Who
The ELO Experience
Where
Cannock Prince Of Wales Centre
When
18th November 2021
Price
£25.00 (FREE for me!)
Who with
Dad
Position
Seated, in the middle
Comments
I agreed in passing many months beforehand to attend this show with my Dad, but I was barely aware of the event. It was just a vague commitment in the diary, which I confirmed a couple of weeks beforehand was still on! I failed to coordinate the date with a dental appointment on the Tuesday, but the main sacrifice was that there wasn't time for an Indian meal beforehand. Considering it's expensive and tough to judge how long it would take, and attending a show in that bloated state can be unpleasant, I really didn't mind too much. In fact I'd seen the real Jeff Lynne since my last time enjoying The ELO Experience in 2014 at Birmingham Alexandra Theatre, although I had to do a little checking to see that they were in fact the same tribute band. In fact on my original viewing I noted that I'd missed the opportunity to watch them play in Cannock, so this concert finally closed that gap! It was an interesting week, with a ten day gap before starting a new job. My relaxation was somewhat broken by my washing machine ceasing to function, and I do wish I'd asked for more time off, but never mind. All being well I'll semi-hibernate and catch up over the winter up until June or so! I spent much of the week catching up with photos and TV, but I had built up quite the backlog to work through. On the day I watched Jeff Lynne live at Wembley to get myself into the mood, and also as it was on my TV box from months ago. I think I've seen it before but felt a rewatch was in order either way. I also had a think and realised that ELO are unarguably Birmingham's greatest band ever. I'd say the rest of the top five are Duran Duran, Black Sabbath, Dexys Midnight Runners and Editors, which is a reasonable mix, but the second city is probably punching a little beneath its weight!

I drove home in good time and my Dad drove us onto Cannock. The roads were pretty busy but we got to McDonald's ok. I enjoyed a five chicken selects meal and a Celebrations McFlurry but they weren't as efficient as usual, forgetting both the sauces I'd ordered and bizarrely not having any napkins available to pick up. Time quickly ran away from us as we drove to the car park nearer the theatre. The weather was dry and acceptable, but with a threat of cold and snow in the weeks ahead. We walked to the Cannock Prince Of Wales Theatre, not having enough time for me to check out St Luke's Church lit up at night. As a theatre show we knew that 7:30pm was actually likely to be the starting time! As far as I can see it was my first time visiting since watching The Searchers way back in 2009. For the most part I try to resist being pulled along to these oldies shows as they are often fairly lame, but it was a free night out and the ticket was going spare. We quickly made our way in and had excellent seats - central, slightly elevated and in line of sight with the stage. The theatre looked larger than I remembered, and it clearly was a sell-out or very close, with the seats crammed in in front of us. Strangely the seat in front of me remained empty throughout, which is weird as it was one of the finest views in the house! The band's name was written on the drum kit and all was set up. Before we knew it The ELO Experience arrived onstage, this time forgoing the UFO that apparently they commenced with last time around! They opened fairly predictably with All Over The World, which sadly sounded a bit flat. The vocals seemed too loud and less smooth than Jeff delivered, but improved greatly as the show went on. Possibly the sound mix took a while to settle down, as the intro music also started off a little quietly too. There was a video screen but it was fairly low tech, featuring just a globe in the background here. The production value was in the sheer effort of recreating the ELO sound, with a seven-piece band doing an admirable job of performing some extremely complicated arrangements.

Apparently "Jeff" had been ill and had to cancel quite a few shows after the virus restrictions had lifted, with tonight being one of their first shows back (potentially the first back since their illness). He seemed on good form tonight though for sure, with a Jeff wig and sunglasses making him look the part. Next up was Evil Woman, and quite a few of the crowd were arriving late, predictably wanting to sit in the middle. By now the sound was improving but it was still fairly sedate, with the lovely Telephone Line being dispatched next. Great, but it could have worked better once the audience have warmed up? Early highlight - as it was last time - was The Diary Of Horace Wimp. It is a tune that Jeff didn't perform and the same Lego video from last time was utilised. It was a contender for song of the night and the fact that the real ELO didn't perform it - mixed with the excellence of the Lego video - went a long way to convince me that the show was worth attending after all! They played what they announced as a new song, which I can't place at all. It was fairly catchy so I don't know if it was a deep cut or if the tribute band had been bold enough to record ELO-style songs of their own! I think they played the lovely Can't Get It Out Of My Head, and Showdown was catchy like last time. This is the point I'd complain about the real Jeff Lynne not playing Wild West Hero, but checking my review he'd in fact played it for me! It's hard to believe I'd seen them way back in April 2016. It certainly doesn't feel that long, and that was before the world fell to shit with Brexit, Trump and Coronavirus. Heady times! They played the lovely Xanadu and also Confusion, neither of which Jeff had performed for me. The latter I confused with other songs until it got going, but it had a very dynamic introduction and should be a permanent fixture on any serious ELO setlist! The first half then finished with the exciting Livin' Thing, which I've rarely clocked as a favourite, but the crowd seem to love it. It got everyone going a bit before the group announced a 20 minute break, which I'm sure was a little longer than that.

We wandered around to stretch our legs, and I missed the chance to check out the church, annoyingly for me. It was a fairly relaxed place with no insistence on wearing masks or anything, and it felt like being back to normal. It is unusual how some venues don't have any measures in place, but really the whole point of the vaccine was to return to reality and to dump annoyances like masks and closures! "Jeff" had said beforehand that he'd forgotten to bring the merchandise stand with him, and that it fell to one guy with two glowsticks to share them with the rest of us. This is what they'd done last time around, with the same interval after Livin' Thing. I'm sure that the show differed a bit, but the structure was very similar. I joined the queue for the loo and resisted buying a drink. None of the other shows advertised took my fancy, but it was interesting to note Basil Brush was playing a spring pantomime with Kerry Katona as the Wicked Witch Of The West! Larger names than Wolves Panto was offering this year in fact! We returned to our seats and the second half commenced with Twilight. In the absence of glowsticks there were some phone lights being waved about. A few people were taking photos and videos intermittently and after a while I realised that the ushers weren't harassing them, so I took a few of my own. Shine A Little Love was fab and very dynamic, with some very pleasing crowd participation by clapping. It felt like they'd really nailed it, possibly more than the real Jeff Lynne had done! Last Train To London was a cut not played by the real band, and with one line cheekily changed to be last train to Cannock! It's a pleasant enough tune but far from essential, and had a double meaning today as the HS2 line to Leeds had been cancelled after much fuss. I don't believe The ELO Experience played 10538 Overture last time, but for me its main point of interest is reminding me of The Changingman by Paul Weller.

They may have played Rockaria!, but much more exciting was Sweet Talkin' Woman. By this point a few older members of the crowd were dancing in the aisles to the front and the left, and the ushers to their credit didn't feel the need to scream at the crowd and try to get them sat down again, as they'd done at the Alexandra Theatre. The excellent clapping participation continued and the crowd was a decent mix of young and old, not having the tragic feel of a full-on oldies concert. Last time around was just before Jeff Lynne's triumphant return, but as he is so famous and can't play everything there is still a little niche that a tribute band can fill. It wasn't the redundant exercise I feared! Turn To Stone remains a favourite and the audience always find time to applaud the cool fast bit in the middle. Unusually Jeff Lynne doesn't seem to play Hold On Tight, so this was a real moment where The ELO Experience fulfilled a genuine need, even if the London 2012 Olympics footage seemed a little dated now. It's a lovely song and the French lyrics were put onscreen to encourage us to sing along. I don't know why the real Jeff doesn't play it, he certainly should! Even more so I could say that about the glorious Rock 'N' Roll Is King! But The ELO Experience have found a really good way to do it, with some cheeky YouTube footage of monkeys dancing to the chorus, which escalated to some comedic dog and cat videos. Really excellent! Unlike the real deal, Roll Over Beethoven wasn't saved for the encore, and at points the violinist seemed to be striving for Gogol Bordello energy levels. This must be a difficult one to pull off, but by now the sound was bang on and they smashed it. They also did Don't Bring Me Down brilliantly, with a good go at the clapping and "woo hoos" to get us all drawn in nicely. They cheekily claimed it was the last song and left the stage, but I think we all knew this wasn't really the end!

The band returned and chatted about their social media, saying it would be nice to hit a million followers and that they had just 999,900 to go to hit the target! They claimed to be on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and to have their own website, but had given it a bit of a break amid all their show cancellations recently. Final number was obviously Mr Blue Sky and it was a good chance to introduce the band. There were two ladies on violin and cello (I think) respectively, and I recognised the Scandinavian guitarist from last time. He was wearing a purple shirt and looking eerily like Sawyer from Lost, but that could be just my distance from the stage talking! The keyboardist also provided the vocoder sounds and clearly was making an important contribution to the mix, including during this obvious finishing number. Many of the crowd got on their feet but I'm always frustrated how this reasonable tune so overshadows ELO's other equally excellent songs. Still, it's an obvious way to finish, and I find the real Jeff's devotion to a Roll Over Beethoven encore a bit strange, mainly being a throwback to their original setlists I guess? We made our way to the exits and back to the car park, driving back home so I could pick up my car and drive onto my flat. Also a load of laundry had been very kindly washed and folded for me to keep me going until my washing machine recovered! I got back well before 11pm but stayed up late drafting the review, continuing that burst of energy to write this entire review the morning after the show. I just didn't want something else on my to do list! The ELO Experience obviously delivered the hits, and it is understandable that When I Was A Boy and Handle With Care didn't make their setlist. They hadn't slavishly rethought their setlist to mirror the real ELO, and that makes sense to me. I'm not entirely sure but I don't think they played Strange Magic or Do Ya, and the fabulous Four Little Diamonds remains as far away from an ELO setlist of any kind as ever! I heard the hits the next morning and feel motivated to watch the real Jeff Lynne do his thing again. The ELO Experience were right to save the biggest thanks of the night for the great man himself!

Mark: 7.5/10