In September last year Jeff Lynne took a rebooted ELO onto a festival stage for the first time in 28 years, and 50,000 people bellowed merrily along to a stream of irresistible hits.
Most of those thousands, and many more, surely then had the gumption to tape it off the telly. Still, maybe you live overseas and want to own a classily shot DVD, which also gives you interviews and the BBC documentary Mr Blue Sky – The Story Of Jeff Lynne & ELO, in which case this is a pop-prog paradise.
With the BBC Concert Orchestra bringing zing on the strings and A-list session men backing the 66-year-old Brummie Bacharach-Beethoven, the likes of Livin’ Thing, Evil Woman, Telephone Line and a riff-roaring Ma Ma Ma Belle mix melody and momentum impeccably.
On this hook-happy jukebox there’s even a deft take on The Traveling Wilburys’ Handle With Care. It won’t bring you down.
