Hayward & Lodge

[doneg]

I seen Justin Hayward solo back in the 90s, l haven't noticed and don't know how much solo touring he's done outside the Moody Blues up until recently when it seems about 5-6 years ago he started touring regularly, l seen him once again during this recent period. And then John Lodge started touring solo in the past year. I've always liked the Moody Blues but l was never their biggest fan so I'm not that knowledgeable about them, so to anyone who knows, since now the two remaining lead members of the band are touring solo, are the Moodies finally retired? And the bigger question, when John Lodge started touring the first thought l had was, if the Moodies are retired and both are out touring wouldn't it make sense to revive the Blue Jay's and tour together? Is there a problem between the two of them? Do they not get along? Or is it just what they decided to do?

[ronmac]

I love "Blue Jays."

[Farpoint Kevin]

To my knowledge there are no hard feelings between them...Maybe they were just ready for something different. I too am a big fan of the Blue Jays album. Would love to see them do a tour of that with some solo and MB stuff mixed in.

[ronmac]

Some of Justin's tastiest playing is on Blue Jays. Really great tone.

[Top Cat]

I seen Justin Hayward solo back in the 90s, l haven't noticed and don't know how much solo touring he's done outside the Moody Blues up until recently when it seems about 5-6 years ago he started touring regularly, l seen him once again during this recent period. And then John Lodge started touring solo in the past year. I've always liked the Moody Blues but l was never their biggest fan so I'm not that knowledgeable about them, so to anyone who knows, since now the two remaining lead members of the band are touring solo, are the Moodies finally retired? And the bigger question, when John Lodge started touring the first thought l had was, if the Moodies are retired and both are out touring wouldn't it make sense to revive the Blue Jay's and tour together? Is there a problem between the two of them? Do they not get along? Or is it just what they decided to do?

In regards to Justin Hayward and John Lodge, Lodge's production of solo work has been far and in between, while Justin has released solo work more frequently. He did a tour some years ago and it's available on DVD.
Lodge did a tour several years ago for his Million Years album and Justin did one as well.

The Moody Blues is their bread and butter and I see no indication they will quit touring as the MB.

Some of Justin's tastiest playing is on Blue Jays. Really great tone.

I agree, Blue Jays is an excellent album, a lot like the Moody Blues but stripped down a bit.

[Dan Roth]

The Moody Blues is their bread and butter and I see no indication they will quit touring as the MB.

John Lodge was asked about the state of the Moodies recently in an interview:

Q: Where do the Moodies stand these days?

Lodge: The problem we have on the recording side is that there is nobody to mentor us these days. We always had people at the label who encouraged us to write and record, and those sort of people have gone out of our lives. Look, I love the whole process of making a Moody Blues album. But without anyone to push us, I cannot see there being any new songs released. I hope we can still tour, but it is now a little problem to get Justin [Hayward] and Graeme [Edge] to agree.

[Phil Perry]

I'm gutted that the Days of Future Passed tour never came to the UK. Does anyone have any info / informed guesswork on the probability of MBs doing any concert work again?

[Victorian Squid]

Hard to believe it's already been almost 5 years since I last saw the Moodies. And TBH, I can see that touring these days takes a back seat. Not that they're hurting (Justin could still hit those notes on Tuesday Afternoon when I saw them), but at some point it's time to enjoy the rest of your life. When I last saw them (Saratoga Winery) it was March, and what should have been a beautiful Spring evening in the bay area was positively freezing, with a crazy strong wind. John had a leather jacket he buttoned the collar up on, and so cold in fact, Justin had to forego the acoustic guitar and abandon the song Driftwood (for which they apologized). As we left, we literally followed the band out in the parking lot, Justin was making a dash for the bus (he's still got a pretty awesome ass in his tight white pants) laughing at the fact he was finally about to get warm! And heck, Graeme did a little birthday jig, because in a few days he was going to turn 75!

I don't think there's any animosity between John and Justin, they're just living in different parts of the world doing their own thing. We should probably be grateful Edge living in Florida is probably the only reason we'd gotten Moodies tours (mostly east coast) here the last 20 years. But, they've certainly had their acrimonious breakup in the past. The concert program I have for Octave is almost comical, group shots either had Pinder cropped out (if you're in a band, and they want you to stand on the far left or far right...) or in one case, a text panel plopped right over his face. And I watched the court TV of Moraz v Moodies, just because.

Bottom line, Graeme retired and we've got 2 guys going different musical directions if their solo work is any indication. Not sure if Justin moved back to England? Justin recently canceled his tour for health reasons, but I believe he still did the cruise ship thing. It's so much easier to decide as a person you'll do "X" dates in "X" venues which takes almost no coordination or planning. I'd love to see them on the same stage, but not counting on it. I had my chance for over 40 years, so no complaints. In spite of the, er, "climate" at the time - I still remember the shows. Heck, I remember back in 1978 saying I was going to go see the Moody Blues, and everybody was like "are they still around?". I'm just happy they are still around, even if we can't see them.

[Dan Roth]

Does anyone have any info / informed guesswork on the probability of MBs doing any concert work again?

The Moody Blues is their bread and butter and I see no indication they will quit touring as the MB.

John Lodge was asked about the state of the Moodies recently in an interview:

Q: Where do the Moodies stand these days?

Lodge: The problem we have on the recording side is that there is nobody to mentor us these days. We always had people at the label who encouraged us to write and record, and those sort of people have gone out of our lives. Look, I love the whole process of making a Moody Blues album. But without anyone to push us, I cannot see there being any new songs released. I hope we can still tour, but it is now a little problem to get Justin [Hayward] and Graeme [Edge] to agree.

[BarryLI]

It's pretty simple to figure out: The Moody Blues Cruise morphed into the Blues Cruise two years ago, Justin was the main attraction as the rest of the band was nowhere to be found. Same thing last year also, this year John has his own cruise, what does that tell you?

[ronmac]

^^ It tells me nothing.

[BarryLI]

^^ It tells me nothing.

The Chief of Detectives position has already been filled, no harm no foul. TMB's last show was over a year ago, John tours with his band as does Justin (both play MB songs along with their own compositions), Grahame had to drop out of a few of last year's shows due to multiple health issues, it would appear they are done as a live act, but $...