A band I liked very much from the mid 1970s to the early 1980s was the Electric Light Orchestra, aka ELO. Originally a joint venture between Roy Wood (of Move fame) and Jeff Lynne (of Idle Race fame), it soon became solely Jeff Lynne's creature. He wrote a string of great albums and several chart hits, all using traditional orchestral instruments alongside modern electronic ones. I bought all the vinyl albums, and later on the CDs too, which enabled me to rip the music off them and have it forever on my successive digital devices, current phone included. (And not just on my phone. As many as four backups exist of my music at any one time, regularly refreshed)
Although it evolved, ELO's sound was always very distinctive and recognisable. Each album had a theme, generally in some way other-worldly or futuristic. Speaking personally, I think ELO's output has stood the test of time quite well, not dating in the same way as (say) much of the Beatles' output has dated. I was, and remain, a Beatles fan; but they are very much tied to the 1960s scene and the social changes the 1960s brought about. On the other hand, if you want to evoke the spirit of Britain in that key decade, an era that perhaps now needs re-evaluation, who better to express it?
But ELO wasn't fixed forever in the 1970s or 1980s. The 'ELO sound' could be adapted to other kinds of music. A striking example is Not Alone Any More, a song Jeff Lynne wrote especially for Roy Orbison when both were members of The Traveling Wilburys in the late 1980s. A masterly meld of the ELO sound in maturity with Orbison's wonderful, unique and so well-remembered nasal voice, it served as both Roy Orbison's comeback vehicle and his very last great hit. Apparently he was staggered by the welcome his appearance in the Traveling Wilburys lineup brought forth from the public, having for twenty years written himself off as irrelevant and without contemporary appeal. It led him to consider the possibility of a revived solo career - an unwise decision that quickly killed him. If you have never heard Orbison singing Not Alone Any More, do it now: it may sound like ELO in the background, but the song has the tempo of Pretty Woman and the sunset anguish of It's Over. It is so, so reminiscent of the Big O at his best. A fitting farewell recording, surely.
I lived in Southampton in the 1970s (with London within easy reach by train), and in London itself in the 1980s; but despite that, only two bands ever saw me buy tickets to see them with a friend: Brian Ferry and Roxy Music, and ELO, and only once each. That was - I think - in 1979 and 1981: I'll have to check my old bank and credit card statements to check. I never saw another band after that. In fact, I've not gone to any kind of pop-music stage performance since 1981. Not for for over forty years. Getting married in 1983 evidently turned a fresh page for me!
But in July 2025, Jeff Lynne and a reconstituted ELO are going to give farewell performances in a few places around the country (Birmingham among them, of course), culminating in a grand final concert in London's Hyde Park. Will I get tickets and attend?
I'm tempted. I've gone so far as to look up the price of tickets on the official ELO website. It would cost me hundreds of pounds: and with rail fare and food for the day included, the whole thing would probably leave me out of pocket by £1,000. That's way too much. Besides, my cash resources in 2025 are already committed to the big Orkney holiday, new glasses and, inevitably, further dental work.
But then there's another thing. Do I really want to see a band led by somebody several years older than me?
I don't think so. I want to remember ELO (and all other bands and individual artists I once so admired, even ABBA) as they once were, and not dilute or confuse that memory by seeing them as they now are. Up to a point, it's great to celebrate the musicians and artists one appreciated ten or even twenty years on from their most famous era, when they remain much as they used to be. But forty years on? It can't possibly be the same. I have no doubt whatever that Jeff Lynne, aided by the session players and sound engineers in his stage team, would ably recreate the characteristic ELO sound, and it would be a definite Occasion, in its own way unforgettable. But I don't want a recreation. I want what I heard in 1981. Which I can play for nothing, whenever I want, on my phone-and-speaker combo.
The wider question is whether I would ever pay to see a geriatric artist who was famous when I was young, and has not yet died. Mick Jagger, for instance, with or without the remaining Rolling Stones. Am I being cruel? Shouldn't I, as an ageing person myself, with my own wrinkles, aches and pains, and lesser powers generally, be empathetic? And disregard what time has done to these people? After all, time has done the same thing to me.
But I don't want to feel saddened, nor moved to tears. Nor make regretful comparisons with the recordings I loved so long ago. Nor even try to be blind and deaf and deceive myself. There is a time for an artist to quit and never perform again - or at least not perform the stuff that first made one famous, but instead concentrate on the mature works of later life.
Besides, if I'm shelling out as much as £1,000, I want proper value for money. Can a nostalgic performance, long after the glory years, ever provide that? Some might say yes; but I might easily be left feeling that the artist was merely passing round the hat, so to speak, to better fund their retirement. Speaking as a fellow old age pensioner, I rather wish I could do the same. I'll grant that Jeff Lynne (in the present instance) has talent that I do not possess, and if he can still monetise it then - of course - good luck to him. But it's perfectly reasonable for me to weigh the benefits of attending a concert against its costs (and the personal wear and tear from going there).
There is a further thing that makes me hesitate. I don't want to get scammed over buying the ticket, as can happen so easily nowadays. An experience to avoid.
It would be just one ticket: I don't know anybody else who likes ELO and would want to come. But in any case, this would be a very personal pilgrimage, something for myself alone, referencing memories I couldn't possibly share. And it would be a photographic opportunity I'd want to make the most of. I'd want shots of the audience as much as the distant stage. It would be incredibly frustrating to stay fixed in one position, unable to move freely about. But that's probably how it would be. Sat down in one spot for many hours. My right knee wouldn't stand up to that.
To cap it all, I hear that nowadays some indoor venues won't let you buy only one ticket. That could apply to Hyde Park too.
