By Michael Eck
Special to The Times Union
For over 20 years England's Moody Blues have been
turning out hit records that merged almost Victorian rock aesthetics
with the most contemporary sounds.
They brought those sounds to the Saratoga Performing
Arts Center Monday night for a twohour concert that fulfilled
all their promise, and elated fans. new and old alike.
Opening up with their 1979 comeback hit "Gemini
Dream" and "The Voice," they cruised right through
songs from 1967's landmark "Days of Future Passed" as
well as 1988's "Sur la Mer."
Every song was treated equally, performed with the
same intensity.
Vocalistguitarist Justin Hayward, always the
heart of the band, was impeccable. He is blessed with one of those
voices and over the years his range and tone have only improved.
He wraps his voice around each song, usually moving within their
complex arrangements from a near baritone to a falsetto-with perfect,
unwavering pitch all the time.
He is not usually thought of as a guitarist and the
band is certainly not thought of as a guitar band. But in concert,
his instrument takes on a much more prominent role both as a rhythmic
and melodic voice.
The hottest moments of the show turned around his
guitar solos, usually terse and to the point except for a longwinded
ride in their 1972 classic "I'm Just a Singer in a Rock n
Roll band."
Fellow vocalists John Lodge and Ray Thomas also took
their occasional spotlights. Lodge had been playing the rock star
all night but backed off for the balladlike "Talking
Out of Turn." Thomas, perhaps the most uptight looking character
to ever grace a rock stage, sang the silly, selfserving
"Veteran Cosmic Rocker" as well as the group's magnum
opus, "Legend of a Mind," the song that garnered Thomas
the "cosmic rocker" tag in the first place.
When all three sang together the blend was just as
rich as it always been, a constant mix of almost theatrical singing
on some of their bigger numbers. The passing of vocals between
Lodge and Hayward on "Isn't Life Strange" was particularly
impressive.
The band encored with two songs that depended heavily
on that vocal attack: "Question" and their traditional
set closer "Ride My Seesaw."
"Question" was Hayward's baby from the
opentuning jangle of his guitar to his commanding vocal
he steered the song through its many changes.
And "Seesaw"? Well, they just rode that
one home.
[The Times Union, mid 1989]