Glastonbury has achieved another significant coup with the recent news that Jeff Lynne’s ELO will be appearing at this year’s festival. As the 1970s Electric Light Orchestra they had few bands to equal them in terms of record sales and their lavish stage shows never disappointed. Expect the modern-day equivalent line-up to prove just as popular this summer with their expectant fans.
Main stage appearance
The band will appear on the Pyramid stage at this year’s festival to fill the “legends” slot on the Sunday afternoon. It marks a continuation of their upward path in recent years, since successfully re-uniting three years ago.
They have also announced a 10-date European tour in 2016.
Formed in 70s
Formed in Birmingham at the start of the 70s, their founder members Lynne and the effervescent Roy Wood achieved their original aim of incorporating classical sounds into modern rock and pop tracks admirably. Wood left ELO in 1972, but the band continued to flourish and they became one of the biggest groups of the 70s with record sales of over 50 million copies worldwide.
Attempted comebacks
Their momentum and success couldn’t last though and the news that ELO were effectively no more was made in 1988. Never one to completely give up on a good thing, Lynne attempted to resurrect the band in 2001 with the release of a new album entitled “Zoom”.
Sadly, an intended comeback tour had to be cancelled when ticket sales proved to be underwhelming.
Chris Evans’ campaign
Their latest reincarnation owes much to the perseverance and efforts of the disc jockey Chris Evans. After an encouraging response to their appearance on the 2013 “Children in Need Rocks” concert in London, Evans asked listeners through his BBC Radio 2 show if they wanted ELO to perform again.
Ultimately the campaign provided the impetus behind their appearance at the “Festival in a Day” event the following year in Hyde Park, which sold out its 50,000 tickets in just fifteen minutes.
Fourteen studio albums
Lynne went back into the studio and under the guise of “Jeff Lynne’s ELO” set about producing “Alone in the Universe”.
Released in November last year, the album (their 14th studio album in total) was the first by the band in almost 15 years to feature brand new songs and has become a platinum-seller in the UK.
Of the original ‘ELO’ only Richard Tandy (who joined the band in 1972) is currently still involved with Lynne and was involved in the 2013 comeback.
Unforgettable tracks
Their fans will fondly remember a string of unforgettable tracks from their earlier days such as “Sweet Talkin’ Woman”, “Livin’ Thing”, “All Over the World”, “Hold On Tight”, “Mr. Blue Sky” and the number one hit collaboration of “Xanadu” with Olivia Newton-John.
Glastonbury details
This year’s five-day festival of contemporary performing arts is scheduled to take place between 22nd and 26th June, the venue as ever being Worthy Farm in the south west of England.
The festival location is actually six miles east of Glastonbury itself, between the small villages of Pilton and Pylle in Somerset.
As the largest greenfield festival in the world, it can expect to attract in the region of 175,000 people annually. With its emphasis on seeking to reduce the public’s carbon footprint wherever possible, the festival encourages those attending to utilise public transport if they can.
Eavis family delighted
The event as ever (or at least since the early 80s) will be run by the Eavis family this year. Organiser Emily Eavis echoed the thoughts of many fans at the latest ELO news, her social media message confirming their date on the Sunday teatime slot and ending with a personal “can’t wait” sentiment.
