentioned I found the sound altered depending on where you sat. Having tried out different seats at successive shows, the best location appeared to be in the centre near the mixing console, which is some 16-20 rows back. Here you get the best mix of orchestra and band and the best stereo effect. In addition the accoustics of the different halls seemed to make a fair amount of difference, some being better for the orchestra (small o !), some for vocals, etc..
Apart from the departure of Bev Bevan, my other big worry with the Orchestra was Hux, but this was dispelled very quickly. His powerful performance on Jewel and Johnny and other tracks was great. I heard people after the show mention that they thought he had settled in well now, i.e. more so than in the 1999 tour.
The Bournemouth show was to me the most memorable - probably because it is near my home town of Poole and I had my girlfriend Karen and several close friends there. Also the audience response was tremendous. A near sellout crowd stamped their feet demanding a second encore, it is a shame the guys did not have one in reserve !!
All shows were near sellouts with the exception of Croydon and Sheffield. Sheffield at about half full had the smallest crowd but it did not dampen the band's enthusiasm, or the audience response. During the start of Can't get it out of my head two people in the crowd waved lit sparklers in the air - I half expected the eagle eyed security guys to rush over !!
I have not yet mentioned Kelly - he was on excellent form throughout, doing his crowd participation bit during Don't bring me down - he is so good at this ! Kelly made it clear at most (every?) show that the band was the Orchestra, and not ELO. He thanked Louis for orchestral and choral arrangements on past ELO records and the new album by the Orchestra.
The final show at Nottingham was certainly the highlight in terms of the most polished performance. The sound quality also appeared better still. I sort of feel that the guys were on a roll then and it is a shame that the tour ended so soon. I hope that they use it as a platform to build on, on perhaps next year come back and do a longer UK tour (after the USA one !).
Review by Kevin Knapman - December 2001
A little belated maybe, but here is a short review of the UK tour, the first time I have had to sit down and write about it since coming back from my 2000 mile plus trek to see them 6 times ! I have attempted to add to what others have written rather than write a review from scratch. Apologies however if it is still rather long and it does dodge about a bit !
Having missed seeing ELO Part II at the Royal Albert Hall in May 1999, I wanted to make the most of the UK tour in 2001 and so booked most of the week off. Living at Poole meant that I had a fair distance to go to all of the shows, with personal and work commitments in between meaning I had to return to Poole after every show. I started the trek up to Manchester with what I thought was plenty of time to spare, only to arrive too late to meet other uls members in the Rain bar next to the Bridgewater Hall, albeit in time for the show. Jim and Susan, Bea, Lorraine and Karsten it would have been great to meet you, perhaps next time ! I did however have the pleasure of meeting Tami and Serena later in the week.
My biggest concern since ELO Part II became ELO 2 and then the Orchestra was the loss of Bev Bevan. I thought the group would never be the same without him. However Gordon is such an enthusiastic - and powerful - drummer, that I had no reason to worry. He is different from Bev, but not in my view inferior. He adds his own fills and flourishes in such a way that make it fascinating to watch him and he appears to really enjoy being in the band.
The rest of the band seemed really pleased to be performing again, both on new and old songs. A few hiccups occured on the first night due to almost overrunning the allotted time but otherwise songs (once in motion!) were played smoothly and the band and orchestra gelled really well.
This was the first time I had seen the Halle orchestra play and I must say I was very impressed. Not only that but the choir, at Manchester and all the other shows added that extra thing that really made the show. This is certainly a first for not only Orchestra but any performance of ELO songs, which is all down to Louis for making it happen I am sure, who certainly did a grand job of conducting the orchestra and choir throughout the tour.
The songlist at Manchester remained constant throughout the week with the exception that the new instrumental track played at Manchester (unnamed) was replaced by Standing in the Rain. In addition, the new track Can't wait to see you was only played at Manchester and Cardiff if I remember correctly.
The new songs were generally received very well by the audience - which obviously consisted of some (if not most) general fans of ELO music rather than just the Orchestra. Jewel and Johnny and No Rewind got loads of applause, although this was topped by Twist and Shout. I actually enjoyed T&S better live than on No Rewind as the live orchestra and choir seemed to help bring the whole thing to life, with Eric in excellent form on lead vocals.
The old tracks were also very nice to see - Orchestra add that special something to their renditions of these classics. Hopefully this mix of almost as many new songs as old songs will continue, in fact a few ELO Part II songs would also have been good - perhaps some which have not been played live before.
The RPCO at the other shows sounded equally as good as the Halle, there is not much between these two fine orchestras. The Cardiff and later shows were more polished, due to everyone knowing which songs were to be played when !!
Eric at times seemed to have trouble, constantly twiddling with the knobs next to his keyboards, but at least we know it is all live, and the sound was excellent. In fact as others mentioned I found the sound altered depending on where you sat. Having tried out different seats at successive shows, the best location appeared to be in the centre near the mixing console, which is some 16-20 rows back. Here you get the best mix of orchestra and band and the best stereo effect. In addition the accoustics of the different halls seemed to make a fair amount of difference, some being better for the orchestra (small o !), some for vocals, etc..
Apart from the departure of Bev Bevan, my other big worry with the Orchestra was Hux, but this was dispelled very quickly. His powerful performance on Jewel and Johnny and other tracks was great. I heard people after the show mention that they thought he had settled in well now, i.e. more so than in the 1999 tour.
The Bournemouth show was to me the most memorable - probably because it is near my home town of Poole and I had my girlfriend Karen and several close friends there. Also the audience response was tremendous. A near sellout crowd stamped their feet demanding a second encore, it is a shame the guys did not have one in reserve !!
All shows were near sellouts with the exception of Croydon and Sheffield. Sheffield at about half full had the smallest crowd but it did not dampen the band's enthusiasm, or the audience response. During the start of Can't get it out of my head two people in the crowd waved lit sparklers in the air - I half expected the eagle eyed security guys to rush over !!
I have not yet mentioned Kelly - he was on excellent form throughout, doing his crowd participation bit during Don't bring me down - he is so good at this ! Kelly made it clear at most (every?) show that the band was the Orchestra, and not ELO. He thanked Louis for orchestral and choral arrangements on past ELO records and the new album by the Orchestra.
The final show at Nottingham was certainly the highlight in terms of the most polished performance. The sound quality also appeared better still. I sort of feel that the guys were on a roll then and it is a shame that the tour ended so soon. I hope that they use it as a platform to build on, on perhaps next year come back and do a longer UK tour (after the USA one !).
Review by Kevin Knapman - December 2001