Doo-be-doo-doo-wop, doo-wah, doo-lang: Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra harnessed every conceivable type of melody, lyrically sensible and otherwise, on Friday at a packed United Center. Performing the first of a two-night stand on its Over and Out farewell tour, the group filled the arena with symphonic songs and airy choruses that begged to be shouted, embraced and, most of all, remembered. Less a rock show and more a prepared recital, it reflected — for better or worse — the technical perfectionism of the bandleader.
Fronted by the singer-guitarist Lynne, the group’s last remaining permanent member, ELO offered a mix of professionalism and competency that should serve as a model for nostalgia-based legacy concerts. It wasted not a second of its 90-minute length on blather or time-stalling breaks. Each of the dozen support musicians seemed to cheerfully embrace their supplemental roles and appeared to understand the reason they were there: to celebrate Lynne’s place in popular music.
A man of few words, Lynne acted with a gracious modesty atypical for someone with his resume. When fans erupted in an extended ovation, his first and only inclination was to move to the next song. Wearing a jacket and scarf, his tinted glasses parked underneath a tousled mat of curly hair, the 76-year-old looked the same as he has since the Reagan era.
His limited movements suggested otherwise. He primarily stood in front of a microphone for the duration and relied on his mates t.
