Colonial Theater, Pittsfield, MA
May 15, 2014
by Eric Sutter
A wonderful
evening of mellow music delighted fans of the legendary front man Justin
Hayward of The Moody Blues fame. Hayward was on a solo acoustic tour in support
of his latest "Spirits Of The Western Sky." His opening gig of his
tour, at the beautiful Colonial, featured a young finger-style guitarist in
Great Britain's Mike Dawes. His virtuoso guitar strumming combined Celtic and
folk in a instrumental. His original song, "The Impossible," proved
an energetic fusion. His unique playing on acoustic guitar transformed Gotye's
pop song "Somebody I Used To Know."
Next up, Justin
Hayward was joined by Dawes and accompanied by keyboardist extraordinaire Julie
Ragins on back-up vocals. They performed early Moody Blues hits, "Tuesday
Afternoon" and "Lovely To See You," with back-drop scenery of a
soothing setting sun on water. In impressively amazing voice, Hayward performed
"In Your Blue Eyes" which inspired his latest recording. Dawes played
the first of his many electric guitar solos. Ragins' magical dream-like
keyboard sound colored "The Western Sky" with a sweeping majestic
call to adventure about the music that came from the West that inspired
Hayward.
Familiar songs such as
"I Dreamed Last Night" and "New Horizons" were
well-chosen companion pieces in romantic song ballad form. The night's music
was reflective and serene with a mix of Moody Blues and new songs. "The
Eastern Sun" was a beautiful and gentle love song by Hayward. The hypnotic
keyboard work captured a ethereal heavenly background sound. "Your Wildest
Dreams" brought an excited audience response as the lyrics added sweet
memories of mid-80's Moody Blues with soaring vocal harmonies. As the concert ended,
a compilation of contrasts was heard. The wistful and bittersweet "Forever
Autumn" with heartfelt acoustic guitar by Dawes was follow by Haywood's
rapid acoustic guitar prelude to "Question."
The beloved "Nights In White Satin" became a
warmly sung audience favorite. As Dawes soloed in finger picking style, the
stage light background turned blue. Hayward and company encored with the
hopeful pop hit of love and longing in "I Know You're Out There
Somewhere" for a fountain of youth effect.
