Liverpool Empire Theatre

Liverpool Empire Theatre

Review by Writebase

Mon 3rd Feb 2020

The ELO Experience – Electric Light Orchestra

The ELO Experience – Electric Light Orchestra arrived at Liverpool’s Empire Theatre last night as part of their UK 2020 Tour, and what a night it was. They have been delighting ELO fans all over the country now for over 14 years and last night certainly didn’t disappoint. Many eager fans were ready for a night of reliving those classic prog rock days armed with their glow sticks to make it a night to remember.

Opening the show with a bang with All Over The World, The ELO Experience had landed. There was little banter during the first half other than a brief hello as the music took precedence. Throughout the first half, we were treated to a collection of the band’s hits with a wild card album track thrown in for the real ELO aficionados. This came in the form of Latitude 88 North; however, this album track classic was preceded by the performance of The Diary Of Horace Wimp, which was accompanied onscreen by a very impressive stop-motion Lego animation. It was so good, so clever and, like the night overall, it has to be seen to be believed.

A stellar performance was given by the whole band; 14 years of performing have clearly ensured that they are as closely knit as one of Jeff Lynne’s jumpers! Andy Lewis’s performance of Jeff Lynne is uncanny, and even a die-hard fan would struggle to pick fault.

During Stepping Out, we were treated to a little more insider information regarding the Out Of The Blue Album. This included the period Lynne wrote the album, where he was and eluding to some of his inspiration during that session of era defining creation. Small gripe would be that the onscreen text wasn’t as clear as it could have been and in general the show could really benefit from an update of their graphics/animation overall.

 

The remainder of the first half was populated with great tunes such as Showdown and Wild West Hero, and we didn’t even miss Olivia Newton John in Xanadu. It’s A Living Thing took us into the interval leaving us on a high and ready for the second installment.

The second half took us on a whirlwind journey of more songs from Out Of The Blue as well as a good dose of Jeff Lynne’s infectious rock and roll style. The Last Train To London took us straight down the line and into Rock and Roll Is King which was accompanied by dancing monkeys, twisting kittens and a whole plethora of amusing clips.

Violinist, Liz Stacey came front and centre (not for the first time in the evening) as we readied ourselves for what was to come. Roll Over Beethoven began with Tom (of Tom and Jerry fame) onscreen conducting and Stacey took the baton and ran with it. The whole stage came alive as this Rock and Roll classic rang out around the theatre. That unmistakable rock ‘n’ roll distorted lead guitar with the harsh strings just gets the goosebumps up. Francesca and Rachel on Cellos, not to be outdone, treated us to some of the best Cellography I have ever seen.

A rendition of Don’t Bring Me Down and Mr. Blue Sky finished off an amazing memorable and all together well rounded performance of ELO’s back catalogue.

Summing this up, The ELO Experience – Electric Light Orchestra is a must-see for any ELO die-hard or even the most casual fan.

Overall Rating: 8/10 – Very Good

Further Information

For more information about The ELO Experience – Electric Light Orchestra, click here.