This outpouring of positive vibes even extended to the opening band Rooney, a nepo baby-helmed ensemble (singer Robert Schwartzman is the son of actress Talia Shire and brother of actor Jason) that got a respectful reception from the primarily 60-something crowd. Their 45 minutes of jangly power-pop set the tone for the night by drawing heavily from the headliner’s catalog.
“We were such big ELO fans; this was a dream come true to be onstage with him,” the fortunate Schwartzman declared.
“I was introduced to Jeff Lynne and was lucky enough to hang out with him, and I played him this song,” he said before launching into “When Did Your Heart Go Missing,” an indie anthem that nonetheless didn’t quite hit the heights of the headliner’s catalog.
Schwartzman’s sentiments were clearly shared by the crowd, who were thrilled to be at the American Airlines Center whether this ends up being the last time ELO comes to Dallas or not. Lynne is unique among rock stars in that he’s a bit of a ghost in the machine, always keeping up a fair amount of mystery as a frontman. Clad in a black blazer and jeans and sporting an admirable amount of hair along with his signature mirrored sunglasses, he strode on stage and launched into the opener, “One More Time,” from 2019’s Out of Nowhere, the band’s last studio album.
With over five decades in the music industry, Jeff Lynne brought his legendary sound to Dallas.
Andrew Sherman
From the beginning, Lynne’s stage patter was as enigmatic as his presence, with the longest sentence being a mumbled: “Thank you very much, glad we got the chance to be here” That was about all the banter the audience was going to get, but the expert musicianship and trippy videos made up for it.
From the moment lasers shot off from the stage and a video filled the iconic spaceship set, the crowd was visibly delighted to turn onto ELO’s vibes-heavy set. During “Evil Woman,” an AI vixen danced through flames while technicolor mushrooms twirled and swirled to accompany “Strange Magic.”
The English musician and record producer might be the sole remaining member of Electric Light Orchestra, but Lynne has always been the architect of its sleight-of-hand fusion of classical, prog rock, pop and disco. And one of his biggest talents is finding the best collaborators (let’s not forget his MTV-era side project, The Traveling Wilburys); for this tour, he sourced the best sidemen and women to shore up the ELO sound. Standouts included powerhouse drummer Donavan Hepburn, musical director/guitarist Mike Stevens and background vocalist Iain Hornal, who did the heavy lifting when Lynne needed to take a vocal pause. Even before Lynne played the opening bars of “Evil Woman,” it was clear this crew was there to deliver his hits EXACTLY as they sounded on the vinyl records all those years ago. The band dove deeper into the back catalog with “Showdown,” “Last Train to London” and “Believe Me Now” before delivering Lynne’s signature blend of opera, rock and strings in the guise of “Rockaria!”
The musician’s willingness to genre-hop while assuring, “I’ll show you how to rock 'n' roll” is what makes ELO so timeless. ELO’s music was never really one single genre, so it appeals to everyone — a realization that today’s artists seem to intuit with ease, but that simply didn’t exist when the band first ruled the charts.
Whatever genre Lynne’s fans are drawn to, the beauty of listening to his catalog of hits is the nostalgia inherent in every song. For Boomers, it’s yearning melodies like “Do Ya,” and “Living Thing.” For Gen X, it’s all about bangers such as “Don’t Bring Me Down” and “All Over the World” (sadly, the only song Lynne deigned to do from the Xanadu soundtrack).
But everyone — of every age — couldn’t help but come together and join the sea of iPhone lights shone in tandem to “Can’t Get It Out of My Head,” rivaling the dazzling impact of ELO’s projected visuals.
By the time the band closed with the ever-optimistic “Mr. Blue Sky” as its sole encore, it was obvious that, even if ELO was no longer going to be around for a long time, the band made good on its promise to give its Dallas audience the best time.
The band's name, Electric Light Orchestra, refers to both "light orchestra music," and to electric light.
Andrew Sherman
