To relive an ELO Rockaria! moment or not

Brynne and I saw Jeff Lynne’s ELO at the Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville on July 3, 2019. The ‘70s super group, with its perfect fusion of rock and roll, classical instruments, laser lights, and yes, even some cowbell, soared through its greatest hits, leaving me and the new missus on an ELO high, which still lingers today. It became the benchmark of our concert-going.

ELO remains my favorite concert – and I’ve seen many (Rolling Stones, Springsteen, U2, etc.). That it occurred on our honeymoon might’ve contributed to the show’s specialness. New nuptials or not, the ELO concert has yet to be topped.

The show exuded pure happiness. I remained enthralled and undistracted throughout the live performance, which included 20 sing-along songs, from the opener, “Standing In The Rain,” to the encore, “Roll Over Beethoven.”

Not only was the band perfect, so was, seemingly, every audience member – the latter a rare statement for me to make considering the far too many unfortunate, personal episodes experienced during past arena rock acts I’ve paid good money to see. I pleasantly came to realize that ELO simply has the best fans “All Over The World.”

Everyone I know likes ELO. I mean … only a monster would unleash bitchery against “Mr. Blue Sky.” Even if you don’t know you like ELO, you probably do, surprised, perhaps, when the deejay informs you that the song you just sang along to was an ELO song.

To hear a concert chorus of 20,000 strong sing “Turn To Stone,” “Sweet Talkin’ Woman,” “Rockaria!,” “Telephone Line,” “Last Train To London,” “Xanadu” … well, it doesn’t get better than that. Every ELO tune has a “Sweet Caroline” effect on people.

In past columns, I have recounted incidents of concerts being ruined by yahoos with seats near me. The overriding theme: it only takes one person to make a concert disconcerting.

My one and only Eagles concert (back when Glenn Frey was alive) was ruined singlehandedly by the ear-splitting shrieks and out-of-tune, non-stop backup singing of a banshee just behind me. Asked her to cool her jets, she dedicated the rest of the evening to establishing my deepest regret for buying a concert ticket.

Ticketmaster should include a feature where customers can choose seats based on profiles of people who have already selected seats near the ones you are pondering – sort of like online dating, perhaps with vital data about how many times they have been escorted by Security from venues, levels of belligerence based on color-coded, terrorist alerts once used by Homeland Security, average ratio of alcohol spilled versus alcohol ingested, and body height (especially important when it comes to seeing who could be sitting in front of you). At a U2 concert, a guy just in front of me was so tall and wide that he blocked the entire stage view.

Entering Bridgestone, I prepared myself for a “Showdown” with potential drunks positioned either beside or behind me. I wasn’t worried about distractions directly before me because our seats were strategically located in row A of a balcony-like section.

Great seat placement, plus an amiable audience there solely for the music, plus a spectacular performance involving artists with no “artistic” qualms about playing their greatest hits for the world’s greatest fans, equated to my favorite concert experience ever.

I recently learned that Jeff Lynne’s ELO will be performing closer to home this year – in Indy. I anxiously used my Ticketmaster app on the first day of the public sale to reserve seats for the September show, but I hesitated just before finalizing the transaction. What if my ELO experience doesn’t measure up to five years ago? What if someone near us decides that he or she is the real entertainment for the night? What if my seats aren’t ideally located, or the Bono boulder guy returns to block the stage? What if Jeff Lynne says, “Sorry, mates, but we’re above playing that blimey ‘Evil Woman’ song on tour again. We’ve sung it for 50 bloody years!”

What if a bad ELO experience erodes my enduring love for their 2019 performance? Would our ELO honeymoon suddenly be over? Why not play it safe, be happy with the previous experience? The ELO concert bucket list box has been checked already, why check it again?

Ultimately, I bailed on buying tickets for a second ELO show, deeply satisfied with my first ELO experience. If I need to relive it, I can simply listen to Jeff Lynne’s ELO – Wembley or Bust on Spotify (there is a slight deviation between set lists but it’s basically the same show).

The 2019 Jeff Lynne’s ELO show was so damned enjoyable that I just can’t bring myself to see them again. How weird is that? It’s like saying no to a second potato chip.

Still, I highly recommend that you attend their upcoming Indy show, even though I CURRENTLY don’t plan to be there. Note my emphasis on the word “currently.”

The show is still a month away, and lately I’ve been perusing Ticketmaster for ELO seats. Who knows, you might end up sitting next to us after all – if the seats are right and if the price is right and if I find faith that you will be receptive to my request that you “Don’t Bring Me Down.”

Email Scott at scottsaalman@gmail.com.