The 13-piece band was large enough to recreate every last note of those phantasmagoric hits. The group, directed by guitarist Mike Stevens, boasted three (sometimes four) guitarists, three keyboardists, and a three-piece string section to replicate Lynneâs intricate productions. The 71-year-old Lynne, meanwhile, stood center stage, his shaggy hair and beard looking entirely uncolored by time, his face concealed by his trademark dark glasses. Backing singer Iain Hornal occasionally took over on lead vocals, often recreating ELO bassist Kelly Groucuttâs distinct tenor. (Groucutt died in 2009; Lynneâs living ELO compadres, notably founding drummer Bev Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy, are not part of this outing.)
The setlist was pure business. Opening, somewhat surprisingly, with âStandinâ in the Rainâ from Out of the Blueâs âConcerto for a Rainy Dayâ suite, the band mostly stuck to their chart hits, blasting through 19 tunes in 90 minutes, followed by a one-song encore. ELOâs career trajectoryâfrom fusty progressive-rock origins to glittery chart toppersâmade for a somewhat jarring setlist, as the bubble-headed roller-rink anthem âXanaduâ sat next to the hoary, technical â10538 Overture.â And the presence of disco-friendly pap like âLast Train to Londonâ and âAll Over the Worldâ at the expense of earlier, superior work from albums like Eldorado and Face the Music was frustrating.
Further reading: We Can't Get ELO Out of Our Heads, and We Don't Ever Want To (June 20, 2019)
Opener Dhani Harrison joined the group for a run-through of âHandle with Care,â the 1988 hit by the Traveling Wilburys, whose ranks featured Lynne and Harrisonâs father, George. The younger Harrisonâwho had delivered a somewhat schizophrenic set of hard rock, new-age dharma, and purest Beatlesque pop earlier in the eveningâsounded uncannily like his father in the lead mic spot.
It was Lynne's first live appearance in the Rose City since 1976, when the original ELO played the Paramount Theatre (now the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall). After a set-closing and triumphant âMr. Blue Sky,â Saturday night's show drew to a close with a succinct encore of âRoll Over Beethoven.â ELOâs cover of the Chuck Berry chestnut has always been an acute demonstration of the overblown tendencies of â70s FM arena rock. But ELO was one of the bands to define arena rock in the first place, and their songs, which are now firmly ensconced in middle age, sounded perfectly at home inside Portlandâs largest indoor venue.