When I last saw the Moody Blues perform it was probably in the mid 90's, and those guys were "old" then. Circa 2009, these fine musicians are like a wine that has matured to its fullest flavor and aged near perfect. With 3 of 4 original members + an excellent female flutist, acoustic guitar, harmonica, and keyboard player, along with 2-3 extra keyboardist/percussionists. Put 8 excellent musicians on one stage with today's technological innovations in sound/lighting/mixing, and you have near recorded quality sound. If only we had shut our eyes so we didn't know they were pushing 70 years old. This was confirmed when John Lodge told the crowd that he first played with his mates 50 years ago Sunday!
After a few drinks in the VIP and a light dinner, the Dogg & BLT proceeded to our seats to watch the show. Sunday was a very hot, muggy Michigan day, with temps around 94 at show time. As expected, the crowd was primarily 40-70 years old, the pavilion was full and the hill 2/3rds full. I loved watching all the fine dressed ladies of Oakland County attend their first show in years, only to find out their cheap ass husbands bought $5.00 dollar lawn tickets. These babes just spent money on getting their hair done, make up painted on, and were dressed accordingly. Well...right after we took our seats, the skies erupted with all of God's power! Rain fell so hard that the hill had rivers flowing within 15 minutes. The wind blew so hard, we got wet 20 rows into the pavilion! What a hoot! All these finer older ladies soaking wet, make up running down their cheeks, and the high heels sinking with every step! The Dogg loved every minute of it. Who needs a warm up act when you have this side show to watch. Hell of an impromptu "wet- T- shirt" contest.
Oh yeah, there was a concert too. It was overall an enjoyable 2 hour show. The music was excellent sounding, the lights OK, but something was lacking. I know what it was, it was the ability to move around and connect with the crowd. It is the lack of current relevance that was missing. It was spontaneity of action. What I'm saying is, the band seemed to just go through the motions. No excitement (other than the weather), no interplay with the crowd, nothing new to report musically. They played all the hits, Nights in White Satin, Tuesday Afternoon, I'm Just a Singer in a Rock & Roll Band, etc. Played them well, but once again, something was missing!
Crowd B
Atmosphere B-
Sound A
Lighting B
Staging C
Weather E (but fun to watch)
Bands B
Overall performance C+
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