By Kelley Simms
UFO'S LONG GOODBYE
UFO
ble, so I have no complaints. We’re doing
places we haven't played in a long time.
We’re doing Massachusetts, Pennsylvania,
Virginia, and Georgia. I don't ever remem-
ber playing Georgia with UFO. A couple of
shows in Florida, which we don't play there
much. Then we have a show in Spain in the
summer.
Mosh: Why is UFO calling it quits on tour-
ing?
RDL: I think it's mainly Phil, and he has a
right to make that decision because he has
been in UFO for 50 years. Of course, Andy
is an original member, and Neil was there
in the ’80s, and Vinnie's been there for 15
years or more. But Phil has always been
there, and it's really up to him. I think he's
said everything he needs to say. Hopefully,
we’ll do other one-offs or something, but I
don’t know if that’ll be the case. But the
touring aspect of it is truly ending, which is
sad. It's bittersweet.
I
conic British blues-rockers UFO and the
city of Chicago share a long history of
mutual admiration going back to the
band’s 1979 seminal live album, Strangers
In The Night, which was partially recorded
at the now-demolished International
Amphitheatre. During the band’s live sta-
ple-track “Lights Out,” you’ll hear vocalist
Phil Mogg give Chicago a shout-out, forev-
er immortalizing our city on this record.
Sadly, after half a century of rocking around
the world, the band announced the current
tour would be it's last. They're commemo-
rating the milestone with "Last Orders," a
50th-Anniversary Tour, which officially
began last year. The tour makes a stop at
the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan this
Valentine’s Day (February 14) with special
guest Damon Johnson (of Brother
Cain/Black Star Riders/Alice Cooper).
Joining Mogg on the farewell run is original
drummer Andy Parker, bassist Rob De
Luca, guitarist Vinnie Moore, and returning
UFO alum Neil Carter on guitar/keyboard.
IE spoke with Rob De Luca about the
band’s final live roadshows, its affinity for
Chicago, and more.
Mosh: This tour is an extension of the Last
Orders tour from last year, right?
Rob De Luca: It's a continuation because we
didn't book all the markets, and people
were complaining that if this is a farewell
tour, why are you skipping us? So, [adding
more dates] was the right thing to do, I
think. And I want to play as much as possi-
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Mosh: A lot of bands, especially recently,
have done farewell tours only to come
back out of retirement to do another one.
Does this mean the end of UFO?
RDL: Well, I'm not the one to make that
call, so I don't have a definitive answer for
you. But it would be hard to do it without
Phil, and Phil is the one saying he's step-
ping down from touring. Does that mean
we could potentially do a record in the
future? Yeah, it does mean "potentially." I
would love to or do a live DVD or some-
thing. That would be amazing. But, I think
what's tiring to Phil is the grind of touring.
Not necessarily that he doesn't enjoy play-
ing shows, it's just the traveling; the three to
five-six-week tours that we do where
you're playing five or six nights a week and
you sleep on the bus every night traveling
overnight. I think that's just what he's tired
of, and I understand that.
Mosh: UFO has always had a special rela-
tionship with Chicago. What's the best
part of playing here?
RDL: You can't dislike someone who likes
you so much! We go there, and people are
just so into it. There's such a history there.
Most of it is before my time in UFO, [but]
it's just great to get that kind of reception
and have sell-out shows, multiple shows in
the same city. And the venues are great
there. All the venues we've played are real-
ly nice, like the House of Blues, Concord,
and the venue in St. Charles (Arcada
Theatre). They're all fun places to play.
How can you not like a really positive, suc-
cessful situation? So, it's a win-win for
everyone.
Mosh: The recent passing of bandmate
Paul Raymond (last April, of a heart
attack) must have been rough for all of
you.
RDL: Paul was a good guy, and I got along
with him well. It was very shocking
because we had played London eight days
before he died, and none of us had any
indication that anything was wrong. I don't
think anything was wrong. Possibly there
was nothing wrong eight days before with
the way he was performing and playing
and singing. It might've been something
that came on that day. But we've got Neil
Carter, who was in the band in the ’80s, and
Neil is a great musician, great performer, a
great guy, and the band is strong again. We
obviously miss Paul, but we wanted to fin-
ish out what was still there for this last tour.
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