LOVELY TO SEE YOU LIVE

This was a surprisingly good concert from their 2005 concert at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. Norda Mullen has replaced Ray Thomas on flute and vocals and her female voice adds color to the other voices in the absence of an orchestra. Graeme Edge gets assistance on drums from Gordon Marshall who's a more vigorous drummer than Graeme. Keyboards are covered by Paul Bliss who replaces Mike Pinder who left the band after the Octave album. Justin Hayward and John Lodge are the heart of the band who wrote all the hit Moody Blues numbers. The band now are more of a folk rock band than a progressive rock band and numbers off their more recent albums like December Snow (December) and Lean On Me Tonight (Keys To The Kingdom) display their romantic side. Since I'm not familiar with Moody Blues after their classic 70's period it was good to hear these songs and another romantic song Justin wrote, Forever Autumn, off the War Of The Worlds rock opera. The band show that they are still capable of performing rocking numbers like I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band) and Question. The songs breathe without the incumbency of an orchestra and the girls' voices add another dimension to the music.