Jeff Lynne's ELO @ SSE Hydro, Glasgow, 3 Oct
The latest incarnation of ELO really does have the feel of an orchestral ensemble as they return to the Hydro in Glasgow
When Billy Lockett was last in Glasgow he was playing King Tuts Wah Wah Hut (capacity, 300). Tonight he’s opening for one of the world’s most successful songwriters and producers in front of an audience of thousands. No wonder he seems a little overawed.
Lockett is a well-mannered gent, whose new single Fading Into Grey channels Rush of Blood to the Head-era Coldplay. He probably spent a lot of the early 2000s listening to David Gray, but you shouldn’t hold that against him.
Topping the bill tonight is a man whose CV includes globe-conquering conceptual suites, dozens of Number Ones and a list of famous friends and collaborators that includes Tom Petty, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan. Jeff Lynne’s ELO have existed in one form or another since 1970, whirring on like a spaceship with little sign of stopping. Their current tour is supposed to reach five million people over five years, and hours before stage time the fans are already packing in.
From Standin’ in the Rain and Evil Woman to the Travelling Wilburys’ Handle With Care, these are impressively-arranged pop rock classics recreated faithfully by a band carefully assembled by Lynne to deliver them in all their lush and colourful glory. With a dozen musicians on stage, they really do have the feel of an orchestral ensemble as they run through the finest moments in Lynne’s catalogue of hits.
There’s few more ecstatic moments in pop music than the glorious vocoder on the galloping Turn to Stone or the cascading backing vocals on a hit like Sweet Talkin’ Woman.
Lynne’s voice isn’t what it used to be, but the advantage of a sympathetically constructed band is this allows others to take up some of the slack. A stage set that combines enormous video screens with banks of green lasers also offers a serious wow factor.
With ABBA now rightly recognised by a new generation as pop savants, it feels like the moment is due for ELO to undergo a similar re-evaluation. Tonight might not quite mark that sea change, but it more than makes the case for Jeff Lynne as a rarely-matched songwriter and arranger.