The Moody Blues at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool. June 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool sound and Vision Rating 9/10

For 51 years The Moody Blues have given their audiences, no matter where in the world, the night of their lives over and over again and judging by the style, the warmth and the outpouring of genuine affection between capacity crowd and the band, that reign of musical beauty really never seems likely to end.

As the longest night of the year took hold on the psyche and aura of the evening, the band once more filled the stage at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall for the third time in last few years and the timeless movement of the songs and of the band was as gracious and steeped in the foray into the classic as ever.

The longest day of the year it may have been but for stalwarts of the British music experience and scene, Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge, it must have felt like the serenity of the occasion and the return to a much loved venue, was akin to sitting on the top of the world and watching Time lasting forever.

There are many bands who come to Liverpool and who are treated with such reverence, the awe of the achievement of their past, that perhaps at times the casual onlooker might think there was some sort of secret pact that had been placed ahead of the bands turning up. For the standing ovation that the three men and their fellow musicians received between each song, the sheer holding of breath as the music flowed; if that casual interloper had doubts, then as songs such as Gemini Dream, Steppin’ In A Slide Zone, Say It With Love, Your Wildest Dreams, the simplicity and delicate nature of Driftwood, the sensational Nights In White Satin and Question were greeted with the admiration of a returning hero to native shores, they would have gone round every audience member and personally apologised for ever raising the spectre of uncertainty.

The music that had spanned the decades for this Birmingham raised band was never going to be allowed to fade away, it would never be allowed to shirk its musical responsibility to keeping faith alive and as the music filtered through the abundant mist like dry ice, faith was to be seen in the face of every person who revelled in the voice of Justin Hayward, the guile of John Lodge and the persistent humour of Graeme Edge, it is faith that keeps the mood as beautiful as it is. For The Moody Blues, faith in their music and in their fans is absolute; there surely is no greater mark of respect.

Ian D. Hall