Consett Empire

Consett Empire

Review by Peter Shaw

Sat 7th Nov 2009

Jolly Good Music E.L.O Style

I don't know how many of you (If any) who actually read my ramblings remember the band E.L.O (Electric Light Orchestra). If you don't know the band, then you'll almost certainly have at least heard "Mr Blue Sky" played at some point, on TV or in an Advert of some description.

Why am I on about an old band, that hasn't been in the charts for some considerable time, well it just so happens that myself and "Mrs Shawty" went to see a tribute to the great E.L.O on Saturday night (7th Nov 2009) at our local theatre here in the UK (Consett Empire for those who know where it is) and to say that the night was a fantastic night out would be an understatement.

I often find that tribute bands fall quite short of the expected experience, esp if you happen to have first hand experience of seeing the original band in the first place. However "The E.L.O Experience" did exactly as it says on the tin. They provided a fantastic experience, which you really could not in anyway imagine that you were not watching E.L.O perform live on stage. For the entire show I (and my better half) could not sit still, and when we weren't clapping along, the foot was tapping, my hand was tapping , following every beat of the drum produced by Tony Lawson on the drums.

Without doubt if they visit my neck of the woods again, I'll be there you can count on that. The only way this show could be better is if E.L.O themselves were up there on the stage. So from myself, and my other half, and the many people who were in the audience at Consett Empire on Saturday 7th Nov 2009, I'd like to say a huge Thank you to

• Danny Louis
• Jan Christiansen
• Pete Johnson
• Steve Hemsley
• Tony Lawson
• And the Girls playing the cellos (Sorry I didn't quite catch your names)