Last September, 50,000 lucky spectators bore witness to Jeff Lynne's return to the concert stage when the Electric Light Orchestra frontman took the stage at London's Hyde Park for the most eagerly-anticipated performance of BBC Radio 2's Festival in a Day. Now, Lynne's performance - backed by his band (including ELO's Richard Tandy) and the BBC Concert Orchestra - is coming to DVD, Blu-ray and digital formats. On September 11, Eagle Rock Entertainment will release Live in Hyde Park preserving Lynne's 17-song set.
Per the press release, Jeff Lynne "has been involved every step of the way with every aspect of this production, especially the audio delivery." He's quoted as adding, "It seemed like the entire 50,000 [audience members] were singing and clapping along, which carried on for the whole night. The Hyde Park concert turned out to be one of the most memorable shows ever for me. It's important to me that viewers experience the Hyde Park show exactly as it was performed on the night... in stereo." The setlist amounts to an Electric Light Orchestra "Greatest Hits," including "Evil Woman," "Mr. Blue Sky," "Livin' Thing," "Strange Magic," "Turn to Stone," "Sweet Talkin' Woman," "Telephone Line" and other favorites all brought to life with Lynne's happily precise faithfulness to the expansive original recordings.
In addition to presenting the Hyde Park concert, the release will also include the feature-length documentary film Mr. Blue Sky - The Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO. Director Martyn Atkins' 2012 movie features interview and performance footage from a cast including Dhani Harrison, Paul McCartney, Eric Idle, and Lynne's fellow Traveling Wilburys Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. Following a brief window in which it was available online, this marks the first wide, commercial release of Mr. Blue Sky.
Currently, a placeholder link is available on Amazon U.K. with a U.S. listing to come. We will update with both U.K. and U.S. links as soon as they are active. In the meantime, mark your calendars for September 11 for the release of Live in Hyde Park on DVD, BD and DD. You can peruse the track listing below!
Jeff Lynne's ELO, Live in Hyde Park (Eagle Rock EREDV1185/ERBRD5268, 2015)
Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
- All Over the World
- Evil Woman
- Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
- Showdown
- Livin' Thing
- Strange Magic
- 10538 Overture
- Can't Get It Out Of My Head
- Sweet Talkin' Woman
- Turn to Stone
- Steppin' Out
- Handle with Care
- Don't Bring Me Down
- Rock 'n' Roll is King
- Telephone Line
- Blue Sky
- Roll Over Beethoven
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"Jeff Lynne 'has been involved every step of the way with every aspect of this production, especially the audio delivery.'"
Uh-oh! 😉 So no audio-only release is coming? That's unfortunate.
Indeed, I was also surprised that no audio-only release appears to be coming.
But the audio is on the DVD. Same as a cd if you don't watch it!
Wonderful! Much better than watching the concert on a computer screen or downloading a dodgy copy. And the documentary has become impossible to find, nothing but the trailer is on Youtube. I enjoy everything Jeff Lynne touches, so this is a must buy.