Jeff Lynne's ELO Farewell Tour

[Silence Dogood]

I'm a huge Jeff Lynne fan and am going to catch his farewell tour tonight in Dallas.  Any other fans here?  Anyone seen one of these farewell shows?  I'm pretty excited!

[Queequeg]

I'm a huge Jeff Lynne fan and am going to catch his farewell tour tonight in Dallas.  Any other fans here?  Anyone seen one of these farewell shows?  I'm pretty excited!

Enjoy!
Should be a great show.
Please report back.

[Silence Dogood]

Enjoy!
Should be a great show.
Please report back.

Will do!  I just looked online at the parking options at American Airlines Center.  They range from $40 to $150!  T-shirts are $50.  Beer is around $10 a pint!  Should be a fun buy expensive night! 

[StringPicker6]

Enjoy the show!! Anytime you get to see a Traveling Willbury in person it's special!

[Queequeg]

Enjoy the show!! Anytime you get to see a Traveling Willbury in person it's special!

Lynne and Dylan are the only two left.

[Silence Dogood]

The show was really wonderful.  It was my first time to ever see Jeff Lynne, and since it was my last chance to do so, it made it really special.  His band was just an absolute powerhouse.  As far as strings went, he only had two cellists and one violinist.  With it being his farewell, I sort of thought he might have an actual orchestra with him: but the way the show was mixed, the strings were put in heavy and were a big part of the sound.  His lead guitarist (last name McDonald, can't recall his first) was really great.  He had an old-school rock tone going with an SG most of the night.  I think I counted 13 people on the stage.  It was textbook professional musicianship on all levels.  And whoever was at the board made it all sound like I was listening to a CD. 

An odd observation that hit me as I stood in line to get in: probably 90% of the attendees were over 60.  I'd never been to a concert with such demographics before!  I'm 50 and was one of the younger people there. 

As far as Mr. Lynne himself goes, I was honored to be in the same room with him, having been a fan for pretty much all my life.  When I was a little boy ELO was ubiquitous and I have memories of hearing it in my mom's car, restaurants, malls, etc.  The summer before I went into my junior year, Armchair Theatre came out and I loved it.  Then the Wilburys.  I loved that stuff too.  All my friends were into hair metal (so was I!) so I had to listen to stuff like this by myself.  His music is the backdrop of so many good times in life. 

Jeff Lynne didn't display the energy of yesteryear, and he didn't take any guitar solos like I've seen him do online in so many of his other concerts, but his voice was in pretty good shape!  At 76, I doubt most could have stood up there and played like that for two hours.  I was grateful to be even a small part of his farewell and get to see history in the making.

[Queequeg]

Thanks for that review.
Glad you enjoyed it, Sam.
I've had that experience many times of looking over the concert crowd and seeing a sea of 'white heads' (as my son-in-law refers to old folks).
And I am one. 

[StringPicker6]

A few years ago I went to a show to see Don Rickles talking with Regis Philbin. I think the average age of attendees was 78. Still a great show and sadly both of them have passed away now.

[Silence Dogood]

I will also add a bit about the gear used at the ELO show.  Like everyone here, I'm a gear-geek and was looking closely at the guitars used all night.  This AM I've been doing some Instagram-stalking, reading reviews of the show, etc, and have learned a bit more. 

The lead guitarist is a fellow called Milton McDonald (husband to the lady that sings backup for JL - she did a phenomenal job the other night, particularly on the Italian bits in Rockaria!).  I knew I saw a Squier logo flash across the big screen at the show the other night.  It turns out this fellow Milton McDonald has a thing for 80s Squier Strats and has some nice ones.  I always think it's cool when people play "lesser" gear in such a setting.  He and I are probably around the same age and I also have a soft spot for 80s guitars (the pointy ones for me).  On some other songs he used a Bigsby-equipped dark red SG and got an absolutely killer tone out of that thing.  He played some slide bits now and then as well -- the ones on 'Steppin' Out' were really beautiful. 

Jeff Lynne stuck with a black LP most of the night, but he played some sort of Gibson acoustic part of the night too.  It had a PG like a Hummingbird but no graphics on it like a usual Hummingbird.  I'm not a Gibson expert. 

JL's sidekick Mike Stevens used a Martin (probably a D28) most of the night, and at times a Gibson 335-looking electric.  He did some twin solo work now and then with McDonald. 

He has a fellow called Iain Hornal singing background for him that played what looked like an older Takamine 12-string a few times.  That guy is a powerhouse of a singer and really filled in the gaps all night.