Tuesday Afternoon, Nights In White Satin or Question, which older music lover did not grow up with these marvellous songs? These symphonic evergreens have indeed all been composed by Justin Hayward, the voice of the Moody Blues and of course Hayward has enclosed these classic Moodies songs in the set list of his Blue World Tour, which is set to play in my hometown tonight.

Justin Hayward

The Rabohall of the PLTtheater in Heerlen, The Netherlands, is almost sold out and the charismatic and talented guitar player Mike Dawes opens this evening, displaying his more than excellent guitar picking. Dawes surprises the audience with his musical skills, his rather humorous anecdotes and a never heard version of Van Halen's Jump, so a very pleasant and good warm-up for Hayward's gig indeed!
So, at almost 21:00 0'clock it is time for some Moody Blues memories, and the first chords of Tuesday Afternoon "hits the stage" and just for a moment it feels like we are back in the year 1967; the year in which the Moody Blues released their symphonic concept album Days Of Future Past. And even after fifty-seven years, that eclectic song stands the test of time and it is still a wonderful, melancholic song; however, the voice of Hayward, seventy-seven years young by now, needs some time to warm up.

The accompanying band, consisting of Mike Dawes (guitar), Julie Ragins (keys, vocals) and Karmen Gould (flute), is a warm and more than excellent addition to the vocals of Hayward. After Tuesday Afternoon the audience is treated to other well-known Moody Blues classics like The Voice, Driftwood, Blue World and of course the bittersweet symphonic ballad Nights In White Satin. Besides the beautiful music Haywards entertains the audience with a couple of pleasant and interesting musical anecdotes, dealing with his youth and his musical career.

One of the highlights of this acoustic set is the beautiful, emotional song Forever Autumn, a track featured on Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds album; but the audience, included yours truly, is mostly mesmerized

From L to R: Karmen Gould, Justin Hayward and Julie Ragins

by a more than excellent version of the classic Moodies song Question, "Why do we never get an answer when we're knocking at the door"....beautiful indeed!!

The encore section starts with the touching song Blue Guitar from the remastered Blue Jays album (2004), an album which Hayward recorded together with John Lodge (another Moody), followed by The Story In Your Eyes, from the seventh Moody Blues studio album Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, released in 1971. Finally, Hayward sings I Know You're Out There Somewhere from the 1988 Sur La Mer album, ending this beautiful evening in style indeed!

Justin Hayward and band gave the enthusiastic audience a memorable, nostalgic musical trip down memory lane with outstanding Moody Blues songs, which even after more than fifty years are still relevant. The only things missing this evening were a lovely electric guitar solo and drums, as I am not a such a fan of pure acoustic shows, but as we all know there is no account for taste, so....

Text & Pictures Martien Koolen (edited by Dave Smith)