So, 11 days later than planned (“You must be very hungry if you’ve been sitting there all that time,” jokes the star of the show), the Brummie boy from Erdington is back home.
John Lodge had taken ill before the originally scheduled gig, and this show has been hastily added. If the new date means MV can attend, then it’s time for cards on the table.
The show is being billed as “John Lodge From The Moody Blues,” and as I wrote when I reviewed his sensational “Love Conquers All” EP, I knew little about The Moody Blues beyond that song everybody knows.
In the couple of months since, I’ve listened to some of their back catalogue—but I won’t insult anyone’s intelligence here.
Split into two halves, the first 45 minutes is superb on its own. The musicianship, the visual presentation, the pace of it—fantastic.
“Steppin’ in a Slide Zone” is enough to convince. With Alan Hewitt acting as the bandleader in effect, they are able to carry work like “Talking Out of Turn” to really impressive places. Dave Colquhoun (playing guitar tonight for the first time) is magnificent.
Lodge speaks movingly about his history with the second city, and two of his bandmates from his first group are here tonight—they once played with The Beatles.
He also says he wants to keep the music of another bandmate alive, and things get trippy when they perform Ray Thomas’ composition, “Legend of a Mind.”
If your son-in-law is a brilliant singer, you might as well use him—and Jon Davison appears for “The Voice.” If he brings an air of cool, there’s also a sense of grandiosity to “Isn’t Life Strange.”
The first section closes with “I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band),” but as if to underline that he was so much more, the second half is devoted to the “Days of Future Passed” album.
Right at the birth of prog, it still sounds fresh—despite being 58 years old.
The concept nature of it means it lends itself to being played in full.
After an initially aborted attempt, “Dawn Is a Feeling” sounds jaunty, the lovely “Peak Hour” is light and airy, and when Davison returns for “Tuesday Afternoon,” it sounds simply gorgeous.
But this was a brave album—Lodge’s first with the band—and a commercial departure. It still feels that way here. “(Evening) Time to Get Away” is immediately darker, while “Sunset Time” explores Eastern flavours. This truly is the type of cinematic experience that only the best provide. “Twilight Time” only amplifies that further.
And if Davison returns again for “Nights in White Satin,” then in so doing, he underlines the almost haunting depths of the harmonies.
Album done, there’s “Ride My See-Saw” to provide a sense of fun that had actually been there all night in a warm and welcoming gig.
John Lodge might be well over 65 years older than he was when he walked up to Ray Thomas on a bus, introduced himself as “Johnny Lodge,” and suggested they form a band—but I’m willing to bet he hasn’t changed much, and still loves music just as much.
