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Moody Blues at the NYCB Theatre At Westbury

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Moody Blues
NYCB Theatre in Westbury
Westbury, NY
March 29, 2015

For its 1981 album Long Distance Voyager (Threshold Records), the Moody Blues recorded and released a song called "Veteran Cosmic Rocker." Now, almost 35 years later, the band, currently comprised of core members Justin Hayward (guitar/vocals), John Lodge (bass/vocals) and Graeme Edge (drums/percussion/vocals) along with Julie Ragin (keyboards/saxophone/guitar/backing vocals), Norda Mullen (flute/guitar/tambourine/backing vocals), Alan Hewitt on keyboards and vocals and drummer/percussionist Gordon Marshall) are clearly veteran cosmic rockers.

The Moody Blues are best known today as being at the forefront of the of the rock 'n' roll fusion of psychedelic pop and lush classical music. It wasn't always that way. The Moody Blues began its career as an R&B combo in the early 1960s. The group was founded in England by Ray Thomas (harmonica/vocals) and Mike Pinder (keyboards/ vocals) with guitarist and vocalist Denny Laine, drummer Edge and bassist Clint Warwick.

In 1966 both Warwick and Laine left the group. Warwick was succeeded by Lodge, and later that year Hayward replaced Laine. The new (what is known as the "classic") line-up took the band far from its R&B roots toward a new folk-based, ethereal, somewhat classical tinged and slightly psychedelic pop-rock frontier. The result, crafted by Hayward and Pinder, was Days of Future Passed, a concept album about a day's cycle of living that fused classical music orchestrations with rock and pop was released in 1967 on Deram Records and the rest is history.

On a pleasant Sunday evening in late March, closing out a sold-out three-night stand at Westbury's intimate venue in-the-round, the NYCB Theatre, the Moody Blues performed a stellar set of favorites that touched on all facets (with the exception of the Laine-sung "Go Now" period) of its long and storied career.

About half-way through the first set, following the opening late '70s and early '80s radio-friendly hits ("Gemini Dream" with its synthesized driving throb and "make it work out" lyric, "The Voice," "Steppin' In A Slide Zone" and "Say It With Love"), Lodge stepped forward and announced, "We're going to take you on a journey, back to the '60s. All you hippies, congratulations, you made it. This is from Days of Future Past, it's called 'Peak Hour.'"

Although the band continued to feature later-career tracks during the first set such as "I Know You're Out There Somewhere," the band reached into the early '70s to mix-in "You and Me From" Seventh Sojourn (Threshold Records, 1972). It ended set one with "Story In Your Eyes" from Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (Threshold Records, 1971), which sounded quite fresh, as though it was written and recorded in the past few years—not some 40-odd years ago.

After a twenty minute break during which the band member as well as the audience members took some refreshment, the lights again dimmed and the Moodies took the stage revving-up the crowd with "Your Wildest Dreams" (during which a montage of career-spanning photos were broadcast on the monitors above the stage). The fast-paced song from The Other Side Of Life (Polydor Records, 1986) then somehow morphed into the slower and spacey opening of "Isn't Life Strange." During the song, as its arrangement built and shifted, Marshall gyrated, twisted and spun around on his feet while slapping cymbals with his sticks, delivering an amazing one-man virtuoso performance that had to be seen to be believed.

The rest of the evening was a treat for the decidedly middle-aged crowd. The band offered strong performances of exactly what the audience members expected and came for—the timeless '60s-psychedelic-drenched hits and album tracks that have made the band into one of the longest-running all-time best-selling groups of the rock era. "Tuesday Afternoon" was followed by "Higher And Higher," the opening track on To Our Children's Children's Children (Threshold Records, 1969) which Edge, who was celebrating his birthday, said was inspired by the Apollo 11 moon landing. "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" followed, and Ragin's sax and Hewitt's keyboards drove the song that many consider the band's most rocking effort and it's closing jam.

The evening's performance closed with some of the band's best and most-loved songs—an eight-minute version of "Nights in White Satin" that included Edge's aristocratic spoken-word "Lament." The song was played with the reverence and pomp that was both expected and deserved. The powerful and upbeat "Question" from A Question of Balance (London Records, 1970) followed. The encore, though it could also be called the finale because the band never left the stage, was "Ride My See-Saw" from 1968's In Search of the Lost Chord (Threshold Records) was even better. It was a fitting end to the night journey through the Moodies past.

Additional article contributions by Christine Connallon.

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