ONE NIGHT LIVE IN AUSTRALIA

	One Night - Live In Australia ELO Part II
CD Review	SPV RECORDS GERMANY SPV DCD 089-44072 (CD) Produced by Phil Bates & Chris Tsangarides. Recorded live at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia during the nights of the 18th and 19th March, 1995.
Track Listing CD 1 Standing In The Rain Evil Woman Don't Wanna Showdown Eldorado Overture Can't Get It Out Of My Head Whiskey Girls Livin' Thing One More Tomorrow Mr. Blue Sky Telephone Line Ain't Necessarily So The Fox CD 2 Strange Magic Sweet Talkin' Woman Confusion Do Ya Rockaria! Roll Over Beethoven All Fall Down Witness 1,000 Eyes Hold On Tight Turn To Stone Rock & Roll Is King Last Train To London Don't Bring Me Down (Edited) 'One Night' was also released under the following guises...	By all accounts, ELO PART II's Australian Tour just over a year ago was something to be reckoned with. For those of us who are not Australian, and didn't manage to win the Lottery, this double CD from Germany, captured in Sydney, is the only record of this amazing event we shall have. The running order of both CD's covers most of the set. I would guess that the only things missing are the orchestral pieces, and POWER OF A MILLION LIGHTS and BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS, which is a bit of a shame as these worked well as live numbers when the band toured here in late '94, but you can't have everything. Disc One kicks off with STANDING IN THE RAIN, which, with the intro played by the Australian Rock Orchestra sounds quite stunning. The sound quality is impeccable, and Kelly's vocals finish the whole thing off superbly. In fact the tracks that feature the orchestra are the ones that really stand out, as they all sound so good. The disc continues into more familiar territory with EVIL WOMAN. Phil asks the huge crowd the most obvious question: " Sydney, are you having a good time ?" (Wouldn't you just love to see his face if one day, the whole crowd yelled out, " NO!!!") Quite naturally, Phil gets the affirmative answer! DON'T WANNA comes next, with Eric up front sounding suitably aggressive. Always one of my favourite PART II tracks, both on record and live, so I'm glad to find it here. If anything, older tracks like SHOWDOWN, tend to suffer from over exposure. The orchestra is not particularly prominent on this track, and it sounds exactly the same as it always does. Familiarity breeds contempt, as they say. Not a criticism, more of an observation. However, as a complete contradiction to the above, CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD, another old song, is one of the real highlights of this double CD. This is because of the obvious benefits of the live orchestra playing the ELDORADO OVERTURE, to start it off. Atmospheric and magnificent, the OVERTURE builds and builds (no PROLOGUE here to distract one's attention) ,slightly quickening in tempo as it goes along, finally melting into the gentle piano intro of the main song, where Eric takes up vocal duties splendidly, singing with real power & emotion. As a contrast with the old, the new, in the shape of WHISKEY GIRLS follows, with Phil taking over on lead vocals, sounding as good as the original recorded version. The orchestra also put in an appearance, with little string fills here and there, much as on the album, giving the song an edge over the usual pop-metal stuff that's commercially available at the moment. Mik's soaring violin intro heralds the beginning of LIVIN' THING, which unfortunately suffers from the same problem as SHOWDOWN - over-familiarity. Still, it's such a live staple these days that there would have been a complete uproar had it been left off the album; and the song is a classic. It's just that I've heard it too many times to be excited by it any more. It would have really benefited from featuring the orchestra a little more. Phil takes to the floor again with ONE MORE TOMORROW, sending a shiver up the old spine just as the album version does. Phil's voice is just so good on this song. I love it! MR BLUE SKY would really have been at its most enjoyable had Kelly pinched his nose and done his radio impersonation at the beginning, just as he used to do in the old days. It's such a jolly song, it could do with a little more levity in its delivery. However, the string section of the orchestra playing the lovely ending just finishes it off nicely, and more than makes up for the rest of it. TELEPHONE LINE features another fine, emotional vocal performance from Eric, who really is a whizz with the old ballads, and he can rock pretty meanly too. A most versatile singer! CD One ends with two of the best live spine-tinglers ELO PART II can muster. 'AINT NECESSARILY SO is the first of the three brand-new, previously unrecorded songs that feature on this set. Beginning with Phil's acappella version of the old George Gershwin song of the same name ("like melted chocolate dripping from the back of a spoon", as a very good friend of mine quite beautifully put it!), it then turns into a completely different beast altogether - a mean, aggressive rocker that has about as much to do with Gershwin as the Sex Pistols! My father, a huge Gershwin fan, visibly cringed, and left the room in disgust, muttering, "George would spin in his grave if he heard that racket!" when he first heard it! I don't know; I think the old boy might have been extremely flattered --he was quite revolutionary in his time! Kelly finally has his great moment centre-stage, rounding off the first disc in wonderful fashion with THE FOX, a song, which although some ten years old (I know, I have the1985 original!), still manages to bring a tear to the eye and a quiver in the loins (Ooer! -Ed). Bev now plays the drum track as it was on the original, as opposed to the rather curious rhythm that turned up on the MOMENT OF TRUTH version and very nearly ruined the song altogether. Kelly narrates the imaginative tale of the foxhunt through eyes of the fox with such passion & feeling, one feels they are right there in the thick, of the chase, with the hounds and the horsemen. It's a shame the live video will now no longer be released, as Kelly's visual performance of this song, where he removes his guitar, and just stands before the microphone, telling the story with his hands and his facial expressions, has to be seen to be believed. However many times you may have seen him perform this, it never fails to move you. There is always a stunned silence at the end, before the crowd goes mad, which is evident on this recording as well. Disc Two opens with the Australian Rock Orchestra playing the beautiful string intro to STRANGE MAGIC, sadly now dropped from PART II's live set. Lead vocals come courtesy of Eric. The song is a shortened version, as it's the opening number in a "Greatest Hits " medley that continues with SWEET TALKIN' WOMAN, which is again enhanced by the presence of the orchestra playing the intro Kelly steps up to the mike for this one, with some crystal clear vocals that really come across well on this excellent quality recording. CONFUSION is next, with Eric taking over again (it's turning into a bit of a duel, is this!), and getting the words right for a change! DO YA, featuring Kelly in his "audience participation" hat, along with the rest of the band, rocking up a storm with the orchestra, is superb, with the orchestra and the crowd preventing it from sounding tired, unlike the earlier oldies in the set. The Kelly/ Eric vocal duel, and also the medley, finishes with Phil having a good old rock along to ROCKARIA! with Kelly on soprano duties as per usual. The audience love it! The orchestra brass section playing the familiar strains of BEETHOVEN'S FIFTH, herald the old crowd-pleaser, ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN in it's new slot, no longer finishing the show (now no longer in the live set at all!). The song fares all the better for this, now being performed (on this disc, at any rate!) with an enthusiasm not heard for a long time, and the Aussies don't seem to mind the change, even if they hadn't seen the band for 17 years. Another completely new song, ALL FALL DOWN, gets an airing. A pleasant, gentle Eric Troyer tune, with an acoustic guitar introduction and a very catchy chorus. Since this disc was recorded, it has been inexplicably dropped from the live set, along with the following new number, WITNESS. Why? Please let this be temporary, and bring them back next tour! WITNESS, a Bev Bevan /Phil Bates collaboration like the earlier 'AINT NECESSARILY SO, is more of a gospel-type number, with Phil turning in some strong, bluesy vocals. All three new songs are good ones, well up to the standard set on MOMENT OF TRUTH, so let's hope they eventually turn up on a new studio album in the near future. 1,000 EYES is performed perfectly competently, and then things take something of a dive with HOLD ON TIGHT. It really is high time this tune was given the big E from the live shows, as it has never come across well, sounding tired and flat, even with an entire symphony orchestra helping out.
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This is only emphasised by having ROCK'N'ROLL IS KING on just after the next number, an adequate TURN TO STONE. Although ROCK'N'ROLL IS KING is not nearly as good a song as HOLD ON TIGHT, it sounds great live - all bouncy and fun, and a great one to clap along to. The orchestra have a great time, too, putting little twiddly bits in during the choruses, an generally, the whole tune leaves one with a very happy feeling. Kelly's distinctive bass riff at the beginning of LAST TRAIN TO LONDON receives a great welcome from the Sydney crowd, who, as the band hadn't played there since the OUT OF THE BLUE tour, had never had the pleasure of hearing it live before. It's a welcome inclusion on this disc, too, with some great keyboard work from Eric. Sadly, this great album ends on a rather muted note with a somewhat disappointing version of DON'T BRING ME DOWN. Although, as on the rest of the album, the sound quality can't be faulted, all the atmosphere of the live show is lost, and the audience participation bit in the middle with Kelly seems to be edited - which is sacrilege! It was an inspired move by the band to end their concerts on this song after all these years ... but you'd never believe it hearing this version! Live albums from ELO and ELO PART II are very few and far between, so, whatever the quality, this would have been an essential in any fan's collection. However, this one doesn't disappoint with sound quality, or content, which is an added bonus. Nearly every song from their live repertoire appears here. My only other criticism is that at times, it sounds a little over-produced, with extra vocals etc. being added on afterwards, and as such, doesn't always sound like a live album, but more like a studio album with crowd noises added on. However, don't let this put you off. Buy it, and relive the most recent tour in the privacy of your own bedroom! At least this way, you can have a concert whenever you want one!