The Moody Blues, Filene Center at Wolf Trap, Vienna, Va: Sunday August 5, 2007

I'm having a very, very hard time believing it will ever get better than this.

Tonight was simply phenomenal; above and beyond any and all my expectations.

Chronologically speaking: First, before and after the show.....

Leaving home this afternoon, my first thought was "test of patience". It began with a slow train passing on my way to get gas. Then, there was the bear called Interstate 95.

There's just been too much migration to places like Caroline and Spotsylvania Counties. From Ladysmith, past Fredericksburg, to Stafford, traffic was continually stop and go, with the emphasis on STOP.

The funny thing....the easiest part of I-95 North was the part CLOSEST to D.C.!! You know, where it's supposed to get really congested. :)

So, leaving early was good; for a time I thought maybe I hadn't left early enough. The trick was this:

--manage some roads I'd never driven
--get to free parking, while it lasted (according to their website)
--and make sure you're there by 730p when the indoor/covered part of the Filene Center opens.

Happy to report we made it through the roads, got there at 7pm (it took almost 3 hours to get there), found a parking spot and got in by 710. One pit stop at the men's room later, I'm standing in the light rain waiting for 730pm.

Yes, I said rain. Other parts of the DC Metro got bad storms this evening; I'm thankful that didn't occur in Vienna. You may recall my 2004 Moody Blues evening here in Richmond ended up being "Mudfest", plus a delay due to lightning. I still had the time of my life. :)

Witham plus Moody Blues equals rain of a certain extent.

GREAT SEAT!!!! Second row, front of balcony, left hand side. Great view. Made EVEN BETTER when the people seated in front of me left at intermission (What?!?! Are they nuts???), so I had a clear view for the rest of the show.

Leaving? In the van at 10:22, pulled into the driveway at 1250am. That includes dealing with leaving the parking lot and stopping for a Wendy's burger. Now I'm home and you KNEW I had to blog before bed, especially since I took Monday off from work. Deft move, Dad. Very deft. :)

NOW THE SHOW:

The three members of the group, plus a drummer, keyboardist, one lady providing backup vocals and flute, another on vocals and keyboard. Seven in all.

Set One: (Yes, I wrote it all down!)

--Lovely To See You (of course, they're opening number!!)
--Tuesday Afternoon

...then the official "warm welcome from the Moody Blues" from John Lodge which made things officially official.

--Lean On Me Tonight
--Never Comes A Day
--Time Zone
--The Voice (the first tears appear!)
--One More Time To Live
--I Know You're Out There Somewhere
--The Story In Your Eyes (with a wonderfully extended jam to end the first part)

Set Two:

--Your Wildest Dreams (what a song...)
--Isn't Life Strange (performed very powerfully)
--The Other Side of Life (I couldn't help thinking of playing that song on cart at WUPE in Pittsfield, Massachusetts when it came out in 1986)
--December Snow (from the "December" CD of 2003---beautiful song)
--Higher and Higher (the Graeme Edge show, narrative, tamborine and dancing!)
--Are You Sitting Comfortably (harmony; I love harmony)

....then the triple crown of a Moody Blues concert:

1) I'm Just A Singer In A Rock 'n Roll Band----Oh, my gosh. What a song, what crowd participation, the band was VERY energetic and the jam, well, I wished they were still playing it.

2) Then, as only they can do, the Moody Blues are able to take us from that to the haunting yet liberating, unmistakable sound of "Nights In White Satin". Graeme did the narrative first (bit of a twist), then the song, and that is when I lost it. By the time the song ended, I was giving them another standing ovation, wiping now intertwined tears and sweat beads from my face.

I'm sorry, but the words "I love you" have never and WILL NEVER be as powerfully sung in a rock song as they are by Justin Hayward in "Nights In White Satin".

COMPLETE ERUPTION from the crowd, loving every bit of it.

3) Then, to marry the two distinct emotional "screenplays" as it were, of the previous two songs, the third is "Question". Tremendous energy with the two calm, reflective verses, each time going to the heart of what everyone is looking for, worldwide....

"I'm looking for someone to change my life; I'm looking for a miracle in my life..."

Yes, even me, a 32 year believer in my Savior, Jesus Christ, could identify emotionally with the message, thinking of those things past, those yet to come (or maybe aren't supposed to come to pass); and feeling a flood of emotion in a sea of pure musical energy. The song begs for a "jam" version at the end, which we willingly receive. At this point I think they could have started singing from the latest New England Journal of Medicine and as long as the flute played, the guitars rocked and the harmony soared, we all would have been happy to stand in that pavilion for hours on end.

Now, I'd cheated on my blog (thanks to Witham News Headlines), and knew the encore was coming and so when they left, I was ready for that "one more song"....

"Ride My See-Saw"----great ending song! Plenty of rock, energy, pure happiness and, hey, here's a concept, GIVING TO OTHERS!!

"...ride my see-saw; take this place on this trip just for me. Ride, take a free ride; take my place, have my seat; it's for free."

By this point, my concerns about "...if I stay standing can the people behind me see?" were replaced by "...what if I never get to see them again? Screw it, I'm standin'!"

Great ending; great show; incredible performance, AND, my favorite part....it was ALL about the music.

Yes, John likes yukking it up with the guitar and basking in some applause; Justin is pretty level-headed, and Graeme is talented, hilarious, and energetic (and throws drumsticks across the top level of the stage to his fellow drummer rather well....)

Norda Mullen is, in my mind, a very key element to the success of the concert performance, between her incredible flute playing, her vocals and her contagious energy. And Julie Ragins, at the keyboard with great vocals and high energy and knows how to swing with the beat!

Julie and Norda make the live performance go from great to even better. Thank you, ladies! I have to laugh; once during the show I wondered if they were born around the time of "Long Distance Voyager" (1981). God, I'm old. :):)

The bottom, bottom line, is nothing onstage ever attempted to "upstage" the music. The music is the story, the focal point, the "sun" of which everything else orbited.

What a night.
What a night.
What a show.

Unless they come back around here one more time and do it again for us, I think I just hit rock music's mountaintop tonight. At least, the top of my mountain.

It's almost 3:30am and I'm still jazzed; trying to go to sleep should be a hoot.

A wish as I lay down---come back to Virginia...please...one more time!!