Who
Electric Light Orchestra
Support
Dhani Harrison
Where
Birmingham Utilita Arena
When
6th July 2025
Price
£145.00 (FREE for me!)
Who with
Dad
Position
Seated, towards the left
Comments
After seeing Jeff Lynne's ELO in April 2016 I didn't expect to return for more, but my Dad wanted to go and this was billed as his final tour ever so I thought why not? I tried to get tickets immediately, luckily securing two seats for the quickly-announced Sunday show the day after the initial Brum performance. Luckily for me my Dad paid, as after booking fees it cost a stonking £336.55 for seats which didn't seem to be too great and were far to the left. Although an aisle seat is convenient for a quick exit, and I suspect that the best seats were far costlier too. Looking back I can see that I paid £90 back in 2016 for seats far, far to one side, so Jeff Lynne seems to have avoided inflation by hiking his prices before it became fashionable! I got the tickets on 31st October 2024 then had a full eight month wait for the show, and although I received Jeff Lynne at Hyde Park in 2014 on DVD for my birthday, I didn't watch it and I spent most of the build-up listening to Pulp and The Searchers instead. I was a little surprised to see quite a few resale tickets when I checked before the concert, meaning that there really was no excuse for people in Birmingham to not see their city's finest musician! Speaking of which, Black Sabbath had rudely announced their farewell show at Villa Park for the very same night as ELO's Saturday performance, and cruelly took all of the attention. Which is mad when the statistics show me that ELO had 15 top ten singles compared to a measly one for Black Sabbath with Paranoid! Strangely it also says that Sabbath sold 70 million albums to ELO's 50 million, but regardless of which team you're on, it's clearly not right that ELO were entirely ignored and Sabbath got non-stop attention, and the focus should certainly have been more balanced?

Despite my annoyance I still had a constructive day in Birmingham on Saturday and as a dedicated sightseer I took in all the Black Sabbath sights. There was a huge graffiti mural which was crowded with their fans despite it being 11.30am and many hours before the show started. I also saw the Ozzy exhibition in Birmingham Museum and his Lego status at Selfridge's, but the fact that Birmingham entirely ignored Jeff Lynne's farewell to the city is baffling, and my Dad confirmed that ELO were the much bigger group at the time as Sabbath existed in just a heavy metal subculture with little connection to most normal people. There were just a handful of ELO t-shirts I saw as I wandered around and it was a bold move for me to spend a full day in Birmingham on arguably the most important and busiest weekend for music in the city's history. I did wander up to the NIA and was saddened to see that the brilliant bar Sommar had closed down without any fanfare, as my concern had been if it was too rammed to enter, the concept that it would be closed never entered my mind. I also confirmed that Post Office Vaults had indeed closed and was shocked again the next day to hear that excellent pinball bar Tilt had also closed. What the fuck is happening when popular and brilliant pubs can't survive? I took in the Ikon Gallery and the reopened upstairs exhibitions of Birmingham Museum plus saw Jurassic World - Rebirth, and it was an excellent if tiring day. The morning of the show I saw ELO Live At The BBC - as BBC2 had rightfully chosen to do what Brum had not and dedicated an evening of television to ELO. All of the footage was post-comeback but high quality and it certainly helped me to get into the mood. I then went swimming and forced myself to put together my review of Pulp. I had hoped to write up my Kraftwerk review too, but instead I've jumped the gun and written up this one first while it's fresher on my mind.

I also did some extensive cleaning - knowing that my forthcoming holiday to Milan/Italian-speaking Switzerland followed by a weekend seeing HMHB in the Peak Cavern would put me behind on my house keeping - yet still set out to pick up my Dad promptly. I'd been thinking where to park to minimise the walk across Wolves but we settled on the better idea of driving down the Midland Metro line to Priestfield to park at a completely free park and ride car park then get a direct tram that took us straight to the Indian restaurant we'd booked for 5pm. It was a nice way to travel and cruise past the crowds in Brum, and now they've sorted out the chaos of maintaining the trams and have replaced the old ones with their tendency to screech throughout the ride, it was a lovely way to get to where we wanted to go without giving a penny to the greedy fucks who failed to provide free city centre Wolverhampton parking on a Sunday night. We arrived just a few minutes after our 5pm reservation at Barajee and were amongst the first people there. It was upstairs and had a great view of the Black Sabbath bench, which had a permanent and long queue of fans lining up to take pictures on it. It was a bit ridiculous that this was happening the day after the show, but it was a lovely spot and having a fairly traditional Indian meal in central Birmingham felt like a treat. The food was excellent too, as I enjoyed a mixed starter to substitute for not having a mixed grill followed by a lovely dish of duck in curry topped by an omelette and an included side of rice. Of course I also had my mandatory keema naan plus two pints of Coke, and by the time we finished the restaurant was pretty busy and it was clear that at least some of the punters were here to see ELO afterwards. We weren't offered the chance to look at the dessert menu as they clearly wanted the table back, but we thoroughly enjoyed the meal nevertheless.

We also were doing brilliantly for time as doors had opened at 6pm and the show was advertised to start at 8pm, with no information as to the specific times ELO would appear. The canal still didn't seem too busy so we had a leisurely walk in the other direction briefly to see The Botanist on the waterfront. The canals had a totally different vibe to Broad Street, and apart from the booming of the loud and unnecessary music from beneath the restaurant, it had been great to avoid most of the chavvier places. We'd read that Amsterdam had more canals than Birmingham, which is the statistic that they hide from you when proudly pointing out that Brum has more canals than Venice! It was only about 7pm and there was a moderate sized queue but it moved quickly, and they didn't do an unnecessary search but just asked us to empty our pockets of metal then go through a detector. Also I finally could now uninstall the hated AXS App, seeing that I wouldn't need it again until Black Grape in December. Unusually I'd required it for The Flaming Lips, Kraftwerk and now ELO, so had resisted the urge to remove it from my phone while this excellent streak of shows was happening. It was busy inside but not too bad, and we headed upstairs to have an explore. There was a better merchandise stand up there but I was horrified to see that the t-shirts were £40. £35 or even £30 is bad enough, so this was taking the piss, and people seemed to still go for them! There also were street food options such as loaded fries and we couldn't resist an ice cream stand to enjoy the dessert we'd been denied earlier. I had two scoops - strawberry cheesecake and caramel - making it a rare genuinely excellent concert purchase of high quality sustenance. Also the staff were friendly and helpful, and we briefly sat with a couple who'd driven here from Cambridge and would be heading back after the show too!

I saw that two nights at Manchester Co-Op Arena then a finale return to Hyde Park were on the agenda, and it's unusual that he was choosing to finish in London, but given the fuck you that Birmingham had provided by studiously ignoring this show while hyping Black Sabbath to high heaven with multiple events and attractions, I don't blame him. Also it was a nice touch to finish where he started his dazzling comeback in 2014, and it's a surprise to read that Jeff had been born in 1947. I had wondered why he was retiring while in such a rich vein of form, but the more pertinent question would be why he'd done so little in the 25 years before this comeback, but his absence until technology and good quality cameras on phones came along was a smart choice, and probably heightened interest in rebuilding ELO's legend. Also I don't begrudge him taking some time out to live life and do different things, although can't help thinking of what he could have achieved with ELO over those 25 intervening years judging by his sheer brilliance by the time he came back. We peeked through the doors and could see the epic ELO UFO backdrop fully assembled and lit up already, so headed downstairs and into the arena to our seats. There was a huge empty space behind the mixing desk, and I wondered if it was reserved for those who wanted to dance or was intentionally empty due to the obstruction of the mixing desk blocking the view totally? It was a huge number of potential seats not sold, and I never quite worked out what was going on. Luckily our aisle seats were decent as the angle wasn't as bad as feared, and I noted that the entire left (and right) elevated seating areas had worse views than us. Although we found later that the determination of people to stand up eliminated the benefit for anyone who preferred to sit down. Sadly I read that Jeff struggled for the last three songs on the first night in Manchester and had to sit down then be helped offstage, and he cancelled the second night there, and he later cancelled Hyde Park altogether. The Hyde Park cancellation had yet to happen at the time I first wrote this, so the review ahead doesn't reflect the strange reality that this ended up being Jeff's penultimate performance.

The staff were putting out seats to the side for "disabled" people who showed up, who strangely enough seemed to be able to dance perfectly fine when the show got underway! It felt like an informal situation where anyone who wanted to sit on the side could just ask to go there, and I hope that was indeed the case. My Dad was staggered by the scale of the arena and I noted that the layout of the seats meant that you were only ever seven or so people away from being able to get out of the row. It was beautifully designed, and also the air conditioning was much appreciated. Dhani Harrison appeared onstage slightly before the promised 8pm, but proceedings were quite informal and plenty of people were coming and going throughout, luckily rarely requiring us to move to let them past. I'd read before that he'd be supporting and that Dhani was George Harrison's only child and obviously I'd imagined a sweet tribute to his father and touching cover version of My Sweet Lord. I didn't expect his noisy and weird set, or Dhani spending much of his set looking away from the crowd and wearing a black cap and playing keyboards more often than the guitar. As his set progressed he did seem to switch towards proper tunes and I'm hardly someone who is adverse to innovation, but it felt like he was being difficult for the sake of it. I shot one video capturing the noise amid blue lights, and the tragically empty stage as the ELO UFO had been deactivated. He at least was granted use of the side screens, and was kind enough to shout out to Jeff Lynne who he'd known all his life. Only after he finished did the penny drop and I realised that the connection between the two men was George Harrison (obviously) but specifically The Traveling Wilburys. Of course, and Dhani pretty much directly told us that he would be back for the main set. We ventured to the loo and asked if there'd be another interval, having to ask twice to get the correct answer of "no" after first being told that yes, this was an interval right now. Obviously? A brutally honest guy we spoke to said that George Harrison would be turning in his grave after Dhani's set, and at this point it seemed churlish and rude that he'd made no reference to his famous father during his show, and little did we know that he was saving it for his return.

Since first seeing ELO, the legendary vocoder maestro Richard Tandy who had been there in 2016 had passed away, and I had noted that he had quietly vanished from the live band without a clear explanation a while before that. Also Bev Bevan studiously refused to rejoin ELO, and failing to attend their induction into the Hall Of Fame because he had some shitty small town gig previously booked was disappointing. I don't know the background to this, but it feels like a missed opportunity and that the problem is on his side? After stretching our legs I was keen we return to our seats, and ELO appeared a little after 9pm with One More Time. I didn't know the song but everyone immediately stood up, and probably 60% literally never sat down again. It negated the point of a seated show and was quite frustrating for my Dad who had intended to sit throughout and found standing difficult. Perhaps next time we will choose the elevated section - ideally front row - to avoid this problem, although personally I like standing up and the boost in energy it gives you, and sometimes the crowd literally sit throughout and that can be weird when the show gets exciting. I shot a video of the intro of strings gently teasing us and blue laser lights before the UFO disc was illuminated again and Jeff appeared with his trademark hair and glasses! Straight away I spotted that he was standing awkwardly and had no guitar, and Lynne quickly acknowledged that he'd had an accident and broken his (bandaged left) hand. It was very weird and awkward for him not to have a guitar to hold, but it's just one of those things and he was a trooper for continuing and telling us that nothing could have kept him away from this show. Considering that Ozzy Osborne literally couldn't stand up, it would be churlish to complain as Jeff Lynne had much more energy plus the ability to play a full and brilliant set without having to arrange a succession of other bands to fill the time and play his songs for him.

Next up was the wonderful Evil Woman, and comparing my footage with the last show it looks that the production quality was higher, with a proper UFO backdrop whereas before it had been just a round screen. Although as I'd only had a sheer side view last time, sadly for me I can't fully compare. There were plenty of amazing lasers and bright lights - my Dad didn't like the latter, but he did later acknowledge that it was the best production of a show he'd ever seen. I shot a video for Evil Woman, capturing the red lights and fans clapping the intro. My camera footage seemed just a bit tinny, although once I started watching I was broadly pleased with the quality. Jeff made no reference to Black Sabbath at all, not even a cheeky insult for their choosing to announce their farewell the same weekend as ELO had chosen. Maybe he felt ignoring them was the best policy, or couldn't find a positive way to namecheck them? Next up was the wonderful Do Ya, and its monster riff showed Black Sabbath what happens when heavy music meets quality. My video captured flashing lights and it was the best song for me that hadn't been played last time. Immediately it justified the effort of returning for more Jeff, although my superior seating position and higher quality video footage also validated the revisit. After Showdown was Last Train To London, which featured train footage on the swirling round UFO screen. It's a pretty song but this segment was the low point of the show. At the time a chance to sit down was appreciated, but later I thought about the bangers that ELO hadn't played and felt a bit irked that they'd wasted this time on unwanted or so-so numbers. Believe Me Now and Steppin' Out took it beyond mid-tempo to positively unnecessary, and I'm a little miffed to see that they'd played Steppin' Out last time too. When I think later what I'll never get to hear them doing live, it feels tragic to be wasting time on this number.

I shot another video for Rockaria!, as one of the backing singers took the lead for the verse before Jeff took over for the chorus. I think I'm missing a trick with this one, as it barely registers but I know it's a decent song. More interesting was the debut single 10538 Overture, although my video footage showed quite minimal lights. It was a decent song that inspired The Changingman by Paul Weller, and it's strange that neither this or Roll Over Beethoven were included on either of their two greatest hits compilations issued in 2005 and 2007. I rewatch my footage and have to concede that Strange Magic was prettier and more engaging than I remembered, and Sweet Talkin' Woman was also excellent as I recorded from the violin intro right through to the chorus. And that's the thing - from Rockaria! it was wall to wall hits broken up only by Fire On High, so although I focus on what they could have played, I have to be conscious that Jeff Lynne played an excellent, visually stunning and sound-perfect set that included a stonking amount of hits. Dhani Harrison was announced back to the stage for Traveling Wilburys cover Handle With Care, and by taking over the lead vocals and demonstrating that he is capable of singing properly when he wants to, he earned back some goodwill and his failure to mention his Dad in his main set felt more reasonable in seeing him come back and pay tribute this way. I shot a video and it struck me more than last time I'd heard it that this was a tune, and the nostalgic old footage of Jeff's bandmates on the screen and the moment where Jeff came in to sing the chorus was magic. And then they took it up ten notches and delivered the second unexpected delight of the night - End Of The Line! Dhani Harrison remained to join in and apparently it had been mostly written by George Harrison, but in the interests of collaboration all of the band members had been credited for it. It was a lovely singalong and my first video was aborted as it was blurry, before I captured it better the second time. Also it reminds me of the end credits of the final episode of One Foot In The Grave, which is always a delight.

I've been a little dismissive of the ballads so far perhaps, but Can't Get It Out Of My Head was an absolute highlight as everyone turned on their phone lights and created a wonderful stadium rock moment. My video captured blue lights and it was just so lovely, although my footage went adrift at one point as I was multi tasking and trying to shine my own phone light at the same time. I've also been a little mean about Fire On High but I shot a video of its intro capturing energetic strumming followed by a violin solo. I had continued the recording so clearly it had more merit than I'd given it credit for. Livin' Thing I recorded from the end of the violin intro and there was much applause and singing along, accompanied by screen footage of a growing rainforest and blooming flowers to match the theme of the song. The tune that got me into Electric Light Orchestra was Telephone Line and it remains a favourite, and the lovely green lasers meant that this was the one I chose for Facebook afterwards, with a long and lovely recording from the start all the way up until "ring a little longer longer longer" bit. It was mesmerising and an absolute highlight, which is impressive work for a mid tempo ballad. All Over The World is an obvious set opener but it had neither been used for this here or in 2016, and I'd pretty much forgotten all about it in fact. It's a top drawer tune and my video captured the energy and pretty purple lights very well. Turn To Stone continued this mad run of hits, and my Dad was sitting down to save energy, even during Don't Bring Me Down which he doesn't consider to be one of their best songs amazingly. I recorded from near the intro of Turn To Stone but sadly not up to the cool fast bit, which always catches people a little off guard and attracts some spontaneous applause. Also my video captured the cute trick that rotating lights on the UFO were flashed to represent the "turning turning" lyrics, which was very nice.

I'd also forgotten about Shine A Little Love, and although it's never been my favourite I can see why they played it, although by now I was starting to feel a little irked by the time spent playing unwanted songs earlier which could have been crammed full of essential hits. Although I don't think ELO could physically play everything essential without a full 2 hour set, and even then it would be a push, and this is a bit of a harsh criticism as they were pretty close to perfection. My video captured the energy and the lady backing singer emphasising the slightly delayed hand clap, and the sweet little prompts for crowd participation worked a treat and gave more life to the music. I then recorded Don't Bring Me Down from near the intro, as cool purple lights were flashed. Although this emphasised that the band really weren't moving a lot (as their music is difficult to play and Jeff had broken his hand), the music itself rocks muchly, and alongside Do Ya it shows that Electric Light Orchestra can rock out in a powerful and tuneful way that heavy metal could never hold a candle (or phone light) to. Also it was a relief that I wasn't with a Bruce bringing the vibes down! I shot a second phone video of this great tune and the picture quality wasn't as good, and although it was louder the sound was muffled. So it's probably good to know that my actual camera is still capable of performing better and hasn't been rendered entirely pointless. My footage showed fans clapping and enjoying the tune, and we were approaching the end and were already touching the advertised 10.40pm finish time. Clearly Electric Light Orchestra weren't going to finish there though, and I can't quite recall if they left the stage or not before their obvious finale.

Yes, what else could it be next except for the legendary Mr Blue Sky? I shot a long video, recording from near the start up until the first vocoder bit, but I forgot to confirm what they sang at the outset, as despite all popular opinion I believe that they actually say "please turn me over" rather than "Mr Blue Sky", which is a reference to Mr Blue Sky appearing as the end of side 1 and so necessitating a turning over of the record in those dark days before CDs were introduced. One of the backing band gleefully banged a fire hydrant where needed, and I recorded another video of the outro and the start of the ovation, then a final video where I was hoping for another encore and sadly it didn't happen, which I expressed on the way out thinking that it had been planned to include it. They had ran over by ten minutes, and I'd fully expected that they'd finish with Roll Over Beethoven as they had done last time, but sadly it was not to be. Jeff was chatting to a bandmate and I thought that he was asking if they could deliver an encore or not, but I was surprised to read afterwards that they'd only played my Dad's favourite Roll Over Beethoven once since 2019, and in fact the Saturday setlist had been identical and also had not included this. But it's probably for the best that they had finished, as despite a fairly efficient exit there were still a lot of people to circumnavigate and to my surprise most of the trams were now only going back to Wednesbury where the depot was, and we caught the very last tram of the evening to Wolverhampton with just 4 minutes or so to spare. Fortunately only a handful of other punters were getting back the same way, and so we easily secured a seat.

When the tram went through Brum though it got busier, before gradually quietening out as we hit the suburbs. In an awkward moment I assumed that the ticket inspector was just a beggar asking for change and dismissed him, but as he was dressed scruffily in a tatty hat and failed to introduce himself with the customary "tickets please", I have to say it was primarily his error, and given 99% of people hassling you in Wolves and Brum are just pathetically asking for change, I feel justified in assuming that is the case and not wasting my time on the remote possibility that they are asking for something else? I'd never approach a stranger on the street round here, and if I did and was told to fuck off I'd not be able to complain as the legitimate reasons for approaching a stranger on a dark evening are few and far between, and even if I'd lost my phone, keys or cards, it would be my problem and not appropriate for me to hassle a total stranger about it. I picked up my car safely at Priestfield after a smooth tram ride, then dropped my Dad off home before finally hitting my own bed around half past midnight, first changing my alarm to allow for as much of a sleep-in as I could justify ahead of a work day on Monday. Apparently Jeff Lynne's ELO have seemingly never played Hold On Tight, The Diary Of Horace Wimp, Confusion or Four Little Diamonds since their grand return in 2014, which made the fact I'd seen The ELO Experience much more meaningful as they had delivered many of these greats and also presented them in a substantially different manner to Jeff's current live shows.

Rock 'N' Roll Is King, Xanadu, Twilight and Standin' In The Rain were also not played and have been rarely performed by Jeff Lynne's ELO. Also back in 2016 they'd played the wonderful Wild West Hero, and it was an absolute tragedy that it was left out this time. It's one of their finest moments and alongside the omission of Roll Over Beethoven and the fact that Jeff was unable to play his guitar it meant that this show just couldn't outshine 2016, even though some elements were simply stunning. Also When I Was A Boy, Tightrope and Secret Messages had been played last time, although I wasn't too fussed about them. Certainly the repeat viewing was 100% worth the effort, although as ELO are naturally perfectionists it does make me consider the possibilities for improvement even more, and feeling that it is manageable for them to fix the few smallish faults and deliver a literally perfect show definitely makes me that bit more critical. Amazingly this was my fourth consecutive show that I have to award a 9/10 score to, and it would be five on the trot if I categorised Kraftwerk as a concert rather than a festival. This feels like a record streak, and it's very sad that Jeff Lynne's ELO never got the fanatical reception that they deserved in Hyde Park, and it was a shock when that show was 100% cancelled with no attempt to reschedule it. I hope Jeff recovers and gets to enjoy his time either retired or recording, but all indications are that he will never play live again. I've been listening to Do Ya, Can't Get It Out Of My Head and End Of The Line pretty much continuously since seeing this show, and if Jeff somehow does come back for more, despite the high price I think I'd see him again, although ideally as a proper outside/standing show as I feel that the arena and limitations of having an assigned seat were drawbacks that are hard to overlook, even though lots of drama can come with outdoor shows, but on balance they are usually more exciting events.
Setlist
One More Time
Evil Woman
Do Ya
Showdown
Last Train To London
Believe Me Now
Steppin' Out
Rockaria!
10538 Overture
Strange Magic
Sweet Talkin' Woman
Handle With Care
End Of The Line
Can't Get It Out Of My Head
Fire On High
Livin' Thing
Telephone Line
All Over The World
Turn To Stone
Shine A Little Love
Don't Bring Me Down
Mr Blue Sky

Mark: 9.0/10