Justin Hayward
At The Flying Monkey
By Mike Jackman
H
aving been a huge fan of The Moody Blues
for 20-plus years, it was a treat to see their
golden voiced frontman Justin Hayward perform an intimate acoustic show at The Flying Monkey in Plymouth, NH on August 19th.
With house capacity at just under 500 seats
this was a dream come true for any impassioned listener. Having been in popular music
for almost five decades, The Moody Blues are
pioneers of symphonic and prog rock and have
had a storied and illustrious career. With such
a deep catalog to choose from, Hayward dug up
and presented several nuggets not heard in a
long time.
Hayward kicked the show off onstage by
himself with the moody and celestial "Blue Guitar”, which is a real gem from a side project he
fronted with fellow Moody Blues member John
Lodge during the band's mid 1970's hiatus
called Blue Jays. A lush and dreamy song that
54 • CIDER MAG • cidermag.com
immediately brought me back to my childhood,
I knew I was in for a night of both hits and rarities.
The Moody Blues occupy a very special place
in my history and musical education. My dad
first played them for me as a six year old and
they have been part of my journey ever since. I
would have been content hearing lesser known
tracks like "Forever Autumn" and "You Can
Never Go Home" all night but understood he
also had to play hits like "I Know You're Out
There Somewhere" and "Your Wildest Dreams”,
which were nonetheless superb.
The hits were recognizable but took on a
new dynamic being stripped down and presented acoustically. At 68, Hayward's voice is still
strong and one of the most beautiful and underrated of any band to come from the 60's. It
was evident on songs like "Tuesday Afternoon"
and the moving "Watching and Waiting." A
Winter • 2015