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SHOWDOWN
The ELO Mailing List Digest
Issue #013
October 30, 1997


     In this issue:

     Question about Song Of The Week
     Virgin Radio in UK plugs "Light Years" CD
     "Light Years" cover (JPEG available)
     10/27 Shepherd's Bush show reviewed by Serena Torz
     10/21 Ipswich show reviewed by Jon Hinchliffe
     Lots of comments on Ipswich show


============================================================
ALL PUBLIC RESPONSES TO ARTICLES ON THIS LIST SHOULD BE
SENT TO THE TALK LIST ADDRESS: elo-list@eskimo.com
============================================================


Subject: Archive Raiding...
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 07:53:45 +0000
From: Scott Pierson

Lynn,

If we went with "Raiders of the Lost Archives" would we have to do a
sequal entitled "Record of Doom"?

I think "Song of the Week" is a good title.  I am looking forward to
the discussion. Will the songs come up for discussion alphabetically,
chronologically, or at random?  Will we be going over ALL the songs
or just those released as singles.  I think I would prefer discussing
all the songs.  There are a few I really like that were never
released as singles....

BTW:  I don't think I have said it before, but I think you are doing
a great job with the list!

Later!

Scott
(Hoping I can DIGEST the whole thing....)


                                **********


Subject: Re: Archive Raiding...
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 11:54:02 +0000
From: Lynn Hoskins

Scott Pierson asked:
>
> Will the songs come up for discussion alphabetically,
> chronologically, or at random?

Thanks for asking this, Scott.  I completely forgot to mention in my
post that the songs will be chosen at random.  We'll be skipping around,
in no particular order.  Maybe one week we'll discuss a song from
"Eldorado" and the next week we'll jump to "Moment Of Truth."  Surprises
are more fun. :-)

> Will we be going over ALL the songs or just those released as
> singles.  I think I would prefer discussing all the songs.  There
> are a few I really like that were never released as singles....

ALL the songs.  Some will be singles, some will be album cuts.  (Can you
tell I grew up with vinyl LP's?)  My plan is to select a wide variety of
songs to talk about.


                                **********


Subject: Re: Light Years
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 08:24:49 +0000
From: Ken Latta 

For all the UK subscribers, I've just been listening to The Chris Evans
Show (arguably the UK's number 1 DJ.....certainly the richest) on Virgin
Radio. He's really been pluggin' the Light Years CD. He's played two
tracks this morning (so far) to my knowledge - Livin' Thing and Don't
Bring Me Down.

On the talk over to Don't Bring Me Down he said...."This track was
produced 15 years ago. Listen to how good it is....the quality."

He also said that this is the CD he's playing in his car at the moment!
I didn't think DJ's ever played ELO in their cars!

And on a surprise note he gave a good plug for ELO Part2!!! Things are
looking up!


                                **********


Subject: Re: Light Years
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 01:02:32 +0000
From: Ken Latta 

Maurice wrote saying that he thought the Light Years album cover was a
"tad boring". Well for those who can view jpeg images, I've attached a
piccie of the front of the album cover. Judge for yourself.

This, in my opinion, is probably one of the best ELO compilation albums
around covering all of the UK single releases plus some popular extra
tracks as well. My copy cost me £12.49 (sterling) in the UK, at our
local Our Price record stores, (a quick plug there, only because they
agreed to display a Woody poster for the up and coming gig at Bradford
in November), which I think is a bargain for a double album containing
38 tracks. The sound quality is also very good. A job well done Rob!

(**Note: JPEG images cannot be attached to a mailing list digest.  If you'd
like to see the image, please e-mail me and I will send it to you. - Lynn)


                                **********

Subject: Light Years...
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 09:19:51 +0000
From: Scott Pierson

Ken,

Thanks for scanning and sending the Light Years cover...  I will have
to hardily disagree with Maurice (a trend for me it seems).  I like
it!  I think it looks great!

Where do I get a copy of this CD?  Is it available in the States?
Anyone know how much is costs?

As for Maurice, I can't say he is wrong because we already had that
discussion about opinions...  Let me just state a little conjecture,
if I may.  Maurice has been ill and, no doubt, jacked up on some
pretty hefty medication that most certainly has altered his
perception.

But of course.... that is MY opinion.

;-D


                                **********


Subject: Re: Light Years...
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 21:43:21 +0000
From: Maurice Dockrell

Oh Dear - a bit below the belt - oh well we all know how those who
have losing arguments react - I think most totalitarian regimes acuse
their enemies of being mentally ill or subject to some form of addiction
 - laughs -

Anyway I still think the Light Years Cover is uninspired - just a bit
boring. It is not bad - just dull.

Regards to all - even Scott (I can recommed his website - it is actually
quite good - some great articles and interesting album reviews.


                                **********


Subject: Shepherd's Bush
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 20:00:12 -0500
From: SERENA TORZ 

Here, for your delectation, is a little personal view from myself of the
above. I hope you find it interesting.
----------------
YOU NEED HANDS...
(Or: "There are no Irishmen in this band"!) - Shepherd's Bush, 27/10/97

Before I go any further, I shall put the record straight and state that as
the above subtitle says, there are no Irishmen in ELO PART II! My friend
last night was being continually pestered by a woman who, during Bev's
speeches, kept saying, "He's Irish, isn't he?!" Well, if she ever gets to
read this - no, he is NOT! He is from Birmingham!

Venue-wise, given the choice between Shepherd's Bush and Brentwood the
night before, for me, there was no contest. Brentwood won hands down. It
was comfortable, large, seated, and there were few restricted views.
Concert aside, my lasting memories of Shepherd's Bush are aching feet,
loads of drunks (the bar was inside the hall, and open throughout the show
- NOT a good idea), being continually pushed and shoved from behind, and
having to see a five-piece band for the entire gig, as poor old Sir Lou was
stuck behind a pillar and completely invisible!

Atmosphere-wise, on the other hand, well, it was Shepherd's Bush that won
the contest this time. I don't think I've ever seen such high spirits at an
ELO gig, either PART I or PART II. The lack of seating downstairs meant
that everybody was up and singing from the very beginning. There were two
girls above me on the balcony having a great time, but most of the activity
was on the floor.

Being the last gig on the tour, some pranks were expected. My favourite of
these originated from the Gaylords, who had travelled over from the USA for
the last few shows. They had managed to pick up on the fact that at just
about every gig, one member of the band or another will, before a song,
shout out, "Let's see some hands!" So, before the gig, pairs of large,
pink, paper hands on cardboard sticks were being handed (excuse pun!) out
along the front, so of course, when Phil (his turn that night) shouted out
the immortal line, he got to see plenty of hands! Personally, as someone
rather on the short side, I found the hands rather useful as an extension
of my own arms, and it was nice to come out of a concert for a change with
ache-free arms and no sore hands!

Little Stars and Stripes flags were waved during Calling America (and Eric
had one on his keyboard!), and Lamb Chop put in another appearance after
Ipswich, only this time disguised as a sock (the puppet had a night off!).

The drunks occasionally got a little bit too rowdy, handclapping their way
through Mik's solo (but at least they kept time!), and, most annoyingly,
talking incessantly through the beautiful Because. For that alone, they
deserved to be kicked out - it was sacrilege! But on the whole, spirits
were good, if a little high, and the responses after the songs were quite
phenomenal. When Bev came down to the front for his first Hello's, he was
actually unable to speak for several minutes due to the constant chanting
of "Bev! Bev! Bev!" from the floor. I have never seen this at an ELO
concert, ever.

Bev's introductions were as witty as ever. Kelly, we were told, was being
targeted by the Fashion Police for his rather unique dress sense. Eric was
homesick, which produced a few "Aaahs!", and a wonderful hangdog expression
from Eric himself. As for Lou's dancing, well, Michael Jackson had nothing
on him (I wouldn't know, as I didn't see him at all for the entire
evening!).

The band were definitely buoyed by the crowd. The rockers really rocked,
and the crowd along with them. I would have liked to have seen the ballads
treated with a little more respect, but I think some people were so hyped
up, that they just couldn't calm down. The new songs were enjoyed just as
much as the old ones, and there was a request for One More Tomorrow from
the balcony, although it wasn't honoured.

Bev's Let There Be Drums was the best I've heard out of the four concerts
I've been to - really good. Unfortunately, leaflet-handing-out duties meant
that I had to miss Don't Bring Me Down, but from out in the foyer (freezing
to death!), it did seem to be shorter than at other concerts, with a much
reduced audience participation section, but myself and my friends did sing
along in the foyer, much to the amusement of the venue's staff!

Overall, an interesting evening, although personally, if the band returned
there, I wouldn't go again. Getting there was dreadful (2 hours across
London), and it took nearly half-an-hour to park. I much prefer the seated
venues. But there were a lot of important people there from record
companies and radio stations, and the concert had heavy promotion on
London's Capital Radio, so it was a fitting end to a very successful tour,
and I just hope it leads on to bigger and better things next year.


                                **********


Subject: Ipswich 21 Oct.
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 06:47:51 GMT
From: Jon Hinchliffe

I have been meaning to write my review for a little while but time seems to
have slipped by.

This is the 2nd time I have seen ELO Part II now. And the Audience at this
gig seemed a little Disappointing. Last time the crowd stood up very early
in the Gig and since I have limited Standing ability I chose to sit up
Stairs this time. I got first row and it was not surprising as my side
section only had 3 rows on it and the Main bit no more than 10.  Still I
have seen worse crowds at the Regent (Rick Wakeman in 1985 was less than
half full).

Sitting up stairs I found the volume to be a little on the quiet side. When
I was downstairs on the previous occasion the sounds was echoing of the
walls.

Tickets were 14UKP which I guess is par for the course for a venue the size
of the Regent (Capacity 1500?)

We seems to have got a long performance this time. It was almost exactly 90
minutes with the Encore last time and I felt that was a little short. Well
the absolute minimum. This time we got a two hours over two sets. The first
set being about 50 minutes. I can't remember if it was one or two sets last
time but I was much happier with this set up. And of course this meant we
got a huge amount of songs.

I am not sure I like getting so many 2 minute songs but I can understand
the Band wanting to get as many hits in as possible. The set was also
rearranged a fair bit and it was nice to see different acoustics stuff.

I was disappointed to see "The Fox" and "10583 Overture" had been dropped
as I liked them and think they might as well keep plugging Moment of Truth
if they have not managed to do anything new recently. (Even "one night" was
out last time they came)

I was quite surprised to find Honest Man was one of my favourite tracks in
the Set. That was the only first Album song I have heard them do and I did
not like the album when i borrowed it from the Library. So much so I did
not even record it. Perhaps I should give it another try.

I also enjoyed Concerto for a Rainy day a lot to. And of Course Mr Blue
Sky. I normally think of Out of Blue unfavourably because I think of Songs
like the Jungle one but Perhaps I should dig that out again too.

Love or Money was very good. Am I picking songs that Eric Troyer sings? I
think he has the best voice in the band not that there is anything wrong
with the others. It just seems more ELO like to me.

I was interested that Serena thought they had done Horace Whimp well that
night. I can remember thinking how empty sounding it was. Perhaps I was
just missing the Days of the Week between verses and suffering from it
being quite.

Actually I was slightly Disappointed to see 3 Discovery songs close set 1.

It amused me that Bev introduced Louis Clark as Mr Exciting. I thought Don
Airey? last time and Louis Clark this time did very little and I certainly
could not hear much of what they were doing. It seemed a waste having the
Extra head in the Touring band. Perhaps Louis helps get bums on Seats I
don't know.

I haven't really got any Comments on the 2nd set except the accompanied
part of Bev's Drum solo reminded me of Cozy Powels "Dance with the Devil"
in places.

ELO Part II might not be in the big League anymore but they still put on a
very good light show. It is not in Kiss's league of course but with just a
few Vari-lights it is very effective

A very Enjoyable evening. I am most likely to go again if the band turn up
in my area. Roy Wood needs to take some tips here. His set was identical
despite it being 4 years between the two shows I saw.

So where have all the other reviews got to? Did only two or three UK people
on the list go to a gig?

The Set List was.

Set 1

1. Fire On High
2. All Over The World
3. Evil Woman
4. Whiskey Girls
5. Hold On Tight
6. Showdown
7. Honest Men
8. Rock'N'Roll Is King
9. Concerto For A Rainy Day
10. Mr Blue Sky
11. Love Or Money
12. Calling America
13. Twilight
14. Shine A Little Love
15. Last Train To London
16. Diary Of Horace Whimp

Set 2

1. Because
2. All Fall Down
3. Living Thing
4. Midnight Blue
5. Strange Magic
6. Turn To Stone
7. Violin Solo
8. Clog Dance
9. Ain't Necessarily So
10. Telephone Line
11. Getting To The Point
12. Do Ya
13. Sweet Talking Woman
14. Ma Ma Ma  Belle
15. Don't Wanna
16. Rockaria

Encore
1. Drum Solo
2. Drum Solo Accompanied
3. Don't Bring Me Down


                                **********


Subject: Ipswich 21 Oct.
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 02:40:52 -0500
From: SERENA TORZ 

Jon,

Regarding your comments about Lou. Firstly, Bev is joking when he calls him
all those names - we all know that he just stands there! Lou makes a joke
of it, too!

As for your comment that he doesn't do anything - well, did you hear the
string sounds during the songs? There might not have been an orchestra, but
there was still a string sound. This is Lou - he plays string synth, and
whilst he might not be flash, he certainly does contribute to the sound.

Also, I thought that the audience got up at just the right time. It was
standing all the way through at Shepherd's Bush, and everyone was whacked
out by the end. At Brentwood, a few people got up and starting bopping away
through the ballads, which was very distracting, and very disrespectful.
They got told to sit down again by the bouncers. Kelly knows when people
should get up, and he tells them too - much better, in my opinion.

Volume-wise, it was certainly loud enough downstairs. I think you were just
unlucky being upstairs. I was quite deaf afterwards.

Well, I thought I'd put a few things straight for you. It's certainly
interesting to hear a different opinion of the same concert as I went to,
even if I don't agree with it entirely.

I do agree that we should have had more reviews in though! I've been doing
my bit, and Ken Latta did Leeds, but otherwise it's just been you.

Maybe we'll get some more after Shepherd's Bush - I've already done mine!


                                **********


Subject: Re: Ipswich 21 Oct.
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 08:54:29 +0000
From: Ken Latta 

Jon Hinchliffe wrote:
>
> I haven't really got any Comments on the 2nd set except the
> accompanied part of Bev's Drum solo reminded me of Cozy Powels "Dance
> with the Devil" in places.

For Jon's information, the accompanying drum solo is called 'Let There
Be Drums' which Bev released as a single back in 1976. The original
was recorded by drummer Sandy Nelson way back in the early sixties.

> I thought Don Airey? last time and Louis Clark this time did very
> little and I certainly could not hear much of what they were doing.
> It seemed a waste having the Extra head in the Touring band.

Last year I went to the open air gig at Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham. On
one occasion, Lou completely missed his cue, due to a beer break! (during
Sweet Talkin' Woman if memory serves me right!) The only strings that could
be heard were those played by Mik. When Lou eventully realised and quickly
jumped in and started to play, the whole of the string sound came alive.
It's not until moments like that you realise how much contribution Lou (or
Don) makes to the band. Hardly a waste!!!


                                **********


Subject: Re: Ipswich 21 Oct.
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 18:54:07 +0000
From: Jules McNab 

Hi y'all,

>I also enjoyed Concerto for a Rainy day a lot to. And of Course Mr
>Blue Sky. I normally think of Out of Blue unfavourably because I think
>of Songs like the Jungle one but Perhaps I should dig that out again
>too.

Definitely do.  I don't like Jungle at all, but the rest of it is a
pretty astounding album, especially Big Wheels... so many good songs
that are passed over by many because it's been given this "over
commercial" image.

>Love or Money was very good. Am I picking songs that Eric Troyer
>sings? I think he has the best voice in the band not that there is
>anything wrong with the others. It just seems more ELO like to me.

You're picking songs that Eric writes, as well as sings.  He was
originally recruited to the band because of his ability to write songs
that sounded ELO-esque.  It's a real talent when you can write a style
of song to order.

>I was interested that Serena thought they had done Horace Whimp well
>that night. I can remember thinking how empty sounding it was. Perhaps
>I was just missing the Days of the Week between verses and suffering
>from it being quite.

Well, Kelly was doing all the voices in the song, which meant it's quite
difficult to do the layers.  It would have been better if one of the
others took the days of the week over etc.  They had to shorten it too,
so they didn't do the entire song.  That might have impacted it too.

>It amused me that Bev introduced Louis Clark as Mr Exciting. I thought
>Don Airey? last time and Louis Clark this time did very little and I
>certainly could not hear much of what they were doing. It seemed a
>waste having the Extra head in the Touring band. Perhaps Louis helps
>get bums on Seats I don't know.

As it's been said in other replies to this posting, it isn't until Lou
(or Don) isn't there (due to a fault or him forgetting!) that you
realise how much depth is added by the orchestral keyboards.  It's very
difficult to put your finger on which sound is coming from Lou's
keyboard, but at soundchecks when he occasionally plays by himself, it's
a very powerful wave of sound that comes out.  The band certainly
wouldn't carry an extra person they didn't need.

>ELO Part II might not be in the big League anymore but they still put
>on a very good light show. It is not in Kiss's league of course but
>with just a few Vari-lights it is very effective

The lights are just getting better, thanks to the Lighting Director,
Greg.  What a talented guy he is - having sat with him on the lighting
desk (with JK!) and seeing how much he has to do, I was truly impressed.
I really thought a lot of the lighting was computerised and once it was
set up it was a doddle, but this isn't the case at all!!  Greg is a
genius.

>So where have all the other reviews got to? Did only two or three UK
>people on the list go to a gig?

Ahem!  I know it was a while ago, but I did the very very first gig at
Bristol - came home and wrote it at 2am!!!!  I was planning on doing a
gig from the eyes of the tour manager, and it was organised that I was
spending the day with him at Derby... except I spent most of the time
being incredibly ill.....  Sorry!  Next time mebbe.


                                **********


Subject: Re: Ipswich 21 Oct.
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 10:30:53 -0500 (EST)
From: NYWRITER

> Last year I went to the open air gig at Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham.
> On one occasion, Lou completely missed his cue, due to a beer break!...
> The only strings that could be heard were those played by Mik. When
> Lou eventully realised and  quickly jumped in and started to play,
> the whole of the string sound came alive. It's not until moments like
> that you realise how much contribution Lou (or Don) makes to the
> band. Hardly a waste!!!

I remember one night at Madison Square Garden...not sure which album ELO was
promoting at the time, but Bev stood up behind his drums, clicked his sticks
together in the air, tried to step on his bass drum pedal & fell instead.
He quickly recovered and sat down.  I was mortified!



End of Showdown #013
********************

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