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For Maggie and me, the trip to the UK seemed more like an extension of the North America tour, with just 10 days between the two. However, we found out straight away that the concerts were the only similarity...from accommodations, cities, and people to food, internet connections, and methods of travel...the words least likely to come to mind are "nothing changes". |
| ATTENTION!!!
CHANGE IN SETLIST!!! (WOOHOO!!!)
I can't wait, I simply CAN NOT wait to tell you the change in setlist! They added: FOREVER AUTUMN Solo by Justin Hayward Accompanied by Gordon Marshall and Paul Bliss on keyboards. It was as FABULOUS as I had always imagined it would be! SIGH We regretfully left our hotel in Paris after a mere taste of its streets and indescribable ambiance. Every minute there was lovely, and though the weather was a bit cold, it was sunny and everyone we met was warm and kind to The Americans in Paris (my apologies to G. Gershwin). I had the bad luck to "look" Parisian and several times found myself being called to or approached with the blissful assumption by said approacher that I was a native. We said our final good-byes to the Eiffel Tower, which we could see from the door to our hotel 
and settled ourselves in our cab, which contained the first service person
we met who spoke not a SINGLE word of English. We hoped that the
bellman had clearly told her that we were going to the Paris Nord train
station, since we didn't have a CLUE where we were going or how to properly
get there! The ambiance faded bit by bit, as we drove further and
further from our hotel in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower and we finally
saw another side of the great city. This view culminated at our arrival
at Paris Nord, where our taxi was surrounded by beggars, pickpockets, petty
criminals and prostitutes. Did I leave out drug addicts? LOL!
Our Parisian driver looked VERY worried and turned around in her seat toward
me, reached out and ZIPPED my purse, and said in a LOUD voice: ATTENCION!
(Yes, she had my attention and I was all ears.) She said nothing
more, but we were on the alert. We jumped out of the taxi, avoiding
the beggars (Indian women with babes in arms), caught our bags as she quickly
slung them to us and RAN into the train station as our stalwart protector
beat them off with a stick. One man followed us in and tried to chat
me up, and I was afraid that perhaps I had dropped something, but decided
that whatever I had dropped was less important than getting the hell OUT
of there. I dreaded what unspoken pitfalls and dangers awaited
we two little innocent and wide-eyed Midwestern gals, but as we entered
the station the very first thing we saw was a glass elevator with EUROSTAR
on the side. It was aglow in a ray of light, and we heard angels
singing. We sprinted into it, pressed ALL the buttons and ascended
to heaven.
The EUROSTAR to London is a fabulous, first class operation that was in complete contrast to the sordid scene of destitution and despair outside the train station. Nattily dressed employees took care of us from the very moment of our arrival. We were packed down with luggage, including the laptop that I had taken to Europe under the pressure of thinly veiled threats from desperate American Moody Blues fans who demanded their usual "fix" and would NOT take *no* for an answer. At the proper moment, we were ushered from the pleasant waiting room to the platform and traversed down a most bizarre stepless escalator. I *felt* like very well cared for luggage on it. The first question put to us on the Eurostar was "would you like champagne"? The food was very good, the ride smooth and before we knew it, we were in the Chunnel. And OUT of the Chunnel! We arrived at Waterloo station, then took a taxi to Paddington station for our train to Bristol. We had the oldest living taxi driver in the UK - he was 112. OK, he was only 77, but that was still amazing. Tho I attended the last Moodies concerts at the RAH, I had not explored the city, preferring to save my tiny bit of energy for the demands of rock 'n roll. It was quite thrilling to pass Big Ben, and then I was startled to see #10 Downing Street. While I was pondering that, we rounded a bend and I saw guards in familiar uniforms walking in front of a large, ornate building with a high fence. Yes, we had run by Buckingham Palace JUST at the changing of the guard. I was so startled that I loudly asked our driver WHAT we had just passed and he nonchalantly confirmed what our startled eyes had seen. I suggested that he warn us next time, and he delightedly entertained us with his travel commentary for the rest of the ride, including the fact that cattle had been raised in what was now a nearby park, and pointed out the spot where the gallows had stood. Yes, we went from the guillotine to the gallows. He also made a point of showing us where HE lived! LOL The train ride to Bristol was not quite the Eurostar, and we groused for some time since we had first class tickets (where they were probably serving Diet Coke) and had had to LEAP with our heavy bags into the nearest car, with absolutely no human way to thread thu the intervening cars to our proper and paid for place. We were brave about it and spent our time enjoying the cell calls of our seatmate Laurie (a businessman) who talked about all his problems with "Donna" (who had given her notice just before being "sacked") and the trouble she had caused him with the Ministry of Transportation. We were sorry to see Laurie leave our silent but attentive company, and hope that Donna lands in a position better suited to her limited talents. The highlight for me, Sue rather dissed it being a JLfan (ahem - THIS week at least! She's terribly fickle! JL had better throw her a pick or two if he wants to keep her.) was traveling through SWINDON! Yes, Swindon! 
Childhood home of the world's greatest guitar player, Mr Gibson himself,
our own beloved Justin Hayward! I will admit to being shocked and
disappointed to the point of tears, that the edge of town did NOT have
a large brass placard to that effect. I attempted to cajole SueC
and charm her with the proposition that we spend the afternoon wandering
Swindon's hallowed streets, and get to know the community that had sheltered
and nurtured my rock icon to greatness, perhaps laying some flowers in
appreciation on the Commonweal Grammar School steps, but SueC would have
none of it, saying simply: "You're nuts!"
Bristol is a cute town and quite the hopping place! There are an unbelievable number of young people and of bars. As luck would have it, this weekend Bristol is FILLED (along with our modest hotel) with footballers. By this, I mean football fans. And of course, not FOOTBALL, but soccer. We were escorted up the lift after the concert by a quite pickled one, pickled in part because his team had lost today (Chelsea perhaps? He was wearing blue), but he was friendly and did not say that he had thought the Moody Blues were dead, and so won our favor. We tried to platonically console him, but he was a brave lad, beaten, but not broken. We fled to our room when he threatened to break out into NIWS. Sympathy has its limits. Everything seems close to our hotel and we repeatedly pass by an attractive small marina. After a lovely high tea at a local hotel in Bristol, we returned to our room so that SueC could change.. I was wearing a JH tee-shirt - what could be more attractive than that? (Especially to JH) We walked to Colston Hall and were surprised to see both tour buses in FRONT of the hall. 
The advertising policy seems to be if a concert is sold out, then no advertisement
or promotion is necessary! There were no posters outside, though
a number of other concerts were advertised. Someone STOLE the poster
*inside* before I could - the rat! Colston Hall is very interesting.
It has a modest brown stone exterior, no marquee, a short series of steps
up with an inside box office. Stairs to each side of the box office
are used to enter the hall - one must go UP to go down. There's
a bar at the level of the stalls, then more stairs to go up to the balcony.
The auditorium appears to be a modest symphony type hall, and I would emphasize
modest. It's obvious that Colston Hall does NOT have a list of big
money donors. It's intimate, and seats approx 1000 to 1200 (my guess),
with an old, scarred wooden floor holding perhaps a dozen rows of temporary
chairs. The chairs were damned annoying! They folded up with
significant spring action when one stood, and so you had to be damn careful
to pull it out when you wanted to sit back down. It was this that
no doubt discouraged the Bristol fans from jumping up and applauding, for
they were damn reluctant to do so, especially in the first half.
Behind the floor was a raised area of theatre seating. There was
a balcony with boxes on either side. All in all, it seemed a rather
worn and poor place! However, and most importantly, the sound was
good, the balance was generally ok. Gemini Dream is the continued
exception to this tale, with the vocals again being too low. (But
a GREAT funky guitar part if you are lucky enough to sit RIGHT in front
of JH. It's completely different from anything else I have ever heard
him do: Total Coolness) There was a nice concert hall quality to
the sound, the sound was loud enough to "feel" like rock 'n roll, but without
any unpleasant distortion. In fact, it was one of the few times that
I didn't really need ear plugs, and I use them religiously. I put
them in, I took them out and finally put them in my pocket for good.
The stage was on the low side, and seemed shallow; the mikes were pushed
out and were about three feet from the edge of the stage. It was
Moodies in Your Lap Night!
Security was close to nonexistent - no purse searches, no queries regarding cameras, but with a sign that said "No photographs, no recording" which was ignored in practice. All they did was tear your ticket! LOL There were guards at the sides of the hall with SECURITY T-shirts on, but none in front of the stage. The concert was SOLD OUT! A few tickets were sold in front of the venue. One guy wanted 100 GBP for Balcony Row P. I don't think he got it! He obviously has a future in brokering in the US. LOL The Fashion Report RT - Black on black (long slvd shirt) no change at half GE - Car shirt (per SueC - I missed it but promise to do better), black slacks, New black short slvd shirt second half JL - White on white embroidered shirt, leathers, boots, black long-slvd shirt second half JH - Waiter's outfit (see prior reviews at www.moodysojourn.com for explanation), no change at half The Battle of the Buttons No major developments in the BotB tonight. JH's tuxedo shirt had three buttons undone, and was open to midchest: pleasant, but tasteful! JL had v-neck type shirts on, rather than collared, but they were fully buttoned. JL *did* have his cuffs unbuttoned on his white shirt. It was a very pleasant temp in the venue. I eventually took off my leather jacket, but wasn't hot or cold. It was obviously a different situation on stage, because they were sweating as if they were in the summer Miami sun. JL had a good sweat up on Slide Zone, Ray was seen wiping the sweat off his face at various times, and JH had rivulets of sweat running down his cheeks in addition to the spotted upper lip. It was quite fascinating, and I was bewitched by the sight of actual drops of sweat making their way down his cheek to his chin. They reminded me of tears. THE LITTLE SHEEP IS SHORN! JL has had a haircut! It's VERY short (well, for JL!)  He
looks like he did in his twenties, when he just joined the revamped Moody
Blues. I only hope those lovely curls went into a keepsake bag, that
he plans to pass on to me later in the tour. It's a good look, but
I prefer it long. JH however, does not appear to have visited his
hairdresser during the tour break and his hair is LONG. It still
looks damn good and is very becoming. Will he get his hair cut on
tour, or is he experiencing some middle-aged rebellion?
Will a tattoo be next? The Concert All singers were in good, no GREAT voice. Surprisingly, this didn't sound like a first concert of a tour. I'll have to consider it a continuation of the Spring USA tour. The Band was tight, and played well together. There were no glaring errors, and few minor fluffs. The Band members and backups seemed rested and in good moods. The setlist was unchanged EXCEPT for the shock announced above - the addition of Forever Autumn to the setlist. I would LOVE to know why that incredible treat was added, but I can honestly say that it has made my trip to England. I would have gone to Outer Mongolia to hear it performed. The four other traveling fans present had the same reaction I had: shock, amazement, heart palpitations and absolute, immeasurable joy. THANK YOU, JUSTIN HAYWARD! Justin oddly ALSO had a different introduction to The Actor! It quite put me off; I didn't know WHAT song he was introducing! He's starting to surprise me. ; ) I'm almost afraid that he will come out one night with a tray of drinks, lean down and say "Here's your effing martini!" LOL!!! Having said the flattering (and sincere) comments above, I must also say that if you've never experienced a concert in the UK, my advice is: DON'T!!! The Moody Blues concert experience in the UK is VERY different from what one experiences at Vegas/AC/Chicago/Seattle. It is, in a word: gruesome! I had only experienced the RAH in England before, and realize now that it was colored by the large number of American attendees. I'll admit I had been warned. Nonetheless, I was shocked. My philosophy is to try always to be a gracious and considerate visitor where ever I go, and to respect the customs of the people I visit. Tonight I realized my limits: I can NOT do this when we're talking rock 'n roll. I am a Stranger in a Strange Land. I *knew* I was in trouble when the audience did not stand (and applaud wildly) when the Band came out to the opening strains of The Voice. AAAACK!!! Polite applause was the rule of the day. I will never, never EVER complain about a US audience being dead. *THIS* was dead! There were some fans in the front row, and they *did* seem to enjoy the music, and surely their THIGHS will be a bit sore tomorrow, since that is the manner in which they clapped along. Are they afraid to make noise? Backward glances confirmed the legal death of the rest of the crowd, who did not even clap along at all. They did not STAND after Tuesday Afternoon! How could they not? And worse, they cast their dead spell over John Lodge, the epitome of fun loving, into-the-music, up there and loving it rocker in the world. He acted so uncharacteristically during The Voice that I wanted to jump up onstage and put my head on his forehead to see if he had a fever. No punches in the air on The Voice (Oh, oh, can you feel it?), and he hardly MOVED. No leg kicks from Justin. Wow! You had to see it, to believe it. Sigh! I gritted my teeth and I behaved. I felt like I had been tied in leather restraints - and NOT in a good way! The music was the same. Almost the same. I'm *not* a big dancer, I'm not a big stander and I don't THINK I horribly bother the people on either side of me at concerts. At least SueC never complains! OK, she's doing pretty much the same things *I* do. LOL This was shocking - both on stage and in the audience. I got up at the end of TSIYE for the end of the shuffle, along with a few others, and joined up with another traveling fan for that perfect after sex smoke (now you know the REAL reason why smokers RUSH to have a ciggie at Moodies intermission). We shared our feelings and they were mutual! She was hot about it, and as miserable as *I* was. But we had a healing experience at intermission. Truly, the Lord works in mysterious ways! You can smoke inside the venues in the UK (shocking, I know! LOL) and I had to ask some nice local people to move to allow me to put out my smoke, and we began TALKING to them. They *wanted* to stand too, but wanted US to start it! (huh?) One of the locals said we don't KNOW when the Moodies will be in Bristol again - we HAVE to enjoy it! They told us to stand, to clap, to dance. Hmmmmm It gave me food for thought! I approached the second half differently! I "allowed" myself to ENJOY IT! When it comes to music, you have to do what you have to do. I didn't stand, but I allowed myself to clap along as I do at every venue in the USA. (And Canada, eh? lol!) I swayed, I clapped along, I did *my* thing. I didn't get UP for Singer (a crime, imho), but I really enjoyed it. But when it came to Question, I GOT UP. I had to! And people DID get up, and it was great. A few younger gals came up to the front and stood about 2 feet from the stage, and one grabbed my hand and four or five of us held our hands up and swayed together. (Um, they don't SING during Question either!) After Question, the young gal turned to me and said "I'm quivering all over!" And you can bet she REALLY was, when I pulled her up beside me AT the stage for SeeSaw! Will I survive this tour? I sure had my doubts during the first half of tonight's concert in Bristol. Am I corrupting them? Destroying their culture? Changing them? You bet ya! MaggieMay I'm proud to be an American, 'cause at least I know I'm FREE! |