Let’s get one thing straight: Nothing about Jeff Lynne and Electric Light Orchestra screams “cool.”
His show as Jeff Lynne’s ELO Saturday night at a Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse showed off a catalog that sounds like it was crafted by a nerd slickly emulating the classical, disco, rock and pop music blasting through a stereo. There’s nothing rough, hard-edged or urgent about it. And Lynne’s not one to emote or even move around very much.
But man, those are some good songs. Lynne, a noted musician and producer, is very much the aforementioned nerd in all the best ways.
The show — which stopped in Cleveland as part of what’s billed as the band’s final jaunt, called “The Over and Out Tour” — was 90 minutes of near-flawless execution of 20 songs plucked from a great classic rock songbook. Backed by a dozen musicians — including multiple guitarists, keyboardists, backup singers and string players — Lynne and company hewed close to the recorded versions in a way that was more impressive than sterile, given the songs’ complexities.
Opening with “One More Time” from the 2019 album “From Out of Nowhere” set the tone for the rest of a night that featured multiple references to the end. The song was an outlier, though, as nearly everything came from the 1970s. From “Do Ya” to “10538 Overture” to “Livin’ Thing,” the band rarely let up on the hits.
And while nostalgia played a role, everyone had to be present and focused to pull off the songs with such precision.
Playing in front of a massive screen inside ELO’s iconic logo, the backing musicians were so tight that they even propped Lynne up at times. While the 76-year-old stoic maestro was in fine voice, his guitar was very low in the mix. The other musicians did a lot of the heavy lifting and, as appeared to happen once or twice, were there to pick up missed cues.
By the time the concert reached its final stretch, everyone got a bit looser. The galloping “Turn to Stone,” the classical-disco mashup “Shine a Little Love” and the pounding “Don’t Bring Me Down” closed the main set.
ELO finished up with “Mr. Blue Sky,” once again nailing everything on the original 1977 recording, right down to the clanking on what appeared to be a fire extinguisher.
OK, fine, that was kind of cool.
Openers Rooney delivered 45 minutes of catchy power pop that referenced ELO and similar bands from the 1970s. Led by lead singer and guitarist Robert Schwartzman, the quintet didn’t overstay its welcome with its charming batch of songs that span two decades. And while the music filled the cavernous arena, it took the band a minute to settle in to at least try to play to the cheap seats.
Setlist (courtesy of setlist.fm):
1. One More Time
2. Evil Woman
3. Do Ya
4. Showdown
5. Believe Me Now
6. Steppin’ Out
7. Last Train to London
8. Rockaria!
9. 10538 Overture
10. Strange Magic
11. Sweet Talkin’ Woman
12. Can’t Get It Out of My Head
13. Fire on High
14. Livin’ Thing
15. Telephone Line
16. All Over the World
17. Turn to Stone
18. Shine a Little Love
19. Don’t Bring Me Down
Encore:
20. Mr. Blue Sky
Eric Heisig is a freelance writer in Cleveland. He can be reached at eheisig@gmail.com.
