Moody Blues: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 (Eagle Rock Entertainment, 2009)
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a series of large scale rock festivals staged on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. The final (at the time) and most massive festival took place in 1970, with more than 600,000 people in attendance. Across five days, a veritable smorgasbord of popular rock bands performed. One of the final acts on Sunday afternoon was the Moody Blues, who played a ten song set. Live at the Isle of Wight captures their performance, some of the only live footage of them at the peak of their career. Preceding the actual concert footage, the first twenty minutes consists primarily of interviews with several members of the band from that era -- vocalist/guitarist Justin Hayward, vocalist/bassist John Lodge, keyboardist Mike Pinder and drummer Graeme Edge (but not flutist Ray Thomas). They reflect upon the festival, their music, and the '60s. Particularly fascinating are Pinder's in-depth explanation of the mellotron, so vital to the Moodies' symphonic sound, and an archival flashback to their bluesy roots. Interspersed between the interviews are cuts of the Moody's performance. Needless to say they look so very, very young. The second half of the DVD is the performance itself, uninterrupted. If the playing seems a little less than polished, and the between-song patter awkward, just consider how overwhelming it must've been to play in front of such an immense crowd, no matter how tight the group. The performance does feel very heartfelt and genuine, and their talent shines through. It's amazing that a band with songs that seem custom made for headphones translates so well onto the stage. Anyone who's familiar with the Moodies will recognize much of the set list -- 'Tuesday Afternoon,' 'Ride my See Saw,' 'Nights in White Satin,' and so on. It's also nice to hear some rarer live songs, such as 'Gypsy,' 'Melancholy Man' and their ode to Timothy Leary, 'Legend of a Mind.' More interviews with the band follow the performance footage, with Edge closing things out with a recitation of the poem 'Late Lament.' Fans of the Moody Blues will definitely want to own this DVD. It's a perfect time capsule of the band at a high point of their career, putting on a marvelous performance that can't be found any place else. Eagle Rock Entertainment can be found online here and the Moody Blues here.
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