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Moody Blues

Moody Blues image
Parent Issue
Day
16
Month
November
Year
1973
OCR Text

MOODY BLUES
at UM's Crisler Arena

UAC/Daystar pulled off another major concert on Thursday, Nov. 8 when they brought the Moody Blues into Ann Arbor's Crisler Arena. Some people had been so desperate to get in they had camped outside the Crisler Box Office in order to cop good tickets. So the show had been sold out well in advance. Tickets were priced at $5.50, 6.50 and 7 but in a couple hours all 15,000 were gone.

The show opened with the Nicky James Band. The lighting was very visual and at times the band showed some potential, but they never seemed to do anything to distinguish themselves from most other English bands. 1 kept hoping they would break out and really play some rock and roll but they only dabbled here and there so --

The Moodys started their part of the show with a man, who I presumed to be their manager or road manager, announcing that the band wouldn't come on until everyone was seated since they had "special sound effects" and "special lighting effects." He added that they didn't want people to "stand up and go crazy because you can do that when Jethro Tull comes to town." Cool. Here we are in Ann Arbor where most bands aren't satisfied until they have everyone up and dancing away and this guy is saying go freak out with Jethro Tull. A few minutes later they tell everyone to sit down again and the Moodys come on. One of the band asks everyone to light matches "for heat" and at the same time a dry-ice machine is spewing white fog on stage about two feet deep. Crisler takes on a light glow (which is perfect with the white fog) as the Moodys go into "Higher and Higher." They go through a number of their hits, "Out and In," "Watching and Waiting," "Tuesday Afternoon," the whole trip. But I can't get into it. These guys are JUST POP STARS standing up there, looking noble with 15,000 people staring at them like they're holy or something. Jeezus Christ!

These guys aren't anything spectacular. I admit Graham Edge is a dynamite drummer and he was smoking thru the entire set. The rest of the dudes do good vocals and their harmonies are together but they're only competent musicians and not that interesting to me. And that mellotron is TOO much for me to handle. It's an electronic device that uses pre-recorded instrumental tapes to reproduce the sound of several instruments. It might be cool to use one for occasional background parts but Mike Finder was always out front playing it as a primary instrument. You could have 13 chimpanzees with sticks playing behind the thing and it would still sound good. But where is that at?

The Moodys finished off their set with "Singer in a Rock and Roll Band" and split the stage only to be brought back for a single encore, "Questions." Then it was all over. I felt generally bummed out by the whole affair. With so many many GOOD bands from this area having a hard time covering their rent and food bilis, the Moody Blues come in and take away tens of thousands of dollars and split back to their English estates. It truly is a long, hard road.

--Freddie Brooks