John Lodge – The Royal Affair and After (Live) (Album Review)

Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr +

Carrying on the legacy of The Moody Blues is clearly at the forefront of John Lodge’s thinking in releasing this compact live collection from the summer of 2019. As the band’s legendary bassist and one of their main vocalists and songwriters, Lodge has been one of the three sustaining faces in The Moody Blues’ latter years, along with Justin Hayward and Graeme Edge. While the Moodies have essentially been retired for a little while now, Lodge has steadily continued on, releasing a fine solo album “10,000 Light Years Ago” in 2015 and subsequently touring with his own band each year. While that solo material was well-chronicled in 2017’s “Live in Birmingham”, this new live album release is exclusively a Moody affair, featuring many of Lodge’s brightest moments as well as tributes to his former bandmates.

The Royal Affair Tour was a summer blockbuster of classic heritage acts featuring Lodge, Yes, Asia, Arthur Brown, and Carl Palmer’s band. Yes has already released their own live album from the Royal Affair Tour so perhaps it was inevitable that Lodge would follow suit, complete with Roger Dean lettering of his logo’s namesake. The quantity of bands in one evening necessitated a shorter, more focused set and thus it’s not surprising that the versions herein are a bit shorter than in some of the “Birmingham” arrangements, with the total run time lasting only 45 minutes. Still, the main premise of the album remains intact: presenting the best of the Moodies to a new generation and returning older fans with a crowd-pleasing set.

Lodge’s band is clearly up to the task, keeping the energy surprisingly high despite their band leader being well into his sixth decade of performance. Bandleader Alan Hewitt is largely responsible for this success, impressively supporting the required orchestration from his banks of keyboards, while guitarist Duffy King and longtime drummer Billy Ashbaugh drive the energy throughout along with the welcome addition of cellist Jason Charboneau. These fine musicians lay the groundwork to allow Lodge to shine on top with his vocals, bass and most importantly – charisma – which conveys his sustaining love for the material.

The real treasures of this collection are the unexpected “tributes” to the other songwriters of the band. “Timothy Leary’s dead…no, he’s outside looking in,” announces the surprising choice of “Legend of a Mind”, written by the band’s flautist Ray Thomas and not performed by the Moodies since Thomas retired in 2002. After that wonderful “trip” down memory lane, the psychedelia continues as Mike Pinder’s “Sunset” is plucked out of “Days of Future Passed”’s “Evening” for a beautiful, exotic arrangement which tastefully pays tribute while providing something new and special for this 2019 audience. The sounds of tabla and tambura blend perfectly with King’s guitar soloing and Hewitt’s orchestration, a simply gorgeous version and a standout of this collection.

A collective tour provides the fortunate option of band members guesting on each other’s sets, which in this case paved the way for the classic “Nights In White Satin” to be added to the setlist with lead vocals offered by Yes’ Jon Davison. While it’s hard to beat the original with Justin Hayward, Davison’s smooth angelic voice does offer a lifting rendition, Hewitt’s orchestrations adding the necessary touches. The piece is proceeded by its poetic preamble “Late Lament”, originally written by Edge but voiced by Pinder. Here we are treated to a recording of Edge’s voice reciting his own lyrics, made all the more poignant now by his passing this past November.

Of course, many of Lodge’s own gems are included here, from “I’m Just A Singer (In a Rock ’n Roll Band)” to “Steppin’ In a Slide Zone” to the Blue Jays song “Saved By The Music”. “Gemini Dream” sounds great in this context, one of their biggest hits co-written by Lodge and Hayward. While most of those classics are driving rock numbers aimed at getting the audience dancing, for the poetic “Isn’t Life Strange” cellist Charboneau comes to the fore a bit more, as he does again during the intro to “Ride My See-Saw”. Always chosen as the show’s closing number, “See-Saw” finds Davison returning to share vocals with Lodge and the ensemble for an energetic finale.

Mission accomplished – Lodge has certainly delivered a tight, pristine collection of Moody Blues live highlights which benefits from impressive studio-quality production. While there are more extensive live recordings available – including the 2017 Birmingham set – this is an accessible release for the 2020’s which will serve its purpose in carrying the flame of the Moodies forward into a new decade.

Released by: Halesouth
Released on: January 14th, 2022
Genre: Progressive Rock

Musicians:

  • John Lodge / vocals, bass
  • Alan Hewitt / keyboard
  • Billy Ashbaugh / drums
  • Duffy King / guitar
  • Jason Charboneau / cello

“The Royal Affair and After”  Track-listing:

  1. Steppin’ in a Slide Zone
  2. Saved by the Music
  3. Legend of a Mind
  4. Sunset
  5. Late Lament (with Graeme Edge)
  6. Nights in White Satin (with Jon Davison)
  7. Gemini Dream
  8. Isn’t Life Strange
  9. I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)
  10. Ride My See-Saw (with Jon Davison)
8.6 Great

The Royal Affair offers a career-spanning live set packed into a tight 45 minute timeframe. Rather than aiming at languishing in extended arrangements and jams, these versions of Moody Blues classics get right to the heart of the matter which is to highlight the band’s songwriting legacy and carry it into the future. John Lodge and his veteran band display their lifetime of experience in every song, so the audience is always in capable hands, carried away on an enjoyable trip down memory lane. A well-produced, well-executed retrospective that reminds us of the wonder of the Moodies but sadly doesn’t dwell too long.

  • Performance 9
  • Setlist 8
  • Arrangment 8
  • Production 9.5
Share.

Comments are closed.

error: This content is copyrighted!
25,510Fans
2,046Followers
63,400Subscribers