THE line-up of 1970s pop titans ELO has fractured and divided so often over the years that it was almost a surprise to find that the latest touring offshoot, The Orchestra (so called because Jeff Lynne has the rights to the name ELO), still comprises
a couple of members from their mid-70s heyday in the persons of orchestral arranger Louis Hooked On Classics Clark and violinist Mik "Violinski" Kaminski.
The most recent line-up shuffle has come about in sad circumstances, following the sudden death of bassist Kelly Croucutt earlier this year, which was respectfully referenced throughout the show. Happily, his replacement, Glen Burtnik, clearly has the soft rock chops for the job, being a former member of Styx.
One could quibble that The Orchestra are closer to a quality ELO tribute than the real thing these days but all that really mattered to the enthusiastic audience was whether they could deliver the hits, and there was no pretence that they were going to do much else.
Their set was a regimented conveyor belt of pop gems with a few late period pub rockers thrown in to disturb the harmonic reverie created by the voices of Burtnik, guitarist Phil Bates and keyboard player Eric Troyer, who expertly handled all the falsetto parts so vital to the ELO sound.
Slight deviations from the hit factory – such as drummer Gordon Townsend's rendition of the Beatles' If I Needed Someone and their reworking of Twist & Shout by way of Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear The Reaper – were introduced almost apologetically, while a cross-dressing roadie wandered about. But the band retained their focus for the closing salvo, kicking off with Evil Woman and winding up with the glorious Mr Blue Sky.
