Electric Light Orchestra – Zoom Tour 2001 Review

With a tour canned for lack of interest, the decision was made to take Zoom, the 2001 Electric Light Orchestra album, to television. Make the best of a bad situation all you like, but hindsight is a sharp pain in the back of the head and to lose out on a set of Jeff Lynne at this time is to let rare opportunities slip through your fingers. It is not like Zoom had as many great tracks as the glory days but it did not deserve the awkward side glances people gave it at the time. PBS picked Lynne and the band up, what was left of them, anyway, and gave Lynne a platform to perform these 2001 treats. This show is no knock on Lynne, who can stand proud of his performance here and the eventual live roots it would form on the return of ELO over a decade later, but it did signal an end of interest in the project for a good while.  

Considering the band would be playing Wembley Stadium just over a decade after this performance, it is stunning to see Lynne and company relegated to a poorly-lit UFO-like stage. His vocal range at this stage is still impressive and opener Do Ya proves it. But the problems begin to splice the performance, particularly the studio-like quality of Evil Woman. This issue is for those who are already intimate with the studio recordings and are desperate for some new layer, some spirited live performance. Look elsewhere. This is as straight and narrow a performance of the hits as it gets, an unwavering commitment to replicating how they sounded thirty years ago. Lynne does such a good job at adapting these works to the stage that he may as well sit down, plug a stereo in, and pop a CD in. All the major changes are up to Richard Tandy, who pops up for a piano solo or two where an orchestra could not fit.  

Lynne is a charmer on stage as he introduces the likes of Strange Magic and it is the personal flourish which makes or breaks a live performance. Yes, you can listen to these tracks in almost identical form on the albums, but that remains a credit to the vocal range and consistencies of Lynne more than anything. It is difficult enough for Zoom to stand out given the troubles of travel at the time, the lack of ticket sales and the reduced stage presence which comes from not being able to make good on a tour. His charm comes from this seemingly nervous position, a man who does not want the limelight because he has no use for it. Lynne does not benefit from being showered in praise and the humble continuation of his tone takes the likes of Livin’ Thing and Mr. Blue Sky up a notch.  

Much of the joy in these ELO live performances is the recognisable flourishes, the consistencies which come and go in songs standing up well decades on from their first outing. Don’t Bring Me Down feels like a suitable set-ender for this as Lynne and the band make the best of a bad situation. It was no fault of his that interest was not there in big enough waves to make for a tour at the time, nor was it down to him that the tour would be pulled. PBS then feels like a blinding light in an otherwise dark moment for ELO, which would head back into hibernation after what can be perceived as a failed comeback. But nothing about it sounds or looks like a failure. The band is in fine form, the performance is all there and the right notes are struck throughout. The 2001 Zoom tour remains an anomaly, but what an excellent listen it is.