Some things take a long time. In October of last year, Chicago’s Cubs won the 2016 World Series, ending a 108 year losing streak. Today, ELO announced that it will go on a major tour for the first time in thirty-five years. Beginning on August second of next year, ELO will play ten shows over a course of three weeks. On the twenty-fourth of August they will play a final show in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center.
ELO’s audiences, Jeff Lynne says, are “amazing.” “It’s like they’re in the group. We can’t wait to play for them again.” They can’t wait for you to play for them either, Jeff.
It hardly seems like happenstance that Electric Light Orchestra would formulate a new tour the same year as being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ELO sold more than fifty million records over the first thirteen years of its career. They’ve collected awards on par with Michael Phelps’ gold, and hold a record for having the most Billboard Top 100 hits without ever making it to number one.
ELO played at the Hollywood Bowl in 2016 and has played a few other shows over the years. These performances, scattered as they were, could hardly amass to the definition of a tour. While they’ve been active and successful throughout the years, they haven’t truly toured in thirty-five years.
Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood and Bev Bevan formed ELO in Birmingham, England. Born in 1970, the group’s music offers insights into influences from The Beatles and from the European classical tradition. Their music also includes tones of futuristic ideas; in 1972 Wood left the band, leaving Lynne as ELOs leader, writer and producer. His influence couldn’t be missed. However, Lynne grew tired of the group around 1986 and left. Bevan went on to start a new group, ELO Part II, that now goes by The Orchestra. ELO has largely been inactive until recently. They are back together and a spin-off of themselves no longer.
Tickets will be available on ticketmaster.com by November 17th.
UPDATE (12/4): Jeff Lynne’s ELO has added two new shows – a second show in Los Angeles and a second show in New York.
Jeff Lynne’s ELO Tour Dates
08/02 – Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena
08/04 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
08/05 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
08/08 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
08/10 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
08/13 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
08/15 – Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena
08/16 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
08/18 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
08/21 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
08/22 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
08/24 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
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