https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2024-10-16/elo-signs-off-over-and-out/

ELO Signs Off, Over and Out

By Raoul Hernandez, October 16, 2024, 10:59am, Earache!

In 2018, when ELO last buzzed the Lone Star State, Birmingham’s classic(al) pop brigade hadn’t touched down for a U.S. tour since 1981. Dallas proved the closest the pre-pandemic 10-date trek came to Austin, which finally received a make-good Tuesday night at the Moody Center but with the same mixed results.

Busy decade for Jeff Lynne, the filament in Electric Light Orchestra since 1970. The original act broke up in 1986, after which the sole constant didn’t revive the brand until 2001. Returning only in 2015 with Alone in the Universe, he followed the aforementioned brief tour three years later with a full-blown American haul the following year, wherein he released From Out of Nowhere. That album’s tour caught COVID like everyone else’s and never happened.

Until last night.

Twenty-second show out of a total 27, the Austin pit stop hosted a flagging Lynne, 76, and a 13-piece Orchestra: three guitars – the Brummie’s made four – three keyboards, three-piece string section, two backup singers, and a drummer. Try as they might, and a Herculean effort at that, they couldn’t prop up the main attraction, who much like his fellow Wilbury Tom Petty’s final road expedition, barely moved onstage and maybe didn’t even utter the word “Austin.”

Lasers worked swell, English force of nature Melanie Lewis-McDonald put the operatic in “Rockaria!” and the giant flying saucer light rig behind the band beckoned ELO’s heyday of enough legitimate hits to play far beyond a once again perfunctory 80-minute main set and five-minute encore. American Airlines Center in Big D won’t win any prizes for acoustics, so Moody sounded far better, Lynne no longer drowned out by his big band. Even so, he only mumbled “thank you, thank you” over and over, repeatedly flashed doubled-fisted yet wan thumbs up, and never truly addressed an arena that appeared filled to the very last seat.

They had a ball, too, all those folks – Austin in the house, as always.

When the music worked, the genius of Lynne lit up like that space ship: “Sweet Talkin’ Woman,” “Turn to Stone,” and a rather stomping “Don’t Bring Me Down.” At only a couple junctures that his arrangements stripped down a plaintive and unadorned vocal such as the beginning of “Telephone Line,” the singer revealed a voice mostly intact. Exerting his biggest burst of energy all evening, he fast-strummed an acoustic in unison with his guitar brigade for lightning instrumental jewel “Fire on High.”

Mostly though, smooth rides clanged and clunked (“Last Train to London”), tempos lagged (Dallas highlight “All Over the World”), and harmonies collided with melodies (“Shine a Little Love”). Worse, no palpable joy radiated from centerstage, nor particularly noteworthy chemistry. When is enough finally enough?

ELO titled this The Over and Out Tour.

Moody Center set-list, Oct. 15, 2024

“One More Time” “Evil Woman”
“Do Ya”
“Showdown”
“Last Train to London”
“Believe Me Now”
“Steppin’ Out”
“Rockaria!”
“10538 Overture”
“Strange Magic”
“Sweet Talkin’ Woman”
“Can’t Get It Out of My Head”
“Fire on High/Livin’ Thing”
“Telephone Line”
“All Over the World”
“Turn to Stone”
“Shine a Little Love”
“Don’t Bring Me Down”
—-------Encore—-------
“Mr. Blue Sky”