Lancaster New Era
By JON FERGUSON, Staff Writer
When Graeme Edge of the Moody Blues stepped out from behind his drum kit to grab the spotlight during the band's performance of "Higher and Higher" at American Music Theatre Saturday night, he mentioned that his drug of choice had changed.
Instead of whatever psychedelic he might have been consuming during the 1960s, Edge, who turns 69 on Tuesday, said he now favors Viagra.
"Whatever," Edge roared to the sold-out crowd, "it's still sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll."
Anyone doubting the restorative powers of rock music need only have attended the show to become a believer.
The band's fans, most of whom probably qualify for senior-citizen discounts, sang along to some songs, danced to others and gave numerous standing ovations. Some even sort of rushed the stage during the encore.
For their part, the members of the Moody Blues performed well.
The band includes three longtime members — drummer Edge and frontmen Justin Hayward (guitar and vocals) and John Lodge (bass and vocals). They are supplemented by a second drummer (Edge simply can't deliver the consistent punch needed to drive the songs), a keyboardist and two female backup singers (one also played flute and acoustic guitar and the other also played keyboards and acoustic guitar).
Hayward and Lodge, both of whom joined the Moody Blues in 1966 and went on to write their best-known songs, remain excellent performers.
Age may have robbed them of some of their vocal range (both had trouble sustaining notes in the higher registers) but that didn't stop them from delivering emotional, charged performances of their best-known songs. And it didn't hurt that the backup singers were able to hit the high notes when needed.
The Moody Blues performed all the songs for which they are best remembered during their two-set, two-hour performance, including "Tuesday Afternoon," "The Voice," "I Know You're Out There Somewhere," "The Story in Your Eyes," "Your Wildest Dreams," "Isn't Life Strange?" and "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock 'N' Roll Band)."
They finished with a flourish, closing with "Nights in White Satin" (Edge even delivered the spoken-word prologue called "In the Beginning") and the sublime "Question" before performing the hard-rocking "Ride My See-Saw" as the encore.
Apart from the obvious songs, the band performed a few album tracks that turned out to be highlights of the show. These included tempo-challenging "Never Comes the Day" from "Threshold of a Dream" and the raucous "Peak Hour" from "Days of Future Passed."
At various points during the show, the group projected images of the band (including former members Mike Pinder and Ray Thomas) during its heyday on a screen at the rear of the stage.
The contrast between those images — when the hair was black instead of gray and waistlines were years away from thickening — and the figures onstage was startling.
But the music, which includes some of the best songs of the 1960s and 1970s, remains much the same.
http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/250466
